media update’s Taylor Goodman takes a look at three tools that can help those working in PR improve their media relations.
It is a common complaint from journalists that they are inundated with press releases and PR pitches on a daily basis, meaning that even if your pitch is perfect, it may not stand out. This makes it easy for you, as a PR pro, to get discouraged when your pitches aren't being picked up — especially if you feel like you’re doing everything right.
For this reason, you may need an extra boost. These tools can help you to elevate your media pitches and, in time, they can help you build strong media relations
and help your clients get more publicity.
Now without further ado, let’s look at three must-have tools for constructing the perfect media pitch:
1. Grammarly for a flawless pitch
Grammarly is the bread and butter of drawing up the perfect media pitch. To get a journalist to notice your pitch, you
need to ensure that it is error-free.
There is nothing more unprofessional (and likely to repel a journalist) than an email pitch that is badly written and riddled with grammatical and spelling errors.
Luckily, Grammarly is here to make sure that doesn't happen. It is a free writing tool that essentially proofreads your text for any errors. With over
10 million daily active users, the programme is clearly doing something right.
Not only does Grammarly scan your content for grammar, punctuation and spelling errors, but the app also offers a feature that assesses your writing style by looking at the length and readability of sentences.
Although the free version of the app is amazing, the premium version of Grammarly takes things a step further. The paid version offers a plagiarism checker and assesses the tone, fluency and formality of your pitch.
Grammarly is available as a web tool, desktop app and browser extension free of charge. A
monthly Grammarly premium subscription is available for $29.95 and an
annual subscription is available for $139.95 ($11.66 per month.)
2. Crystal to better understand the media
Another cardinal sin of pitching to the media is not tailoring your content according to who you’re sending it to. But worry not — Crystal can help with that!
According to
Business.com, Crystal uses AI technology called ‘
proprietary personality detection technology’ to search for information on the targeted journalist or client’s social networks to assess how they communicate and what their interests are.
This insight serves as a ‘crystal ball’ for PR professionals who are looking to learn more about a journalist's personality and interests before pitching content to them. Because Crystal gives you an idea of how your target communicates, it can help you personalise your pitches to suit your targeted journalist.
Going this extra mile and tailoring your pitch increases the likelihood of it being picked up by the media.
Crystal is available for a free, 14-day long trial and once the trial expires it is
$19 per month.
3. Subject Line for the most important part of your pitch
The subject line of an email is easily one of the most important parts of a pitch as it is the first thing the journalist will see upon opening your mail. Dmitry Dragilev from
Justreachout explains that “
35% of email recipients open an email based on subject line alone.”
Subject Line is a free and easy-to-use tool that helps to ensure that your email pitch makes an impression on the journalist reading it. It does this by identifying the positive parts of your subject line … as well as the parts that don't really work.
To use this programme, all you need to do is visit the site and you enter your headline. The site will then rate your headline out of 100 and list the strong points of your chosen subject line and where you can improve.
What are your favorite tools for creating the perfect pitch? Let us know in the comment section below.
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PR pros, Do you want to know about other tools that can help you in other parts of your career? Then be sure to check out Five of the best apps for PR professionals.
*Image courtesy of Vecteezy