Dirty Little Secret: Your Marketing Department HATES media pitching, so they don’t do it

Earned media coverage should be important to your company

A person doing a thumbs down, showing disapproval. Pitching the media can be daunting, especially if it isn’t something your employees do regularly as part of their job. As a PR firm, this is something our team does daily for companies. The dirty little secret that no one in corporate america – no one in your company – wants to talk about is how much corporate marketers hate pitching to the media. It’s a combination of fear, of rejection, of insecurity, of making a cold call, and of not having newsworthy content to share.

Earned media coverage should be important to your company because it builds a brand while advertising supports it. As a company executive, it’s not your job to micromanage, but it is your job to ensure your company sees success by building credibility and awareness. Give your marketing team the resources it needs to be as successful as possible.

Time: Encourage your marketing team to schedule time each week to pitch. Too often, everyday work activities get in the way of the important things like pitching. Have managers keep the team/hold the team accountable to maintaining this specific time each week. This time must be kept sacred; otherwise, pitching doesn’t remain a priority.

Needs: Have HR and other departments send newsworthy items every other week to the marketing team that it can use as low lying fruit to reach out to the media with and share your company’s news. Your marketing team’s needs must be met to reduce its disdain for pitching.

Relationships: Encourage your team to attend networking events with members of the media so it can build the right relationships your company needs for sharing your company’s news.

Educate: Ensure your team is benefitting from the opportunity to participate in continuing education classes or other resources to better enhance its skills and improve its ability to pitch. Education is the best foundation.

Outsource: Outsourcing your media pitching is another option you and your marketing team should strongly consider, especially if your team has other obligations impacting its ability to reach out and connect with members of the media.

Keep in mind that media pitching is more than just sending an email and checking a box to say done. It’s building relationships, making phone calls, sending emails, following up, and more.

Having a PR firm in your marketing department’s corner can help with more than simply media pitching and outreach. A PR firm can help negate bad publicity and work collaboratively on ways to move your company forward. Whatever you decide, you need to ensure your marketing team is utilizing the full earned media process and consistently enhancing your brand recognition with your audience and customer base.

If you feel your marketing team can’t handle it all alone right now and would like help from someone experienced in the earned media process, including pitching to the media, contact us and we can assist you.

Clients love Marjorie’s work ethic, speed and diligence. She has worked with Axia Public Relations since October 2011. Marjorie graduated from Rockhurst University with a Bachelor of Arts in communication and loves to cheer for her hometown Kansas City Royals. Learn more about Marjorie.