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How to Pitch in Muck Rack

A step-by-step guide to Pitching in Muck Rack from beginning to end

Sara Sorenson avatar
Written by Sara Sorenson
Updated over 2 months ago

How to Pitch in Muck Rack

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Pitches on Muck Rack transform how you send personalized emails in bulk, track metrics about your outreach, and organize your company's relationship history with every journalist.

Learn More in Muck Rack Academy

You can learn all about sending Pitches in Muck Rack by taking the Muck Rack Essentials course in Muck Rack Academy.


Send a Pitch With Muck Rack

Watch the video or follow the steps below to learn how to send a Pitch using Muck Rack.

  1. Go to Relationships > Pitches.

    Shows the Relationships dropdown menu expanded with the 'Pitches' option circled in red

  2. Select the Create New button in the top right-hand corner.

    A screenshot of the Pitches landing page with the 'Create New' button highlighted in the top right corner

  3. Follow the Pitch Workflow outlined in each section below.

    A screenshot of the Setup page within the Pitching tool with the workflow highlighted at the top showing the following steps in order: Setup, Recipients, Compose, Personalize, Review and Send


Setup

  1. Enter a name for your pitch.

    A screenshot of the Setup page within the Pitching tool in Muck Rack with the Name field highlighted


    NOTE: This will not be the subject of the email sent to your recipients, but for you to identify the pitch within Muck Rack.

  2. Select any other settings that are applicable to your pitch:

    • Shared With: Select who has access to this pitch within your organization.

    • Include Unsubscribe: Provides users with the option to unsubscribe from the pitch.

    • Email Tracking: Track when emails are opened and links are clicked.

      A screenshot of the Setup page within the Pitching tool in Muck Rack with the "Shared with," "Include unsubscribe," and "Email tracking" fields highlighted


  3. Select Next step in the bottom right-hand corner.

    A screenshot of the Setup page within the Pitching tool in Muck Rack with the "Next step" button highlighted in the bottom right-hand corner



Recipients

  1. Select the Add Recipients button.

    Shows the 'Recipients' page with the 'Add recipients' button highlighted in the top right-hand corner

  2. Search for Media Lists, People, and Newsdesks using the search bar and select to add to your Recipient list.

    Shows the word 'priority' being typed into the search bar of the 'Find recipients' panel and selecting a Media List titled 'Journos from Priority Outlets'


  3. If you cannot locate a contact you need, select + New Custom Contact to create a new Custom Contact and add them to your Recipient list.

    Shows the 'Add recipients' panel expanded with the 'New Custom Contact' button circled in red at the top


  4. Once happy with your list, select the Add to pitch button at the bottom.

    Shows the 'Add recipients' panel with several recipients added to the 'Recipient list' and the 'Add to pitch' button circled in red at the bottom


  5. Review your list and remove recipients if desired.

    Example: You can use the Last Pitched date to sort and filter recipients based on when they last received communication from your team. This can ensure you don't follow up with reporters too soon.

    Highlights the 'Last Pitched' column on the Recipients page and shows the 'Last Pitched' filter being applied


  6. Select the Next step button in the bottom right-hand corner to proceed.


Compose

Compose your Pitch by entering a Subject line and Pitch content. The [first name] merge tag will pull from the contact's data and input their first name into the greeting.

Shows the 'Compose' page with an example pitch entered into the email fields

Learn More About Pitch Formatting & Attachments

This article covers the main steps of the Pitching workflow in Muck Rack. For more details on how you can format your pitch and add attachments, visit our Pitch Formatting & Attachments article.


Personalize

When it comes to Pitching Best Practices, the best thing you can do is ensure you personalize as many pitches as possible. When is a pitch considered personalized? When it is tailored specifically to the journalist or media contact in a way that demonstrates an understanding of their interests, beat, past work, or audience.

You can personalize each Pitch from the template you created in the previous step.

  1. Select the Personalize button to edit the pitch for an individual contact.

    Shows the 'Personalize' page with a list of recipients and the 'Personalize' column highlighted with a 'Personalize' button circled in red


  2. Tailor your pitch to that contact by adding a personalized message.

    Shows the 'Personalize' panel expanded with an example of a personalized pitch highlighted


  3. Select the Save personalization button at the bottom.

    Shows the 'Personalize' panel expanded with the 'Save personalization' button highlighted at the bottom

Shows the green 'Personalized' label next to the first contact on the list of the 'Personalize' page

NOTE: A personalized Pitch will have a Personalized tag next to the contact name.


Review & Send

Review your pitch and edit any details as needed. Then either schedule the pitch to be sent at a later date or select Send Now.

Shows the full 'Review and send' page


Add Contacts to a Pitch

Add Contacts to a Pitch From a Media List

Sending a pitch through an existing Media List is an alternative process for sending pitches. You can use this method to send new and existing Pitches.

  1. Go to Relationships > Media Lists and select a Media List.

    Shows the 'Relationships' menu expanded with the 'Media Lists' option circled in red


  2. From your selected Media List, select the Send Pitch drop-down in the top right-hand corner to add your entire Media List to a pitch or select specific contacts then the Add to Pitch button in the action bar that appears to add only those contacts. You can select an existing pitch or create a new one.

    Shows an entire media list being added to a pitch via the 'Send Pitch' button on a Media List page

    Shows the Media List page with a few contacts selected and the 'Add to Pitch' button highlighted on the Action bar

  3. The pitch will populate contacts from the Media List as your recipients. You can select Add Recipients to add additional contacts or remove contacts individually or in bulk from this page.

    Shows the 'Recipients' page of the Pitch flow


Schedule Pitches to Send Later

If you want to prepare a pitch for later, you can schedule pitches to be sent on a specific date at a specific time.

  1. Navigate to the Review and Send step within an existing pitch.

    Shows the 'Review and send' page of the Pitch flow


  2. Select the Schedule for Later button at the bottom.

    Highlights the 'Schedule for later' button at the bottom of the 'Review and send' page


  3. Select a date for the pitch to be sent.

    Shows the Date Picker that pops up when 'Schedule for later' is selected


  4. Select Schedule Pitch at the bottom right of the screen.

    Highlights the 'Schedule Pitch' button that appears once a date is selected


Edit or Cancel a Scheduled Pitch

  1. Go to Relationships > Pitches.

    Shows the Relationships dropdown menu expanded with the 'Pitches' option circled in red


  2. Select the Scheduled tab.

    Highlights the 'Scheduled' Filter button at the top of the Pitches table


  3. Select the Pitch you'd like to reschedule and make changes as needed in the Review and Send section under Choose when to send this Pitch.

    Shows the 'Review and send' section of the Pitch flow with the 'Edit schedule' button highlighted next to 'Choose when to send this Pitch'


  4. To cancel the scheduled pitch, select Cancel next to the currently scheduled date.

    Shows the 'Choose when to send this Pitch' section with a large red arrow pointing to the 'Cancel' link next to the scheduled date


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Question

Answer

How quickly will my pitch send?

The speed of sending your pitch depends on how you've set up email delivery through Muck Rack. Sending time depends on several factors including the number of recipients, spam-detection systems, and more.

If your organization frequently sends pitches to many recipients, it's advisable to contact our team to explore alternative sending methods.

Regardless of the sending method, it's not recommended to send pitches to several hundred recipients simultaneously.

When pitching through Muck Rack, can I CC or BCC someone who does not have a Muck Rack account?

Not at this time, however, this is a functionality we are exploring.

What happens if a new email address is found for a recipient?

Muck Rack’s team will update the status for the recipient from Issue to Unsent. This allows you to choose if you’d like to send the pitch to the recipient or if you’d prefer to remove them from the Pitch.

To send the Pitch to any recipients who were changed from Issue to Unsent, click the Continue sending button from your Pitch.

What happens if a new email address is not found for a recipient?

Muck Rack’s team will leave the status of the recipient as an Issue and update the recipient’s Issue status. The issue status can be viewed by selecting the Issues filter from your Pitch, or clicking the row for a recipient included in your Pitch.

Where are past pitches stored?

You can view your previously sent pitches by navigating to Relationships > Pitches. The Pitches page will show you all your pitches, including those in draft status.

To view past pitches, select the Sent column to sort your pitches so that only those already sent appear at the top.

How do I view follow-up pitches?

To view your pitch follow-ups, navigate to the Pitches page by selecting Relationships > Pitches.

There are 2 ways to view follow-ups:

  1. Locate the specific Pitch you'd like to view follow-ups for in the list, then select the "View follow-ups" link below the name of the pitch.

    Show the Pitches page with the 'View follow-ups' link circled in red below the name of a Pitch


  2. Select the Follow-ups filter at the top to view a full list of pitch follow-ups.

    Shows the Pitches page with the 'Follow-ups' filter tab circled in red

When is a pitch considered personalized?

In terms of best practices, a pitch is considered personalized when it is tailored specifically to the journalist or media contact in a way that demonstrates an understanding of their interests, beat, past work, or audience.

In the platform, a pitch is marked as "Personalized" whenever the email message has been altered from the template you created during the Compose step and then saved.


Additional Resources

Learn more about Pitching via these helpful resources:

Resource

Description

Case Studies

Read about how some of our customers have leveraged Pitching in Muck Rack:

Best Practice Guides

Check out our downloadable ebooks for tips on Pitching:

Academy Courses, Webinars, and Videos

See Muck Rack Academy's catalog for more opportunities to learn about Coverage Reports and how they can be used.


Get Help

For additional help, contact support by choosing the chat icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen and selecting Messages > Send us a message.


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