Here are suggestions for pitching your technology story to the media:
– Write a media release that captures your story from the eye of your customers and in parallel the media covering your industry. Provide information that solves a problem. Have a link back to your website providing more content to generate leads and inquiries. Post the release via a service to achieve broad distribution.
– Create a media page on your website to contain all media releases, media coverage and a media kit that can be downloaded as a PDF.
– Initially target 25-50 relevant reporters to develop an ongoing relationship with. You can’t boil the ocean. Connect to reporters and editors via Twitter and LinkedIn.
– Choose a reporter and their editor that fits your story. C.C. all correspondences to the editor. Look at the editorial calendar of the media to see what stories are planned. Understand the writer’s interests, themes and most importantly how your idea would help them extend their reporting.
– Think through your pitch with the reporter’s eyes – how will this piece be of interest to the reporter’s readers? How will it meet the criteria of the publication?
– Pitch the story via email first. Customize the letter as much as possible mentioning the reporter’s previous pieces. In the pitch letter provide links to the media release, videos and other content.
– Send a follow-up email with additional information as appropriate.
– Call a few days later referencing your email that you can re-forward.
– When you call get to the point and respect the reporter’s time. Do NOT call back repeatedly.
– Respond quickly to the reporters requests for the interview.
– It may pay to hire a PR firm to take you through these steps the first few times to establish an agile work process and experience base.
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