Knowing the Difference Between a Press Release and a Pitch
I know, you’re rolling your eyes at me. Who doesn’t know the difference between a press release and a media pitch? Is she serious? Yes, I am, and I’ll tell you why.
When I was working at an extraordinarily creative, successful agency and overseeing a team of talented PR professionals, someone on my team came to me frustrated with the lack of responses on a pitch she had worked tirelessly on. I asked to review it with her and saw the problem right away. There was a lot of text, the subject line wasn’t especially strong, and the story was buried in paragraph three or four. While it was written beautifully and professionally, it was very dry, formal writing. No editor or reporter was reading this – and she worked so hard on it!
Another quick story, years ago, I worked for a brand with a CEO who did not have a strong understanding of what was newsworthy and what would fall flat with the media. Which is fine, considering it was literally in my job description to advise him. He had asked me to put out a press release about something that I knew only a select few outlets would be interested in. During one of our meetings, I realized where our miscommunication was stemming from. I suggested we send out a catered pitch and rattled off the names of the outlets I felt confident in pitching instead of mass distributing a wide press release. He blinked at me and then agreed. I realized in that moment, he didn’t know the difference between a release and a pitch.
In conclusion, its sometimes necessary to review what a pitch is and what it is not. Maybe you’ll use the below when reviewing your own writing or when working with a team member you oversee or when explaining to a client the distinction between the two.
Whatever your scenario, let’s get into the differences:
Media Pitches Are Not Press Releases
Pitches differ from press releases in both format and objective; they’re also used at different touchpoints during PR-reporter engagement.
· Press releases provide the whole story and its context. They’re written in a dry, third-person, journalistic style and are in-depth enough to allow a reporter to cover the story without asking you for more information. Press releases usually accompany a big event, like a product launch or a company award.
· Pitches are specifically catered to the audience of the outlet and editor you are sending to and give a high-level understanding of the news story or feature article. They’re usually conversational and extremely customized to individual journalists. Pitches are better suited to introducing your brand to a reporter or hooking your brand story into a wider news story.
Pitches are meant to be short, to the point and informal. Here is an example of my typical pitching style:
Hi Eva!
I’m working with [BRAND NAME] and immediately thought of you for [really cool, newsworthy thing that they will be totally obsessed with]. Wanted to see if you think it could be a fit for [their column, reoccurring article, anything that shows you did your research and catered this pitch specifically to them].
Sharing some further information below if it’s of interest. Please let me know! xx
[Copy & Paste further information here]
Very best,
Victoria
Media Pitches Are Not Sponsored Content
Sponsored content or an advertorial is an article paid for by a brand but formatted to look like a normal editorial. It’s an increasingly popular way to get a brand message or story across, but sponsored articles are not to be confused with articles secured based on pitches, known as earned media.
· Sponsored articles put the brand in control of the message and the content to ensure it aligns with brand values. Sponsored content often makes use of product placement and the brand gets approval of the final piece, because they paid for it.
· Media pitches allow journalists to cover the subject in any way they like. When you pitch a reporter, you’re not entering into an agreement about what the content will say; you’re simply alerting the reporter to the story.
