A pitch is a summary of the content you want to see published. It covers the issue or the problem your article will address, why it is relevant to this publication and why you (or your client) are qualified to write it. The pitch needs to be brief and concise, otherwise journalists will not consider it. But more importantly, it needs to have an attention-grabbing title. So here are some tips on finding the best title for your pitch to capture journalists’ attention.
First of all, it is important to use the right format. Although this seems to be a minor detail, if your pitch title is not in bold or if it is unclear what your title is, the journalist will not bother to read the rest of your email. So make sure your email is formatted correctly before sending your pitch, or all your hard work will be for nothing.
Consider this: you’re an editor for a business-focused lifestyle magazine and you receive a pitch entitled ‘CEO believes stress is conducive to an unproductive environment’. Why would you care? Instead, you might be interested in a title such as ‘Famous CEO reveals how they manage stress’ as it connects to your readers and their interests.
The story is the same but the pitch is from a different angle. Taking time to tailor your pitch to your target media will get you better results.
Journalists write for their readers. So if your pitch is not relevant to current events or industry trends, chances are the journalist will not be interested. To prevent this from happening, do your research. You can have a look on social media using hashtags that relate to your story, you can browse other media sources to find inspiration or you can read some thought-leadership from industry leaders. It doesn’t matter how you do it, but you need to know how your pitch fits into the current zeitgeist.
Pitch titles have to be bold, eye-catching and interesting. To know whether you tick those boxes, ask yourself or others whether you would click if this article came up on your feed. If not, explore other options! You might want to add a witty pun to your title. Or you could make it shorter and punchier. Or you could focus on numbers. Whichever works, it needs to be appealing to readers.
With PingGo, you can collaborate with your team to get feedback on your pitch. You can tailor each pitch during distributions to ensure they fit the journalists’ profile and their target audience. You can even pitch simultaneously to multiple journalists with the help of your team members. Find out more about PingGo pitches.
