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Fill Your Arsenal with Evergreen Media Pitches

Posted on

03/26/2015

by

Michiko Morales

As spring starts to thaw us out from record-breaking winter temps, we think of renewal. Of gardens in bloom. Of what’s next.

Or if you’re in PR, ways to liven up your spring media pitching schedule. Luckily, there are some pitches that you can have at the ready no matter the time of year or your client’s news cycle.

As anyone who’s built out communications strategies can attest, plans almost never go according to schedule. That release you planned to pitch at the top of the month? It’s been stalled in approvals for weeks. The next software release that was supposed to launch three weeks ago?  Delayed another month.

Don’t let your client’s media coverage go into hibernation. Having a few “evergreen” pitch ideas in your arsenal can help keep the pending coverage funnel full while you wait for the company news cycle to catch up.

–       Origin Stories: If the number of Batman or Spiderman reboots in the last 25 years hasn’t convinced you, America LOVES a well-told origin story. Is your client’s founding the stuff of legend? Did their first iteration nearly bring down their college’s servers (like Google)? Is the company the result of a home hack gone wrong (like Newcastle)? Or do you just have a really good story of how the company was born? Then you have a year-round pitch.

–       Business Tips: Your client’s C-suite got to their positions through a combination of dedication, learned wisdom, and innate instinct. Their experience and “secret sauce” can serve as excellent listicles to guide their industry. (Sound familiar?) Topics like “Top 5 KPIs to Ensure Business Growth” or “The 7 Best Solutions for Managing Workflow” could pique an editor’s interest.

–       Workplace/Culture: Both national and local publications publish stories every day about the work experiences, whether it’s office culture or innovative workspaces. If your client offers weekly fitness classes to bring everyone together or has the world’s longest shared desk space, there is no shortage of reporters who want to know.

–       Industry History: Borrow from social media with a fun #tbt for reporters. Have the CEO or company thought leader take a stroll down memory lane and explore the evolution of their industry. Maybe he or she has a unique perspective on the first cloud document management system, for example, or data backup processes before the web. If your leadership is experienced enough to remember “way back when,” there could be a story there!

–       Company Leadership: Does the CTO raise track-rescued greyhounds? Does the Marketing VP have a successful Etsy shop stocked with items made from reclaimed records? The outside pursuits of the C-suite often say a lot about the culture of your client – and lessons learned in pursuit of their “other” passions can be informative in the office as well. What’s more, executives who are willing to speak about their extracurriculars can gain some valuable media experience for a relatively low-stakes story, better preparing them to answer questions about the bigger newsmakers next quarter.

Evergreen stories should be supplemental to your strategic communications plan and smart, up-to-the minute newsjacking pitches. Having those stories at the ready while your plans’ buds begin to bloom is a smart way to keep your clients in the news.

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