Five Top Tips for Pitching When It Comes to Newsjacking

As part of Digital PR strategies, newsjacking can be a great way to share a brand’s message quickly. Newsjacking allows you to pitch to journalists who are interested in content with regard to reactive and topical trends. This allows you to engage with the journalists who are having these conversations in the media and are interested in receiving relevant stories and pitches. Newsjacking is highly effective for Digital PR campaigns as it allows us to connect with journalists looking for specific brand data, opinions, and case studies that could be beneficial to their articles and reach a wider audience.

With digitalisation rapidly increasing, the influence of the digital era has affected Digital PR no more than ever as the majority of people living in the UK have invested in gadgets and devices which allow them to be able to use technology in ways that will benefit their lifestyle, such as reading the news quickly online. Digital PR has the ability to tap into audiences much more quickly and effectively with instant communication, meaning greater newsjacking opportunities. Embryo’s Digital PR team recommend following these five tips to ensure success:

Media List

Preparation is key and doing research into the journalist that you are looking to outreach to ahead is newsjacking is the first step for any successful project in order to show that you understand what stories they are interested in writing about and that you are familiar with their publication’s content and audience.

Tailoring your content to suit the tone and requirements of specific publications and journalists will also show your understanding of these media platforms and will encourage the reader to take notice of your pitch. It is also beneficial to build a relationship with the journalists that you are pitching to by following them on Twitter, taking notice of their headlines, and engaging with their content.

Subject

The subject line of your email can make or break a pitch at first glance so make sure you spend time thinking about what will grab the attention of your audience. The subject line is the first thing that a journalist will see, so it is important to include the most newsworthy information with regards to the content of your pitch in order to encourage the recipient to click and find out further information. This will help to avoid being lost in the noise of the masses of emails in their inbox and ensure they take notice. 

Structure

The structure of your email helps the journalist to understand exactly what you are trying to pitch and what you require. Aligning the content of your pitch with a clear lead, request, and news hook will make it more coherent and easier for journalists to understand and take and action. Following the subject line, your pitch should include a personable introduction. A good pitch then introduces your main hook and why you think it would be of interest to that particular audience. You should always provide them with details, stats or insights which will establish you as a reputable source and allow them to make an immediate decision.

Grammar

Using the correct grammar, punctuation, and correct spelling is vital in any good pitch. A grammatically perfect pitch sets the tone for your work and lets the journalist know that the content of the press release is well-put-together and trustworthy. It is beneficial to always double-check your work, or have a colleague overlook the content as the world of Digital PR moves quickly, especially when it comes to newsjacking reactive continent from topical trends, and simple mistakes can be avoided if these basic key factors are always kept on top of.

Follow-Ups

Following-up emails are just as important as your initial pitch. Amongst the dozens of emails that journalists receive, sometimes content is overlooked or missed, so a follow-up not only shows proactivity but also increases your chance of receiving a response as your email will be higher up in the recipient’s inbox. A great follow-up email should summarise your information, making it easy for the journalist to pick back up on.