How to Pitch and Place Infographics in the Press

Infographics are slowly taking over the online universe. According to this infographic (yes, this is a blog on infographics that references an infographic on infographics), the word infographic is mentioned online every 1.7 seconds. That means, on any given day, infographics are being blogged, tweeted and talked about online more than 51,000 times.

Sounds like a good way to get your message out, huh? But the more pressing question isn’t around whether or not infographics are an effective marketing tool, but rather how to go about placing them with meaningful media outlets.

Here’s a quick reality check: pitching infographics isn’t much different from pitching any other story. Of course, there are a few caveats, but the basic strategy remains the same.

The first step: understand your story and your audience. The best way to do this is by ensuring that you can answer two questions about your pitch angle: so what, and who cares? In other words, why is this infographic important, who is going to be interested in viewing it and why does it make sense for the publication or blog to publish it right now?

Once you have your story fleshed out, the next step is targeted outreach. Do you know which publications typically run infographics? Not all accept them. (Fast Company, USA Today and Mashable are three high-profile outlets to shoot for.) Do you know which reporters are in charge of infographic review, and which topics he/she is interested in covering? Reporters and bloggers can receive thousands of emails a day, so ensuring that your pitch is targeted and meaningful to their audience is critical.

Specifically for infographics, most bloggers and publications want exclusivity, so be sure to promise that in your pitch … and follow through with it, of course. Also, due to the abundance of poorly designed infographics, if you have an example of one that your company has already created, share the link with the editor so he can envisions the end result (don’t attach – reporters hate attachments).

Here are a few additional email pitching tips – useful for all forms of media, including infographics:

1. Send with an attention-grabbing subject line: The most important step is getting the reporter to open your email!
2. Shorter is better: Remember, reporters have to sort through thousands of emails a day and are often on deadline – they don’t have time to read your 300-word pitch.
3. Personalize, personalize, and personalize:  If a reporter thinks they’re being spammed, the email gets trashed.
4. Make it newsworthy: If you’re struggling to get someone’s attention, scan the news for recent stories and headlines that relate to your pitch. If there’s a piece of breaking news or a new supporting report, leverage it to gain the journalist attention.

A few other points to remember: the infographic is for the publication’s readers, not your company. Don’t worry if the message isn’t super tight with your key message. And if you’re struggling to catch reporters by email, try pitching it via the phone where you can sell the idea verbally.

And finally, once you place the idea (sometimes you need to create the infographic first), just because you have a bunch of statistics and a few photos, that doesn’t mean it’s a good infographic.  The story needs to flow, make sense and it can’t look like an advertisement.