Going Beyond the “Pitch”

If you’re looking for the best way to utilize your public relations efforts during this time, look no further than the extra mile. Now more than ever, we need to position our brands as helpful, innovative and adaptable to the changes going on around us. So at DMA, our Public Relations team has been brainstorming ways we can go “beyond the pitch.” Ways we can add value to our standard pitching efforts. We’ve seen positive results from our efforts that prove it’s necessary to go that extra mile in our public relations efforts during this time.

 

Here are ways you too can go “beyond the pitch”: 

1. Add value  

While you’re drafting your media pitch, think of ways you can add value. At DMA, we’ve seen great results simply from changing our call to action to be more applicable and enticing to editors at home. Noting that we can ship products to editors’ homes to taste test and adding helpful, relevant content has resulted in 13 product requests from magazines like Real Simple and Better Homes and Gardens in the last two months. 

Can you provide helpful, at-home content or recipes? Can you elevate the nutrition in your products to keep people healthy during this time? What are the ways that your product is adding value to people’s lives right now? We know first-hand that editors are craving this information and they need it now. We’ve seen product placements in Women’s Health and Men’s Health magazine in a two-week span just by elevating and alleviating these pain points for editors. 

 

2. Surprise & Delight 

As editors in New York City are hindered from getting outside and purchasing groceries, we’ve gone “beyond the pitch” to bring our brands fresh fruit and veggies right to their door. Through our outreach to media publications like EatingWell and SAVEUR we noticed test kitchen editors were no longer in the big test kitchen, they were at home. In order to make their lives easier, we partnered with one of our clients to send fresh produce boxes for them to incorporate into recipes at their at-home test kitchen. This is an excellent way to position your brand as helpful, innovative and top-of-mind while the editors are writing their next piece. 

We’ve also created customized mailers for influencers to elevate our brands on their social media platforms. We had to pivot on what was planned to be a promotion about “getting outside” into an “indoor game night” theme for one of our clients. So to generate the buzz for this, we sent influencers a game night package with the brand’s produce to enjoy. The more creative and fun the package is, the more likely an influencer is to share on social media and raise brand awareness for your company.  

 

3. Go virtual

In early March, our PR team was planning a media trip to none other place than New York City to conduct meetings with editors. Only a few days later shelter-in-place orders were enforced, quarenting us to our homes. Instead of throwing our hands in the air and waiting for next year, we decided to go virtual. Hosting virtual media meetings on Zoom is a great way to still get face-to-face time with an editor and talk through the products and company together. Think of it as the new “desk side meeting’.

Another option to go virtual is to leverage your influencer partners or brand ambassadors for a virtual cooking class or showcase. Whether this virtual cooking class is for media members or just fans of your brand, this is a great way to make people feel like they’re invited in during such an isolating time. 

If your influencer or brand ambassador is doing a live cooking class or showcase for fans of your brand, social media will be key. Make sure as many people see the invitation as possible. If you’re leveraging these partnerships for national media, angle your pitch toward what an editor or their readers would be interested in learning right now. The best recipes you can make with items already in your pantry, nutritious meals to keep you healthy during this time, easy family dinners, you name it. Find ways to add value and be helpful during this time. 

 

The best way to maximize your PR hours during this time is to find ways to add value to the standard “pitch.” Sending products to editors at home, putting together a media mailer, perhaps even hosting a virtual cooking class are all value-added public relations efforts. Looking for ways to go “beyond the pitch,” or the extra mile is what will reap your brand or company major rewards during this time. 

 

Need help brainstorming some ways to go “beyond the pitch?” Schedule a call with our team! 

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