When it comes to getting your brand noticed, the newsroom of The Wall Street Journal is a pretty powerful platform. With over 270 million monthly readers around the world, the newspaper has an audience that you can tap into. If you want your message to get across, starting with a PR pitch can be a good idea.

In this video, WSJ Online’s Marjorie Acosta talks about the ins and outs of PR and marketing at the Journal and how to make the most of your press exposure.

Why The Wall Street Journal?

With one of the largest online newsrooms in the world, the opportunities for brand exposure are endless. If you want to pitch your story to the right audience, the staff at the Journal can help. They can give you insight into what will and won’t work when it comes to marketing and PR strategies. Additionally, the paper’s reporters are some of the best in the business, so any exposure you get may be pretty impactful.

How to Effectively Pitch To The WSJ

When pitching to the Journal, you’re dealing with some serious journalism industry clout. To ensure your message makes it into print, you’ll need to go above and beyond with a solid pitch. Luckily, they’re more than happy to help. With a little creative thinking and research, you can develop a winning strategy that will get your story noticed by the right people. Here are a few tips on how to effectively pitch to the Journal:

Put The Media In The Middle

One of the best things you can do for your pitch is to put the media in the middle. Rather than having a journalist write about your story without giving you any credit, interjecting media is a great way to gain traction online. Having journalists write about your brand isn’t a bad idea either, but the middle path is always the best when it comes to pitching.

Look For The Little Tricks

While big brands with deep pockets can afford big ads and expensive magazine spreads, smaller brands often don’t have that luxury. That’s why when you’re pitching to a more traditional media outlet like a newsroom, you’ll need to look for the little tricks that can help. The best way to get attention is by using digital marketing and social media to engage with your audience. In 2018, 59% of American adults used YouTube to learn about brands, products, and companies. That’s more than any other social media network. With so many consumers turning to YouTube, your video content can appear seamlessly in the newsfeed.

Keep To The Point

In an age where people are constantly distracted by shiny objects, it’s important to keep your copy concise and to the point. Sometimes the simplest and most effective strategy is the best one. Rather than launching into a lengthy diatribe about your product or service, you can simply state the facts. For example, rather than saying: “Our new car is blue and it has four wheels,” you can simply state: “Our new car is blue and has four wheels.” Your listener will still understand what you’re saying, but it will cut out all the extra verbiage. When it comes to pitching, brevity is truly the soul of wit.

Marketing Vs. Public Relations

When you’re getting started, it can be difficult to know where to fit in the marketing and public relations quadrants. Depending on your budget and desired results, you may decide that one approach is more effective than the other. When it comes to pitching to the Journal, you’re dealing with a brand that is heavily associated with journalism. When you’re trying to get the attention of a journalist for a particular publication, you’re generally considered to be in the public relations camp.

Marketing is the practice of figuring out how to get our products or services into the hands of target audiences. It often includes advertising, but can also encompass the activities of sales, public relations, and social media. When you’re pitching to a media outlet like the Journal, you’re trying to get your product or service into the hands of readers. For that reason, you’ll want to consider marketing as your first port of call.

The Difference Between Attracting, Engaging And Converting

Getting your product or service in the right hands is only the first step. Having a readily available audience that is interested in what you have to say is the second. Having a desire to purchase what you’re selling is the last step. Whether you’re selling your own products or affiliate products, you’ll eventually want to help your audience take the desired action. That’s what marketing is all about: getting someone from ‘interested’ to ‘engaged’ to ‘converted’ via a series of interactions that form a connected narrative. To create a good narrative, you’ll want to consider using case studies, anecdotes, and other compelling stories to create interest.

The Importance Of Research

When you’re pitching a brand new product or service, you’ll want to consider who you’re trying to reach. For that reason, it’s important to do your research. Fortunately, the Journal is a reputable brand and an established source of information. By researching key metrics like monthly readership and looking for patterns around demographics, you can develop a better understanding of ​what ​works and what doesn’t. When you have that knowledge, you can develop a winning strategy for pitching.

Don’t Forget About The Phone

If you’re fortunate enough to land an editorial slot with the Journal, you’ll want to make sure you’re not forgotten about. For that reason, it’s important to keep in touch. Even if you don’t get the green light to pitch a story, you can always try your luck with a call. With some persuasive talking points and a small investment in a phone credit, you can make sure your contact details live on in perpetuity.

Above All, Be Persistent

With all the different platforms and publications out there, it can be easy to get distracted and lose that initial burst of enthusiasm. However, once you’ve found a few success stories, you can always fall back on that to keep you going. When you’re first getting started, continue to build your credibility and engage with potential clients by publishing more content. Ultimately, you’ll want to position yourself as an expert in your industry and create a track record that proves it. Once you’ve established yourself as an authoritative voice in your industry, you can look for more traditional advertising and marketing opportunities.