Introducing UPitch: the new public relations app from Full Scale Media dedicated to revolutionizing the way journalists connect with story ideas, and the way businesses connect with their next big media opportunity.
UPitch combines the swipe technology of Tinder with the self-service business model of LegalZoom, making it easy and convenient for brands and journalists to find eachother and connect.
It’s a question any entrepreneur or business owner knows only too well. It may even keep them up at night:
Whether you’re introducing a new product or announcing a new partnership, gearing up for a big event or launching a crowdfunding campaign, getting your brand’s story out there in front of the right audience is the key to making sure that, when the big day comes, your audience shows up for the party.
In order to get your story in front of the right audience, first you have to get it in front of the right journalists. But as anyone who has tried knows,
Major corporations have entire PR teams working around the clock to get their brands the right exposure in the right media outlets. But for brands and businesses that don’t have an extra couple thousand dollars (or more) lying around to pay for a full-time PR team — and even some that do — getting media coverage quickly starts to feel like a frustrating and even futile ordeal.
Some typical methods these days are to issue a press release through a wire service or shoot off a round of mass emails and then cross your fingers that somebody gets back to you. But, as any busy journalist constantly getting pummeled with anonymous email pitches will tell you, most of those pitches wind up in the trash folder, unopened. In addition, due to the high turnover rate of journalists, email addresses can often be outdated.
At Full Scale Media, we got to thinking: there has to be a better, more effective way for brands of all budgets to connect with the journalists that can launch their stories into the media stratosphere.
UPitch is the very first self-service PR tool for brands and businesses looking to share their news stories with the media.
UPitch is the future method by which all journalists will receive targeted story ideas from brands and entrepreneurs.
There’s no getting around it: traditional press release distribution and cold email pitches are dying. It’s outdated and it’s impersonal.
Social media has done so much to transform how we connect and communicate in the 21st century. At Full Scale Media, we couldn’t help but wonder:
What would happen if we took the model that dating websites use to help lonely hearts discover and connect with compatible matches, and used it to help journalists discover and connect with compatible story ideas?
Answer: a totally new take on the PR process that cuts through the noise and gets businesses and press contacts, alike, the results they’re looking for.
We’re not kidding when we say UPitch is the Tinder of the PR world. We’ve taken Tinder’s simple, elegant, anonymous approach to browsing through date options and adapted it to perfectly suit the needs of the PR community.
Here’s how it works: businesses craft quick, compelling pitches using our template, and then post their pitch to UPitch.
Then, journalists on the hunt for an intriguing story lead come to UPitch and anonymously swipe through the pitches, filtering by location and media category of choice. Journalists swipe left on the pitches that leave them cold and right on the pitches that spark their interest.
When a journalist swipes right on your pitch, it triggers a match. From there, you and the journalist can message each other directly within the UPitch app, and get to work on the particulars of the story and how to tell it best.
UPitch comes at 3 different levels that give businesses the flexibility to choose the package that suits their budget and their press coverage needs:
UPitch’s free, one active pitch per month model for startups and small to medium sized businesses on a budget.
Three active pitches per month, ideal for medium to large-scale businesses with a bit more PR legroom to work with.
Unlimited pitches — perfect for PR firms with heavy-duty press coverage needs that are looking to ramp up exposure for their clients.
UPitch is the embodiment of a true win-win solution. Businesses get the press exposure they need, journalists get the freedom to search for story leads on their terms.
The team at Full Scale Media knows a thing or two about what it takes to get media coverage.
Our head of PR, Allison Kugel, has been recognized in national media outlets for her celebrity interviews, and for teaching PR101 at General Assembly, a nationally recognized hub for entrepreneurs and the tech community.
With more than a decade of PR and media industry experience under our belts, we’re excited to take the lessons we’ve learned about the PR process and use them to help businesses everywhere get the press they need with UPitch. The app is currently in development and on track toward launch.
Looking toward the future, we’re excited to continue to build UPitch out with even more features and functionalities geared toward helping brands and press contacts connect and collaborate. Future projects in the pipeline include adding video pitches and a desktop-friendly version of the platform, plus a feature that will give journalists the ability to post calls for submissions for stories they are looking to fill and much more.
For more information about the future of Full Scale Media and UPitch and how you can be involved, please request access to the Business Plan page of this profile!
Jared has close to a decade of business development experience, as well as 3 years of social media experience in both B2B and B2C contexts.
Allison has 10 years of experience as a senior-level publicist. She is the former editor of a major news wire service, a celebrity journalist and an instructor of PR101 at General Assembly, as well as a contributing blogger to The Huffington Post.
Diana is a talented PR specialist and the winner of the 2015 Public Relations Professionals of Long Island Rising Star Award for outstanding work in the PR industry. Diana has handled some of the most successful nationwide PR campaigns at Full Scale Media.
Tim leads our social media side of the business. He has helped our clients grow their exposure and brand awareness on most of the major social media platforms, including taking one client from 700,000 real Facebook followers to over 1 million in just 5 short months with no money spent on advertising.