I cover hedge funds, not skin cream

For public relations professionals, building strong relationships with reporters is the best way to collaborate on story ideas. However, PR pros are occasionally tasked with getting exposure in a completely new area, one in which they cannot rely on their current contact list.

In these situations, it is best to do a thorough background check instead of pitching a reporter with a blind email or call—and ruin the effectiveness of proper pitching techniques for the rest of us.

It’s true that each print journalist or TV producer may have a different preferred method of communicating, but there are general best practices by which all PR professionals should abide. I’ve solicited “pitching” tips from five current journalists representing five separate publications, and they have the following to say.

The Good

Reporters generally agree that short, targeted pitches — without immediate follow-up calls — are preferred over lengthy messages.  Opinions and pictures also help, noted Jen Welsh, the science editor at Business Insider:

“In reaction to a news-related piece, it’s great to have a new opinion on it….a bite-size digestible package will really help…For something more feature, I need…an angle that would be interesting to an average lay reader…Can’t stress this enough: I love anything with great pictures.”

A journalist covering money and investing suggested the omission of relevant (but not totally essential) details could make a pitch more tantalizing:

“The best pitches are strategic in nature, that is they omit something which leads to a hearty back and forth to get more. Everyone comes away satisfied. For example, a follow-up to an investing conference at an Ivy League school might include a syllabus whether or not the recipient expressed interest.”

The Bad

There’s a fine line between strategic persistence and persistent annoyance, said Welsh:

“My pet peeves include walls of text, jargon, misspellings, missing contact information. I don’t want to spend five minutes reading your email. Also, It bothers me when I get an email, then the PR person immediately calls me. Either saw your email, and I’ll look at it/consider it, or I’m busy. Calling won’t help.”

Another associate editor at a trade magazine noted that trying to go above a reporter’s head could backfire:

“I’ve gotten pitches for stories that another reporter has already covered…which is annoying. You should always assume that reporters and editors talk to each other regularly (and that they’re going to have each other’s backs, and not take your side). I’ve had a PR person email me randomly to check in on a story that one of our reporters was doing, because she hadn’t heard back from the reporter…I could tell she was trying to go above the reporter’s head.”

And of course, you always want to include the name of the client you’re pitching:

“The worst pitch I’ve seen had XXXXX in the lead sentence in place of the company’s name.”

The Ugly

Perhaps the most important component of successful media pitching is communicating with the right person. Noted a reporter who covers hedge funds:

“As a financial journalist, I am clearly desperate to receive scatter-gun emails about the launch of some life-enhancing skin cream or a newly-invented energy source… or so some PRs think.”

Another reporter covering commodities for a news wire service underscored the relevance angle:

“On the topic of relevance: if I cover industrial metals markets don’t send me a pitch about upcoming guacamole shortages….Just because we spoke once about a client you represent doesn’t mean I want to hear about the rest.”

To sum up the prevailing attitude of the media mavens we approached: it’s not about volume or pre-existing relationships. Keep your pitches appropriate and concise—and if necessary, include cool pictures.

Bill C. Smith is an account executive at Dukas Public Relations in New York.