How to pitch to media the right way? Here's what journalists think

If you’re wondering what an effective media relations pitch looks like, then look no further.

In our webinar “Media Relations During COVID-19,” we invited journalists to break down the how-to’s of media pitching and making your stories stand out. There’s no better way than to hear it from journalists themselves, right?

We’ve picked these highlights from the webinar to answer this million-dollar question for you:

What makes a pitch stand out

To win media coverage, EdTech companies need to sharpen their media relations game. In this excerpt, Michelle Davis, senior correspondent for Education Week, describes how stand out pitches are rarely product-focused.

Michelle stresses the importance of not just asking journalists to write about a new product (spoiler alert: she won’t). EdTech companies need to go beyond their products and think in a broader context instead.

With journalists getting thousands of emails, you need to align your company’s offering with the types of stories they write. Consider connecting the dots between an industry trend or compelling data with an important problem to solve (and secondarily how your product solves that problem), or propose a follow-up story from their previous write-ups - of course with something fresh to add.

Michelle shares a stand-out pitch example in this video:

Best and worst media pitches

EdTech journalist Lauren Barack shares what the best (and worst) pitches have in common. Lauren describes how the best pitches have a sense of what a journalist loves to write about.

By taking time to read their previous articles, an EdTech company shows they’re making an effort to get to know a journalist, and can carefully align their angle with the core of the journalist’s stories. This makes it a collaborative approach rather than a top-down request to write about a product.

Here’s more on Lauren’s media pitch pet peeve:

How to pitch to media (tips for EdTech pitching)

Forbes contributing writer Derek Newton shares a pitch tip that EdTech companies should heed - know a journalist's point of view.

In this video, Derek shares with us what piques his interest as an opinion writer. Clue: It all lies with the approach:

EdTech Marketing: Where Journalists Source Stories

Michelle, Derek and Lauren share where they source stories and what they read to decide on their next topic. Watch this video to find out where they find the human stories, trends, district news, and relevant EdTech global issues that inspire their writing:

Interested in learning more? Watch the full webinar recording or contact the Square 32 team.