Two sides to every story in the world of technology PR

One of the various things I’ve learned since starting out in technology PR is that there are many ways of telling the same story. Moreover, a core factor that determines our success in securing awe-inspiring coverage for our clients is having the ability to do so; telling their story to different people in different ways.

The reason for this is fairly self-explanatory when you really think about it. In order to secure the coverage that our clients need, first we need to grab the attention and interest of the journalists who write for the publications we’re targeting. That means that we need to understand which elements of our client’s story that each journalist and the readership that they’re writing for will be most interested in, and pull that out during our conversations with them.

It’s nigh-on impossible to do that if you’re using the same approach for every journalist. After all, no two people are alike, and with publications fiercely competing for readership, it’s very unlikely that two journalists will report on a story in the same way. Anyone who’s relied solely on a PR wire service or mail-merged email shot to bung out a press release en-masse will almost certainly be able to attest to the lack of resulting coverage. This is even more so the case in the world of tech PR, where it’s very easy for a story to be a little on the dry side for all but the real enthusiasts.

Our pitches are far more effective if we’ve taken the time to think about what will appeal the most about our story to the journalist and publication that we’re pitching. Here are my top tips for getting it right (most of the time):

• Read your story! Too often in PR we’re criticised for being a little clueless when it comes to the finer points of our clients’ stories. Worse still, journalists seem to frequently complain of PRs reading out a generic pitch (generally the precise, word for word content of an email that they’re about to send) over the phone. Some of this doesn’t seem a far cry from Michelle’s recent post on PR robots! There’s no way you’ll get anyone interested in your story if you don’t understand it yourself first. Taking the time to do the background reading and check the details before getting on the phones can make all the difference to the success of a pitch
• Read their stories! Having a read over articles that the journalist you’re pitching has written can also help to identify some of the areas in your own story that is likely to be of interest and tailor your pitch accordingly. Of course, there are finer points to this; starting a conversation with ‘I saw that you wrote an article about fish tank technology six years ago and so thought you’d be interested in my client’s story about fish tank technology’ is unlikely to win you any friends amongst the journalist community
• Be realistic! There’s no shame in admitting that sometimes, your story might just be of fringe interest to a journalist, rather than something they’re going to bite your hand off for. In these instances, it’s always worth taking a punt. However, your chances of success will be massively improved if you’re realistic in how you pitch the story. Making it out to be the biggest news ever will almost certainly result in a raised eyebrow and a tap on the delete key when the news hits their inbox. But if you’re honest from the get-go and pitch it as something that might make a nib piece for them, they’re far more likely to be receptive, and might just surprise you by running the story

Ultimately, taking the time to tailor your pitch for each journalist that you’re speaking to will give you a much better chance of converting the conversation into coverage; not to mention helping to improve the reputation of we humble PRs.