How to pitch your tech story to the media

Many media outlets do not publish announcements of new product releases, company partnerships or customer wins. In this case, the best way to pitch your story is to borrow a principle from marketing. Add value to your pitch by educating media contacts on issues that they do cover and that your staff has expertise.

Bedell Communications recently wrote a press release announcing the launch of ExperiorData. The timing of the launch was crucial as it coincided with a new regulation that requires health care entities to encrypt their data or go through a number of headache-inducing steps to notify customers of a data breach. By stressing the gravity of this regulation and demonstrating the client’s expertise on the subject, the press release provides the media with a story that readers will be interested in.

So, how do you do this? Find a legitimate news hook that supports your story. To find this news hook, talk to marketing or sales about what timely customer problem your solution addresses. What are they using to sell or market today? Maybe it’s an increase in security vulnerabilities, the state of the economy or green IT.

Hint at this hook in the opening graph of your press release, positioning your company/product as a solution to this larger problem. Then proceed to educate the media on this problem. Use quotes and your company’s/product’s benefits to demonstrate your expertise and solution. Remember, your goal is to emphasize the hook or current problem readers/customers face and offer your product as a solution.

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Crystal Bedell
Freelance technical copywriter & c