Finding the right journalist
Half the success is in who you approach. Journalists write within a beat: a fixed subject area such as tech, food, economics or a region. A pitch outside someone's beat gets ignored, no matter how good your story is.
Here's how you determine who's relevant:
- Search by topic, not by title. Don't ask "how do I get into the FD" but "who writes about entrepreneurship in my sector". Often those are journalists at several outlets at once, including freelancers who work for different titles.
- Read recent work. Reading one recent article by the journalist is the cheapest conversion booster there is: it makes your pitch personal and relevant, and it keeps you from pitching someone who just switched beats.
- Use an up-to-date database. Newsrooms change constantly. The Presscloud Media Database is updated continuously and shows each journalist's beat and recent publications, and AI Press Lists automatically matches your press release to the journalists it fits best.
Want to know who writes about your theme at a specific outlet? Check the media pages, for example those of De Telegraaf or Het Financieele Dagblad, with the editorial structure per outlet. Looking per field instead? Then the niche overviews are the starting point: tech journalists, finance journalists, lifestyle journalists.
The pitch email
A pitch is the short personal email you use to offer a press release or story idea. The fixed ingredients: a personal salutation, one sentence on why you're emailing this particular journalist, the news in two sentences, and a concrete offer (the release, images, an interview).
Template
Hi [first name], I read your piece about [topic of a recent article], which is why I think this news might be a fit for you: [the news in one or two sentences, with the most striking number or fact]. The full press release is below. You'll find royalty-free images via [link]. If you'd like to speak with [founder/spokesperson] about this, I'll set it up quickly. Best regards, [Name] [Phone number]
Worked example
Hi Margot, I read your piece about dating after thirty, which is why I'm emailing you this news from The Inner Circle: the dating app sees far more singles becoming active and signing up on Sunday, January 5. To give singles more success in the coming year, the app is sharing five tips from its dating experts. The release is below, royalty-free images via this link. Will you let me know if you have questions or want to speak with the founder? Best regards, Sanne Jansen 06 12345678
Notice what happens here: the first sentence proves the sender knows the journalist's work, the second contains the news with a concrete hook (a date), and the closing offers a next step without pushing. Personalised Pitches in Presscloud generates this kind of introduction per journalist automatically, based on the recipient's recent work.
The 5 biggest annoyances of journalists
What not to do, in order of damage:
- Being unreachable after sending. A journalist who calls on deadline and gets no one won't publish, and will remember it.
- Pitching irrelevantly. Emailing outside the beat is the fastest route to being ignored, including for your next release.
- Wanting to influence the article afterwards. You may correct factual errors; the tone and angle belong to the journalist.
- Hounding. Multiple follow-up emails, calling to ask "whether the email arrived", or sending the same pitch to three colleagues at the same newsroom.
- Giving empty answers. Whoever gets an interview opportunity and answers in woolly corporate speak doesn't make it in, or comes out badly.
Building a relationship for the long term
The second pitch to the same journalist performs better than the first, provided the first went well. Here's how you build that relationship:
- Always deliver what you promise, quickly and completely: images, numbers, access to a spokesperson.
- Be useful even without your own news. Respond to requests for context, help out when a journalist is looking for a source in your field.
- Follow the work of your core journalists and respond substantively now and then, without asking for anything in return right away.
- Keep track of your contacts. In Presscloud's PR CRM you see the history per journalist: what you sent, what was opened and what led to publication.
Journalists, bloggers and influencers
Besides journalists, bloggers and influencers can spread your story, but the rules of the game differ. A journalist aims for an objective story and earns nothing from mentioning you. A blogger or influencer often works commercially and expects a fee or something in return. Both routes can be valuable; just don't confuse them. A paid mention is an ad and must be recognizable as such, not PR.
Am I allowed to just email journalists?
Yes. Journalists publish their professional contact details precisely to be approached with news; it's part of the job. There are rules of courtesy that happen to overlap with what works: pitch relevantly, address people personally, don't buy address lists of unclear origin, and remove anyone from your list who says they don't want to receive messages. The Presscloud database is set up on this basis, including the handling of opt-outs.
