“BY LUNCHTIME, I HAVE RECEIVED OVER 400 PRESS RELEASES”
5 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN PITCHING YOUR STORY TO BROADCAST IN 2019
Seeing your client on TV is one of the best feelings a PR pro can ever have and here at Brazen PR, we have had plenty of opportunities where our clients have appeared on national TV and cut through the thousands of stories received by a newsroom daily.
Recently, we attended a talk by the planning editor of Channel 5 News and learnt about the realities of the industry and how to beat competitors to secure first-class coverage. See below for our top tips:
1) PITCH EARLY – It is vital to capture the attention of the planning editor a few weeks before the opportunity you are working on goes live. This enables them to not only check the diary but gives you time to secure interviews and work with them in creating a piece that appeals to their audience
2) RESEARCH – Make sure you understand the programme you are pitching for – look at what they regularly feature, have they recently featured a similar topic? Does your story relate to the target audience? For example, there is no point pitching a celebrity interview to Question Time!
3) ASSETS – Whether it’s the spokesperson for your brand, the influencer fronting your campaign, or the location / venue mentioned referenced within your story, make sure you have it readily available for TV cameras. With TV being a visual medium, it is essential that you can provide more than a quote on an email, or an image on Dropbox. Broadcast want to be able to bring your story to life on the screen, so be prepared!
4) KNOW YOUR STATS – If it’s a data led story your pitching then make sure your stats add up. Broadcast are likely to ask for all of the raw data when considering your story, so know your numbers inside out before pitching.
5) 2019 CALENDAR EVENTS – When looking ahead to 2019, we are fortunate to have fewer national and international events – excluding Brexit – taking up the news agenda, in comparison to previous years. Without the likes of the World Cup or Olympics, there is more air time for you to claim for your brand.
These tips have been invaluable for Brazen and we certainly have had our share of broadcast coverage, including an interview with Strictly Come Dancing judge, Craig Revel Horwood. The team pitched the interview opportunity a week before the unveiling of his new wax figure, giving us ample time to work with BBC North West Tonight in securing interviews with Craig, his family and fans of the show, who were more than happy to talk about their love for Craig – achieving a reach of over 244 million.
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