5 successful feature story pitch examples (that had stellar results)
Most media pitches are really bad. Let's make them better.
It's not an industry secret that journalists are flooded with terrible, poorly thought-out, unrelated, irrelevant media pitches.
In this article, we discuss why so many media pitches miss the mark and what we can do about it. Plus, we will look at some examples of people who are doing this pitching thing right and getting excellent results.
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It's a bold claim to say that most media pitches are bad. Surely that can't be the case, right? According to Cision's 2021 State of the Media:
In the same report, surveyed journalists reported that fewer than 25% of pitches were actually relevant to their writing, topics they cover, publications they write for, and audiences they target.
Think about how bonkers that is and how endlessly frustrating it must be to not only have pressing deadlines, juggling tons of sources, working for multiple publications, and then have hundreds of people in your inbox each week demanding your time but not doing even the barest of minimum to research and pitch the journalists in the ways they want to be pitched.
Why do so many people go the lazy, shortcut route and bypass pitching journalists the right way? Well, because it takes time. And effort. And it's super frustrating to create a beautifully crafted, elegant (dare I say stunning?) pitch that gets lost in the weeds of a million low-effort pitches.
Pitching to journalists (and editors) has become like online dating. It's a numbers game. Nobody wants to invest a ton of time and energy into the perfect online dating opener, put down a bunch of non-refundable wedding venue deposits, and sample dozens of cake flavors only to find out your future spouse is actually some online gambling chatbot (again). So everybody just throws out a bunch of generic, low-effort openers in hopes that the stars will align. This is a perfect analogy and I will not be convinced otherwise.
While we cannot change the entire landscape of low-effort journalist pitches (or online dating), we can each do our part to pitch in the best way possible and develop great relationships with our media contacts.
Researching journalists is one of those things that sounds like a great idea, but who has the time? So instead, PR folks end up buying media lists or spamming completely irrelevant reporters. Many pitches are disregarded as entirely unrelated to their line of work, pitches go ignored, rinse and repeat.
Researching the media contacts and creating your own media list of well-curated, specific journalists is pure common sense. Why put all the work and effort into crafting this fantastic pitch just to have it get overlooked because you sent it to the wrong people?
Creating an active media list that consistently gets results will take time, effort, and energy. It will take engaging with people on Twitter, keeping up with their content, giving as much as you get, and providing value. But, it'll pay off at the end of the day when sources start coming to you for stories because they know you to be reliable and consistently deliver the magic. 🪄
👉 Check out these cheat codes for building a better media list
Similar to researching your media contacts, personalized pitches seem like a nice idea in theory, but this part ends up getting completely bypassed by the majority of people. Why? Because personalized pitches take forever. Like writing this article, coming up with unique and original copy is not for the faint-hearted.
It's much easier to mass-blast a cute little email to a bunch of people who definitely won't know you're spamming everybody with the same adorable pitch. However, what you save in time, you lose in making genuine connections with media contacts and journalists.
Every good pitch should:
- Be very short. Nobody has time for your Tolstoy-esque three-page email pitch. Keep it minimal.
- Briefly explain how you came across them/their body of work (if it's a cold pitch). You don't need to dramatically recount how their May 2019 article in PCMag on air fryers changed your life (unless it did), but you can say, "Hey! I've been following you on Twitter and your cats crack me up. Want to collab?"
- Explain quickly how you plan to provide value for the journalist's readers. Not sure if your story will give value to their readership? Not sure who their readership is? Back to Step 1 because you have more research to do, pal!
- Have a link to media assets and newsrooms. You don't want to flood the journalist with images, videos, or massively big files (lest your correspondence be immediately flagged as spam), but you do want to make sure they have easy-to-access links to high-quality visuals. A newsroom or press kit is perfect for this.
It's often nice to pop into a social media DM and let the journalists know that you sent them an email so they can look out for it. It shows that you are going the extra mile to connect with them and can put a face to your name. Be mindful that you're not badgering them because the line between "friendly and thorough" and "pestering and annoying" is very thin.
Inversely, some journalists hate this and will never respond to DMs. Check their bios or pinned messages if they have any indication of this anywhere.
If you're looking for more on how to pitch to the media, watch this whole PR Roundtable episode with two of our writer friends, Kelsey Ogletree and Holly Brockwell, who break down what journalists love (and hate) when being pitched. It's a great watch!
Okay, the reason you're here: the real-world pitch examples that had successful results. We asked some communications people to share their successful pitches with us so we can all learn from the experts about what works.
The pitch:
What it accomplished: Outreach Manager Clare Jones of Custom Neon was able to secure impressive media coverage (including The Daily Mail) thanks to this short, snappy, succinct pitch.
Why the pitch worked: First of all, if you can successfully name drop? Do it! The media love a recognizable name, and Clare brought all the superstars: Elon, Facebook, Paris! Make sure you can deliver on what you're promising, but a recognizable name or brand will almost always help your pitch.
Plus, she included a link to high-quality assets, which is fantastic. Their company is highly visual, so it makes sense that they would link some great images.
Lastly, there's a human element to the pitch. Everyone loves a side-hustle-to-riches story, and Clare successfully humanized the company. All companies want a feature in a publication. But making it an interesting story to tell is much harder. Clare did a great job at making this an interesting story that journalists could visualize connecting with their audiences.
👉 Watch our roundtable how to turn your news into a captivating story
The pitch:
What it accomplished: Nina Dafe, founder of The Far Above Rubies Collection, reached out to Black Ballad to write a piece for their publication. They liked her (and her work) so much that they have continued to feature her regularly.
Why the pitch worked: Nina started strong by explaining what the publication means to her and how certain published pieces specifically stood out to her. People love to hear that their work has inspired others.
Nina also included all the right information. Not only did she come up with an engaging topic that would be of interest to the specific publication (not just a generic, boring topic), but she also outlined precisely how she would write that article. This instilled confidence in the editorial team that she could develop a great idea and an equally quality execution.
This pitch made it clear that not only was Nina a fan of the publication, but she also had the savvy and writing skills to contribute to their brand meaningfully.
👉 Read more about crafting a stellar email pitch
Pitch journalists right now with a 14-day free trial
- Identify your most engaged contacts with our PR CRM
- Send personalized email pitches and campaigns
- Publish your press releases in a professional newsroom
The pitch:
What it accomplished: Content marketing is an excellent strategy for building a brand. Mercedes Martinez, Content Marketing Specialist with Green Flag Digital, shared the results of a recently published study to get eyes on their research, and it garnered them some snazzy coverage.
Why the pitch worked: First of all, it's short and sweet. In fact, Mercedes shared that brevity is one of the keys to her pitching success.
Plus, that headline is fantastic. It makes you go "whaa...?!" and gets you eager to learn more, but it also substantiates the "wow" factor with facts.
👉 Check out this article on crafting a killer pitch headline
The pitch:
What it accomplished: Artist and writer Linda Yi of Panda Cub Stories was featured on her favorite podcast, Cubicle to CEO, through her lovely pitch.
Why the pitch worked: Linda started her pitch by sharing how the podcast has positively impacted her and outlining how she has engaged with it. Reviews or social shares are always great if they are genuine and authentic.
The best part of this pitch is how Linda succinctly breaks down how her interview will connect with the podcast audience in a unique way. The media contacts don't want to scroll through ten pages of your biography to figure out how to sell your niche. Linda clearly outlines what differentiates her, and she does it well.
Plus, the mention of sharing it with her audiences goes back to our point about providing value. If you can show how you plan to amplify their content instead of only expecting them to showcase yours, that is the start of a great working relationship!
👉 Watch How to Pitch to Podcasts with podcast host Christina Nicholson
The pitch (template):
What it accomplished: Ravi Davda and the Rockstar Marketing team are pros at using HARO (Help A Reporter Out) to connect with the media. They've established a great template that they've shared here.
Why the pitch worked: You might be thinking, "wasn't there a whole section about not using templates?" And the answer to that is yes. But also, no.
Cold pitching the same, generic content is a bad strategy. Creating a template that you can customize with fresh, relevant information in an easily-digestible way? That's a good strategy. Particularly when it comes to HARO, where journalists are looking for quotes and sources, not necessarily full story pitches.
👉 Read more about how to use HARO to connect with journalists
Once you have your ideal pitch written out and ready to go, you're in the clear! Just kidding. The harsh reality is that even the greatest pitch will have zero impact if your target contact doesn't open it. And while you can't legally force them to open it, what you can do is make sure your pitch at the very least lands in their inbox.
Here are a few short and practical tips on how to improve the deliverability of your pitch emails, and stay out of spam.
There's no perfect, exact secret formula for a successful media pitch. The key to a successful pitch is simply knowing who you are pitching to, speaking to how you can engage the audience and provide value, and then following up. That's it! It's more complicated than it sounds.
Thank you to all of the experts who shared their fantastic pitches with us. If you have a pitch that worked exceptionally well for you that you'd like to see included, reach out on Twitter!
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