The Colab Brief - 123: Creative Genius 🧠 - 4 Tips for Pitch Inspiration ✨

We talk a lot about building up to business press and how a solid foundation in the trades can eventually lead to bigger hits. 

But what do you do if those first hits are elusive? 

Sometimes, depending on the company and its focus area, coverage is just plain hard to get. Maybe the topic area is super niche, or you don’t have any customers for the media to speak with, or data to leverage. Occasionally, breaking through the noise is really tough, even in the Tier 2 pubs. 

So how do you find those first opps? Or what do you do if your pitches just simply aren’t landing? 

You gotta get a little creative. 🎨

Read Time: 2 minutes

When the hits simply aren’t coming, the first step is to run through what we like to call the Relevancy Check.

1. Is what we’re pitching timely?

2. Are we providing value (either with data, or a thought leader)?

3. Does anyone care? 

4. Are we being too self-promotional? Does it sound like we’re selling? 

If our pitch passes the vibe check, but it’s still not generating coverage, it’s time to dig a bit deeper. 

Conference Clues 🕵️

We’re all familiar with the ol’ Google search to find interesting topics. But what can be much more effective is looking into industry conferences. What topics are on their agenda? What are the biggest leaders in the space talking about? 

Sometimes, conferences can provide insight into what the market cares about most. After all, they only pick the best and the brightest of speakers (theoretically), and it can give you great guidance on new topics to tackle. 

An Eye to the Future 👁️

Are there any events, earnings, cyclical occurrences (think elections), or announcements coming down the pipeline that you can pitch ahead of time? Often, when you’re looking into recent coverage for inspiration, you’re playing a bit behind the ball. If the topic has already been published, they probably won’t write something similar again. Being forward-thinking and proactive can have a big impact on driving hits. 

Shake up the Narrative 💬

Does your thought leader have an opinion that goes against the grain? Are they willing to think a bit outside the box? Especially for less structured, younger businesses, this can be a great way to get attention. Offer up what your spokesperson can address and why they have their unique opinion right up-front in the first pitch. Sometimes, that’s enough to grab attention. 

Partner Up 🤠

Let’s face it - more is more. Do you have partners or friendlies you can leverage for a dual pitch? The more you can help a reporter round out the story, the easier it will be to convince them to write. Pitching a roundup of spokespeople is another way to shake up the outreach and provide more value up-front.

Trying something new can often be the ticket to getting out of a pitching rut. And don’t forget to have fun with it - reporters are people too and the more you can connect on a personal level, the better your shot at the front page. 

Until next week - 

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