The Peak's editor-in-chief spills the tea on pitching and LinkedIn content

In the competitive world of media relations, making a pitch stand out and building lasting relationships with journalists can be challenging - but it's not impossible.

During a fireside chat at PR Asia Singapore 2024, Zat Astha, editor in chief of The Peak, emphasised that PR professionals need to craft pitches that align with the journalist's interests and the media outlet's editorial focus.

"You need to make sure that you know who is in the team, and what kind of news to send them," said Zat. Below, we find out more about Zat's views on how PR professionals can enhance their media outreach and establish stronger, more effective connections with journalists.

Zat is also an active member of the LinkedIn community and posts paragraphs about stories that resonate with him and his audience of CEOs, leaving a paper trail of clues of what PR professionals should be pitching to him.

“I do really love my job. I think the reason why I joined The Peak was because I wanted to tell stories through profiles and interviews and to figure out what my interviewees true North is. What is it that they stand for? What do the companies stand for, and why do the companies exist? These are questions that people think are very easy, but you'll be surprised. Most people don’t think about that until there’s a crisis,” said Zat.

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MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: We hear from PR professionals about not being able to crack the journalist and not being able to get them to pick up the phone or answer an email. What is the secret to getting through to you?

Zat: The secret is I don't have time. When it comes to emails, you either get a reply in two minutes or you don't. That’s just it. I get so many emails from so many people. When I open an email, the first thing I see is the name, then I see a little bit of the paragraph and I go, "No, next" or yes.

But please keep sending your emails even if its a no for now, because one day I may need to connect with you. And when I do connect with you, please do reply me.

It's very hard because as journalists, PR pros' emails often go missing so just have patience. Have patience and then one day, something will click, you will need me and I will also need you, and then we will have a symbiotic relationship.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What is your advice on starting a conversation or relationship with a journalist or writer?

Zat:

If you don't have a relationship already, then it's going to be very difficult but if you have the relationship, you nurture it.

You nurture the hell out of it and I'm not saying give me moon cakes. I don't need moon cakes. I'm also not asking for Turkey or wine. I'm not asking for all these things. I'm just asking that we are kept in mind for stories.

When something exciting happens, we are only asking that we are kept in mind. When there are events, invite us. The only way to do that right is really to just nurture the relationship, especially when you get an in.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: You are quite active on LinkedIn. How do you decide what to post on your personal feed versus the magazine's?

Zat: I don't put a lot of our stories on our company LinkedIn. Instead, I choose the ones that I want to highlight on my own personal LinkedIn. The stores that I've written are on my LinkedIn. As for the stories that my other writers write, depending on how interesting the angles are, I will also put it on LinkedIn.

I write on LinkedIn, not the same way as everybody else does. I write a story.

Also if you see my profile, I don't have 21,000 followers. I only have 4000 followers - but they are all CEOs. It is also all about quality versus quantity.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Does this make PR professionals nervous about what you post on LinkedIn?

Zat: I'm very cognizant of the difficulties that PR and communications people face. I completely understand. I let people fact check my stories. I really have no issues. I won’t suddenly have a "gotcha" moment - I'm not into sensational journalism. I'm into principaled journalism. I will not put our conversations from outside the interview into this interview. I won't. I think it's not fair. I am not afraid of what the PR people might say, because I am never sensational. I'm always professional.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Speaking about professional, you're super active on TikTok and on LinkedIn. Two very different platforms. How do you pivot your content for the platform?

Zat: Some people follow me on TikTok. Some people follow me on LinkedIn. I will tell you this, because I've never said this in a fireside before, the reason I publish my beauty content on TikTok is because I wanted to experiment and see whether I can become an influencer.

I separate my life. When you follow me on TikTok, I am not the same person as I am on LinkedIn but that doesn't mean that both are not authentic. Both can be true. You can have different facets of yourself. You don't have to be one person throughout.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: You talked earlier about how you always try to stand out on LinkedIn. In this sea of sameness, how can PR professionals stand out?

Zat: I think when you work in content and see something trending, you'd want to jump on it but then it can become very cringe. If somebody comes up to you and says, "Hey, we also need to do that trend", just ask them why. What value does it add to your brand? Does it make you more relatable?

For TikTok it is all about education. If you want lasting brand impact, you must be educational, informational and meaningful.

If it is fun and it is entertaining, great, but if it is not informational, meaningful and educational, then it will fail.

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