10 Examples of How to Use Data to Pitch Press During COVID-19

The press loves good data. However, if you are not careful in how you package your data while pitching to press, your efforts may be for nothing. Here are ten examples of how to use data to pitch press during COVID-19 .

Crafting your pitch — a skill that you need to master.

You will want to pitch your data in a way that highlights fresh, unique, useful, and relevant data. Remember that crafting your pitch is a skill that you need to master.
There is no point in merely piggy-backing the COVID-19 pandemic just to try and get noticed. Not only will your pitch get sent straight to spam, but your image will also be tainted. So how do you pitch your data-driven content to press during this trying period?
Here are examples used by real businesses you can follow that are fabricated from pre-existing data and have gained attention from the press.
Example #1 – Curate Relevant and Helpful Information for the Public.
A friend of mine recently saw that www.flattenthecurve.com domain was for sale without any previous information on the website. So he decided to make something of this website after seeing all the information about the pandemic out there. He purchased the domain and worked with a group to set up an info hub for up to date COVID19 info by experts.
Now, he did not do this without prior research . Here are some of the steps to figure out what journalists want to hear about for their stories:

Look for journalist’s requests on newsletters such as HARO, Profnet, JournoRequests, ResponseSource, and others to see what questions/asks/queries journalists have and any sources and experts they’re seeking for their stories.
Dig deep into each request from a journalist to find an overarching theme for all the asks.

In my friend’s case, he saw the need/ask for this expert advice and opinions about everything going on with COVID . He also saw that nobody out there was providing this information so he started building his own content:

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The very first version of content on this website was just a simple blog post. He slowly updated the content and worked on getting relevant data on the site. He then pitched media about his data and got amazing press on ABC News.

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Now to pitch something like this, you do not need to create a fancy PR release . Merely use Google to find a journalist interested in this topic, and use Gmail to send them a quick pitch.
Here is the process to use to pitch the journalist:

Find and identify journalists interested in your story.
Create attention-grabbing newsworthy content.

Find their email address. Here is a quick tutorial on how to find a journalist’s email, here.

Reach out.

Since flattenthecurve.com consists of up-to-date information on COVID-19 from real experts and there is not much similar...