Annoying pitches that actually work
Last time we talked about the press releases and media pitches and when should you pick one (if any) to pitch to the media outlets.
However, there are some types of pitches that don’t really belong to this classification. We call those an “annoying demo”. It happens when you try to offer a demo your service or product when nobody asked. But it works (sometimes)!
A quick disclaimer, this won’t work for every startup, especially not for hardware B2B. But it might give you some ideas, so reading this post won’t hurt, right?
Let’s pretend you have a browser extension, which makes everyone’s work easier. Your extension works great, doesn’t crash when installed, and is useful in the first place.
Once you’ve met all the above, you are ready to pitch it to the reporters who cover browser extensions specifically and productivity tools overall. Now - can you imagine how many pitches those guys receive daily? How do you stand out with your product?
Here comes the “annoying demo” approach.
Let’s say you pitch ZDnet which is really big on productivity coverage. First, you need to find this one contributor who is a fan of productivity extensions. Once you identified your best match among reporters, you need to research:
• what is their background or hobby,
• what have they already covered,
• how they do their day-to-day work.
Let’s say you found out that this contributor is also a professional photographer and likes to hike. Then your “annoying demo” will look like this:
• you find their photos, upload them to your extension as background,
• then you find the best hike routes around their location and pin them to the board through the extension (again, let’s pretend it allows you to do so).
Next, you take a screenshot and add a blurb like “hey, we launched a browser expension, which you, as a professional photographer and an avid hiker, might enjoy while working on your next story for ZDnet".
Now your pitch looks like a personalized desktop with a short message. And personalized pitches is what we are always looking for, right?
Make sure you have added a link to download/install the extension. Just add at the end “If it looks interesting, here is a link to try the extension. Please feel free to ping me any time should you have any questions.”
Note: please don’t make this look creepy or stalking. There is a line one should not cross. Never try to find any personal details, family photos or any other pics and facts that will scare a reporter forever.
Not sure you can prep an annoying demo on your own? Hire PR Guy for just $149. From crafting an eye-catching pitch to finding all the relevant media contacts and telling you when to follow-up with journalists, PR Guy will guide you through the journey of pitching to success.