The #PRStudChat Community Discusses Mysteries of Media Pitching on September 20th

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Screen Shot 2018-08-26 at 4.34.49 PMJoin us on Thursday, September 20th at 12:00 p.m. ET for an in-depth discussion on the mysteries of media pitching. Yes. You heard us: Media pitching.

Content may be king, but if the PESO model has taught us anything, it’s that we need to integrate a number of distribution tactics into the communications mix in order to be consistently successful.

Google “media pitching” and you’ll get a slew of results referencing dos and don’ts, tips, tricks, and best practices. So, for the September #PRStudChat, we brought in the media pitching expert: Michael Smart (@michaelsmartpr).

A former newspaper journalist, Michael has won national and regional awards for news release and feature writing. He has also taught public relations courses at Brigham Young University, where he earlier earned bachelors and master’s degrees in communications with an emphasis in public relations.

Michael Smart dispenses PR wisdom every Thursday to more than 9,000 active subscribers to his popular email newsletter, and on September 20th he’ll be here to help the #PRStudChat community!

During the Twitter chat, Michael will be addressing the following questions, but we encourage all community members to weigh in with their ideas and share their perspectives too.

  1. In a world where blogs are often more widely read than traditional media, and communication includes texting, emoji, DMing, and live video chat, how important is media pitching? #PRStudChat
  2. What are the characteristics of a good media pitch? #PRStudChat
  3. What are the top reasons media pitches get ignored, and what’s the best way to ensure your pitch gets opened? #PRStudChat
  4. What are the easiest pitching mistakes to fix? #PRStudChat
  5. How much time should you invest in preparing each media pitch? #PRStudChat
  6. How much of media pitching is about your relationship with journalists? #PRStudChat
  7. What’s the best way to determine what media outlet or format is appropriate for a pitch? #PRStudChat
  8. Is email the best way to pitch media? How do we know the preferred method of contact for each media outlet and/or journalist? #PRStudChat
  9. What’s a good media pitch response rate? What should we strive for? #PRStudChat
  10. The pitch was accepted! What do we do if the journalist asks for exclusivity?? #PRStudChat

As always, we welcome your questions before or during the chat. You can tweet @PRStudChat, @SpinSucks, @LKPetrolino, @ValerieSimon or @DBreakenridge with any questions you would like answered.

We’re looking forward to another lively #PRStudChat conversation. See you on September 20th at 12:00 p.m. ET!

About #PRStudChat
It began with a simple question asked by Angela Hernandez, then President of PRSSA at Central Michigan University (CMU). “Is PR Right for me?” A follow-up blog post by Communication Strategist Deirdre Breakenridge inspired a series of direct messages on Twitter between Breakenridge and fellow PR industry pro, Valerie Simon. This was an important question and one that should be explored beyond one student or one blog post. Why not build a community to help students across the country, and even the globe, learn from the experience and perspective of industry professionals … A community where everyone can learn and grow together.
About Spin Sucks
Started in September 2006 by Gini Dietrich, the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, an integrated marketing communications firm, Spin Sucks mission is to change the perception people have of the PR industry.
What started as a simple blog, soon became a movement. Spin Sucks is the number one PR blog in the world, the go-to resource for PR professionals to learn new strategies and tactics, to share and receive expert advice. It’s also the place where people have fun discussions, brainstorm, ask for help, and make new friends.