The Art of the Pitch

“Advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art.” – William Bernbach

Examples of me attempting to persuade my daughter:

1. Do your research – “I looked online—this park has swimming, hiking trails and a playground!”
2. Grab attention – “I have the best idea ever! Wanna hear it?!”
3. Make it timely – “Remember how Nana and Papa were just talking about the movie Coco?”
4. Find the angle – “You know what they have at the store we’re going to—baby carts!”
5. Provide lead time – “Ok, Nora, remember we’re going to give you a bath tonight after school.”
6. Reference experts – “The doctor says you need to take your vitamin D every day.”

Much like trying to convince your child to do a chore or get on board with a trip to the grocery store, there are certain tactics of persuasion that are also proven to be effective in marketing communications.

As public relations professional, one of the most important aspects of my job is media pitching: pitching a product, service or idea on behalf of my clients to members of the media in hopes of grabbing their attention, inspiring them to do a story on the subject and ultimately earning a mention of my client’s brand in the resulting story. It can be a tedious process, but when you get your client mentioned in The New York Times, all the hard work pays off.

Following are some general rules for media pitching that correspond to the persuasive strategies I referenced above and that most parents use daily on their children without a second thought.

1. Do your research – Before pitching anything, you want to learn as much as possible about not only the product, category, state of the industry, but also the outlet and individual you’re targeting. By doing your research, you arm yourself with the best information to make your case and can provide the most relevant and engaging details catered to your audience.
2. Grab attention – Start a pitch with enthusiasm, a question, an engaging statement, an interesting fact, etc. Something that will get them to stop in their tracks and listen to what you have to say.
3. Make it timely – Tying your pitch into a current event, a season, or a trend makes it much more enticing, as these are likely subjects the media will be covering regardless. It’s a simple tactic to make your information more relevant to your audience.
4. Find the angle – With some clients, you could be pitching the same tired product or category for years. Putting a new and exciting spin on something you’ve already pitched gives new life to the idea and could help spark creative new stories for the media.
5. Provide lead time – Giving the reporter plenty of time before you’d like the media coverage to hit ensures they have enough time to process the information you provided, research and develop an informed story.
6. Reference experts – One of the most effective powers of persuasion is referencing a third-party expert or research. This lends non-biased credibility to your pitch and shows it’s a topic other people are talking about.

Parents are experts in the art of persuasion. However, as in marketing, the pitch doesn’t always work. We simply continue to learn our audience and refine our tactics to make our communications increasingly effective.