How To Write A Business Story Pitch
One of the more popular questions sent in from our visitors is how to write a business story pitch. A lot of entrepreneurs doing their own small business PR constantly submit questions about the best way to get a business profile in their local newspaper. And there is good reason for this. A successful business profile story can do great things for a company, especially within the local community. On a larger scale, a nice business profile pitch can help a growing company get noticed outside its region and by other groups that may even represent the investment community.
We offer lots of small business PR story ideas through the UnderstandingMarketing.com PITCH series (Publicity Ideas That Create Headlines). But it is always good to offer some in-depth analysis of crafting a story pitch to generate media awareness.
From a purely PR perspective, companies that know how to write a business story pitch and get written up in their local papers also have a better chance of getting on the radar screen of larger business media who are always looking for local examples of national trend stories.
It is important to know how to write a business story pitch because the competition is fierce. Ask any reporter and they will tell you they receive hundreds of business story pitches each day, via email and social media PR. This is the case even for business reporters at daily newspapers of secondary media markets. Emerging companies would be wise to learn how to write a business story pitch because getting written up in the local newspaper is a great stepping stone to securing larger, more national profile coverage and interview opportunities.
One recent business profile story that caught my attention contains all the necessary components that illustrate and support how to write a business story pitch. Citrix is a large IT solutions provider based in South Florida. The story they secured in the Miami Herald is a great case study and example small businesses and entrepreneurs can follow. And before you start thinking Citrix easily secured the coverage because they are a large company, let me immediately discount that. They handle very complex technology in a B2B environment, which means they are not the typical story target for the Herald. Here are several components of their story that will help teach you how to write a business story pitch:
1: Be willing to demonstrate revenue growth. First and foremost, business stories are about business. And since business is about how much money you?re making, you have to be willing to discuss revenue, sales and profits to demonstrate growth. Far too many times a CEO will approach me and say he/she wants to get a story written about them but they aren?t willing to disclose revenue figures.
2: Illustrate how you are growing your employee head count. Making money is a big part of the equation but it is still just a part. You must also show that your company is growing through staff headcount. This can be overall staff increases or employee growth in a certain division.
3: Show how your new product/service divisions support merging business trends. Are you growing in the areas of mobile technology, cloud computing, social media? Read stories in the media to find out which trends are making headlines and attach your growth story to those trends.
4: Offer statistics that support trend information. The Citrix story was about growth in their mobile technology division, and in the story Citrix demonstrated how certain areas of growth were increasing by specific percentages. It is important to also offer up industry facts, statistics and insight where possible.
5: Provide the reporter with analysts or outsiders who will address your growth. Speaking of insight, help the reporter by providing them with people outside the company they can speak to in an effort to gain third-party insight into your company?s growth. These people are most likely going to be analysts who have been following your company for some time. And if you don?t know who these people are, back up a step and build some relationships before you pitch your story.
6: Describe something colorful about the person leading the division or company. Having said everything above, what separates a good business story and pitch from a great one is the ability to paint the leader of a company as a very colorful person with interesting characteristics. Even business stories like to tell the inside story of the person leading the company, including hobbies and passions shared outside the office.
7: Explain the impact of your growth/product/services on your customers, and provide access to a few for comment. You?ve heard this many times before on the UnderstandingMarketing.com website. Great business profile stories include great customer experience stories. How are you helping your customers and what is their perspective. Always be sure to offer up one, two or even three happy customers who can speak to the merits of the story.
What other tips would you provide that could teach entrepreneurs how to write a business story pitch? Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts with the community.
John Sternal is President of Sternal Communications, a PR and marketing consultancy helping businesses get noticed through publicity in the media. He is the author of the PR Toolkit for Small Business and currently authoring a book about small business PR for entrepreneurs. For questions email John Sternal or connect with him @SternalPR.
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