How To Offer Your Expertise, Not Just Pitch To The Media
You don’t need to be an expert in the field of PR to know that pitching doesn’t always mean tooting your own horn. You should provide value, and show why you are an expert in the topic you are pitching.
When pitching your story or offers, being self-promotional is all part of the game. But, let’s face it – sometimes it’s easy to get salesy. Thankfully there are ways to pitch that don’t have to be sleazy, tacky, annoying, obnoxious or any of those other negative adjectives!
Maybe you’re looking to be on TV, get seen in print, be a guest on a podcast, or launch your book.
Whatever the case may be, when thinking of pitching your brand, your business, your book or your event, it’s important to think through how you can offer the media your help, not just your pitch.
Here’s a quick breakdown of how you can offer your expertise, not just pitch to the media:
Is there a way you can be helpful for a story they’re working on?
The basic idea is pretty simple: Help others, and you will benefit, too. It’s important to serve, not sell. Be engaging and don’t always sound like you’re bragging. Sure, you got this awesome media placement that you are just dying to show off, but rather than approaching it from the perspective of “Hey! Look at me!” Instead, try to approach it more like, “Here’s where I’ve been. Here’s why it applies to you and what you can get out of it.”
In order to do this, it’s imperative to do your research. It’s important to see if you need to pivot your messaging just a bit in order to be relevant to the media’s current events. Which is something you wouldn’t know if you didn’t do your research. Which brings me to this next topic…
Find resources, information, and sources for what the media is currently covering.
Often, what we consider newsworthy and exciting in our business, would make a reporter yawn. The news media have their own criteria for judging what is worth covering, so to get their attention you will need to frame the issue you’re presenting in an appealing way that is relevant to what they are currently covering.
During your research, try to find a current news issue, event, or annual celebration that you can use as a “peg” for your story. For example, the media is focusing highly on COVID-19, showing how you are dealing with COVID in an appealing way for their audience is key. Keep it uplifting, inspiring, raw, or even a bit controversial and the media will be eating out of the palm of your hand.
Remember: Do your research beforehand, so you can link your pitch to things they’ve written before or themes they’ve shown an interest in.
Don’t always offer yourself as the expert.
Self-marketing is all about showing people that you’re the best at what you do. That means going above and beyond to demonstrate your position as an industry expert. Just make sure that anything you share with your followers is well-researched. While it’s great to share your strengths, your stories, and your successes with the world, it’s important to make sure that you don’t get too caught up in your own greatness. Make sure that your desire to showcase your skills doesn’t prompt you to “embellish” the facts.
Share quotes, research, statistics, etc.
Give the numbers that are behind your numbers. Don’t say that xxx happened, because most won’t even believe it—unless you prove it. What’s more compelling than big talk is to show exactly how it happened—what information about your topic do you have that’s made you want to share it? Try and tailor your story as much as possible so you have quotes, case studies, and photos ready and waiting. The media will thank you for it!
Have you started pitching to the media?
Are you ready to develop your message and amplify it with the right media, but you don’t know where to begin?
It’s about more than just putting out a press release about your book – it’s positioning YOU as an expert and thought leader to your audience.
There’s a lot of messaging work that goes into getting media placements and it can seem overwhelming. Answering a few simple questions will help make it clearer to you where you are in the process and where is a good place to start for both you and your (future) publicist.
So if you’re ready to take the first step toward seeing how exposure in the media can help amplify your message, download my FREE publicity audit by clicking the link below:
https://mailchi.mp/52ce362af1a3/praudit
If you enjoyed this article, you might enjoy this one, too:
https://ktmediastrategies.com/heres-how-to-develop-your-message-amplify-it-with-the-media/