What is the Best Way to Use a PR Pitch Email Template?

Oct 23, 2023

Pitching is the bread and butter of PR, but that doesn’t mean you can do it on autopilot! Writing killer pitches takes serious brain power — from thinking of an innovative story angle to actually writing out the pitch. But you can make writing pitches so much easier with a pitch email template!

Pitch email templates are an essential tool for PR pros. A proven template can ease your stress and help you write a killer pitch every time. Let’s dive into all things pitch email templates: what they are, why they’re such powerful tools, and how to use them effectively as a PR pro!

What Is a Pitch Email Template?

A pitch email template is precisely what it sounds like: an email template you can follow to craft a PR pitch!

Templates cover all the basic elements of a pitch, including:

A subject line
An attention-grabbing introduction
Your main story angle
Details about what makes your pitch newsworthy
A call to action (CTA)
A conclusion with next steps

You might also include a section for relevant credentials, research, or statistics. Also, consider having different templates for different types of pitches. After all, a product launch pitch is very different from a guest post pitch!

With a pitch template, you have all the fundamentals laid out. They let you go step-by-step to craft a good, effective pitch. It’s literally a proven framework for getting results!

If you need a jumping-off point to get started, grab my FREE Media Pitch Template resource to learn my exact formula for crafting winning pitches.

3 Reasons Why You Need to Use a Pitch Email Template

Using a pitch email template might seem like adding an extra step where you don’t need one — after all, isn’t it better to just write a unique pitch from scratch? (Spoiler alert: not quite!) Here are three reasons why you need to use a pitch email template during your pitch-writing process.

#1: They Save You Time

You don’t have to waste brain power reinventing the wheel every time you send out a pitch. Pitch email templates can majorly cut down on your pitch writing time.

Instead of creating fresh content and a new format for every pitch, you can just sit down and get started! You’ve already got ideas for your story angle — so start typing and let the ideas flow!

As a PR pro, your time is way too valuable to spend sitting at a desk wondering if you should use two CTAs or three. Spend your time, effort, and energy brainstorming innovative story angles instead! Your talents will have more impact when you focus them on devising irresistible pitch angles.

#2: You Won’t Forget Key Details with a Pitch Email Template

Ever sent out a pitch only to realize you forgot to include key details?

For example, if you’ve been knocking out product launch pitch after product launch pitch and suddenly have to switch over to pitching your client’s expert for TV spots, you might miss a key pitch element! But when you can just grab your pitch email template for client experts and go to town, you won’t leave out high-priority info. Your template will walk you through every step of the pitch-writing process — it leaves no stone unturned!

My Media Pitch Template includes all the building blocks of a good, effective pitch to make sure you hit on all the key elements.

#3: Getting Started Is Much Easier

Whether you’re new to PR or are a veteran PR pro, pitch email templates help jumpstart your pitch-writing process.

For newbie PR pros, pitch email templates are a great way to get started in the industry! They give you a fill-in-the-blank outline to help you get pitching. And, as you send out more and more pitches with your template, you’ll learn what works for your niche. Over time, you'll develop your personal pitching style (and can tweak your templates accordingly)!

For PR vets, templates get you out of a rut with your pitch-writing routine. Sometimes having words on a page right away (even if they’re all in brackets, ready to be replaced!) can spark inspiration and motivation to write.

Plus, plugging in all the elements of your pitch will build momentum. Even if you’re writing bare-bones content and want to make edits later, having that momentum behind you will make the process easier.

How to Use a Pitch Email Template the Right Way

So, you’ve got your pitch email template in hand. Now it’s time to turn it into a killer pitch! Here are three tips for using your pitch email template the right way every time.

#1: It’s a Template…Not a Plug-and-Play

Many PR pros think it’s easier to write a generic pitch email and hope the person on the other end reads it and sees how it fits in with their work. But that’s one of the easiest ways to get your pitch rejected!

Journalists and editors want to see that you understand their editorial focus and know what works with their audience. That is how you get their attention and land a placement!

Customize the email to fit your media contact and their beat, publication, and audience. Your pitch should still be timely, relevant, and targeted to your media contact, even with a pitch email template. You should also include personal details, like a personalized greeting, a reference to something you saw on their social media, or a compliment on their latest piece.

#2: Don’t Overload on Details

With a pitch email template, you have the space to throw in a ton of information…but that doesn’t mean you should!

Don’t fill your template up to the brim. Avoid an information overload — it just gives your media contact a lot of word soup to wade through to get to your point.

Keep things on the shorter side. You want to send only enough information to get your media contact interested in your story angle. Giving away less information hooks your media contact. It motivates them to reply, get the details, and secure the story.

At the same time, don’t give away such little info that the pitch becomes overly vague — it may take a few tries to hit the sweet spot, but once you land there, you’ll hit it out of the park every time.

#3: Mass Pitching Is a No-Go

Journalists can spot a mass pitch from a mile away…and it’ll just land you on their blocked list. It may seem like a waste of time to tweak your pitch email template whenever you send out a new pitch, but it’ll get you far more results in the long run!

A strategic, targeted pitch that you personalized for a media contact has a much better chance of success than a generic mass pitch. As you get results for your clients, your confidence will grow. You’ll become an indispensable part of their team!

Pitching may be the bread and butter of PR, but it can also eat up a lot of your time and energy. If pitching is leaving you too drained to make the most of your talents, it’s time to set yourself up with a reliable pitch email template. Use a pitch email template to lessen your stress so you can stay focused on the tasks that light you up!