Even if a major story dominates homepages and feeds, there are still ways to find an unexpected news peg to strengthen your PR pitch. Adjust your timeline When you’re dealing with an especially sober news cycle, it’s wise to revisit your original plan. “Pitching them anyway in an attempt to stick to a predetermined campaign timeline and strategy, rather than adjusting your timeline, is a disservice to your media counterparts and a bad look for you, along with the brand you’re representing.” Another option for a time-sensitive PR pitch is to submit a press release to platforms like PR Newswire or the UK-based Press Association. That will get your news public without any awkward conversations. You can’t guarantee coverage with a press release, but at least you’ll have done everything in your control to get a story covered. Think subject-specific magazines, trade publications, niche sites, or even individual sections within larger outlets. “It shows that you’re not robotic, that you’re actually putting thought into the person that you’re pitching.” Along with the writers and editors who’ll be too busy to differentiate your PR pitch from spam, remove contacts from your list who may have a personal connection to the major news story. Better yet, create a template ready to fill in and send off before your target audience becomes overwhelmed with similar news tie-in ideas. However, when jumping off of a less-than-cheery news peg, be respectful. On days when the idea of inbox zero screams sweet relief, just remember: The news may be terrible, but a PR pitch full of good ideas will always be valuable.
The relationship between journalists and marketers can be contentious—something of a media industry West Side Story. Editors are quick to treat a PR pitch like a pest, sweeping it into the trash after no more than a glance at the subject line. Given that there’s so little tolerance for cold pitches on a calm day (see Twitter for real time examples of marketer-directed rage), it’s no great mystery why you’ll find an even less receptive audience during a blizzard of news.
Securing coverage for your company during the constant barrage of current events isn’t impossible, but it does require a heightened level of self-awareness. Namely, you have to believe what you’re pitching matters right now.
Of course, what matters is relative. But relevance doesn’t have to imply a dire or serious need. A lighthearted story can be time-sensitive—the launch of a restaurant or an upcoming museum exhibit necessitates coverage prior to opening day. Even if a major story dominates homepages and feeds, there are still ways to find an unexpected news peg to strengthen your PR pitch.
Not sure if and how to proceed? Here are a few guidelines to follow.
Adjust your timeline
When you’re dealing with an especially sober news cycle, it’s wise to revisit your original plan. There’s nothing wrong with adjusting the schedule. Doing so will help you avoid coming off as callous or risk getting blocked by an angry writer.
“Often we will advise clients to leave a story for a few days for both reasons of media appetite and also [because] the end-consumer’s head will be full of the awful news,” said Rick Guttridge, owner and managing director of Smoking Gun, a UK PR agency. “We pulled [non time-sensitive] stories when the Manchester Arena bombing happened and again with the London Westminster attack.”
For a concrete deadline, remove anyone from your original contact list who may be on assignment to cover whatever news just broke. The writers and editors remaining may not be the biggest “get” of your dreams, but they should be checking their emails as usual.
“Cable news producers, for example, aren’t going to be interested in hearing your fluffy segment pitch during a natural disaster, mass shooting, or death of a…
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