I just read a post on Amber Naslund’s blog about her perspective on the ineffectiveness of pitching in corporate-speak language. It got me thinking about writing pitches in general and how a one-size-fits-all pitch never works. There is an art to pitching. The bottom line is that when you craft a pitch, it needs to speak to the person that you are targeting and/or to their audience. Naslund’s perspective is coming from the angle of social media. In that case, corporate speak is not effective, because that’s not how people in social media talk. In other instances, a more formal tone may be more appropriate. The key here is to know who you are pitching, know a bit about who they are, know their style, and know what it is that you want them to do and if that actually is something they can and may be willing to do. Do your homework and adjust the tone of your pitch depending on who you are approaching. Pitching a blogger is different than pitching a trade magazine. Pitching a consumer magazine is different than pitching a potential corporate sponsor. Speak their language. Put yourself in their position and try to understand how they will respond.

For example, I recently got a pitch from someone at a product company that, although his email started with “Hi Cheryl,” clearly he had never read my blog or taken the time to understand what I do. He went on to say (cut and pasted) that he really enjoyed my blog and all the great giveaways that I host. Um, folks, do you see any giveaways here? He wanted me to host a giveaway for his product even though that’s not what I do. Delete. No, actually, I first emailed him back and told him what I do, and that if he found his current email campaign to be ineffective, then he could hire me to help him craft a more effective one. Then I hit delete.

If you don’t take the time to try to know or understand the person or organization you are pitching, then why would they take the time to care or act upon what it is you are asking from them. Tailor your pitch to fit your mark and your successes will be greater.