FREE POST: Part 1 of All Your Questions Answered (aka, July's Top Tier Talk)
You asked, and we're answering ...
Hello, TTC subscribers!
We’re doing things a bit differently this month: Instead of hosting our usual monthly Top Tier Talk that’s reserved for paid subscribers, we’re answering your burning PR/media questions via Substack for July… and it’s open to everyone!
We had so many great questions submitted earlier this week, that we’re going to roll this out in 2 parts. So if you don’t see your question answered today, don’t worry … we’ll get to it next week!
Note: As most of you know, Nicole is officially on mat leave, so I’m holding down the fort for the next couple of months. We’re holding off on group workshops and private consulting sessions for the month of August, but you’ll still get plenty of industry insights from us via this Substack!
Ok, let’s dive right into your questions:
Dana: What is your top tip for following up with a journalist after sending a pitch?
Answer: Think of your follow-up strategy as your second chance to make a first impression. If crafted correctly, a pitch follow-up can catch our eye in a way that an initial pitch didn’t. It can take your pitch from “here’s a client or product I rep” to “here’s a story idea hand-delivered to you on a silver platter (aka a writer’s dream!).”
The biggest mistake you can make is sending a one-sentence follow-up that says, “Just circling back on this” or “floating this back to the top of your inbox.” You're simply stamping a “hey writer, please go back and read this pitch again” sentence on the top of a pitch.
To be honest, as a writer, we do a lot of email inbox scanning. If we find that something doesn’t work for us, we often delete it and move onto the next email (we try to write back to what we can, but that would also be a full time job and is not always doable). We’re seeing everything in our inbox and if we see an email that says “following up” or “circling back,” subconsciously we interact with it thinking, “Ahh that’s probably a pitch I passed on first round and still not interested.” You’re not telling us anything new here, so we have no incentive to dive deeper into reconsidering your client for a story idea.
Instead, give us something new to chew on! Like:
“That product now comes in pink and Barbiecore is all the rage right now.”
“Since we last talked, this restaurant chain has expanded to these new markets.”
“We just announced a new partnership with …”
“The company now has this amazing news to share.”
“Since we last talked, we hit a new milestone of X units sold or 5,000 5-star reviews on Amazon.”
“I told you all about this product, but now I’d like to share something unique about the founder”
“Did I mention that this product is sustainable, because XYZ?”
For a deeper dive on this topic, check out this Substack we wrote.
Also, see: How to Give New Life to an Old Pitch
Mona: Do you prefer pitches that actually suggest a story idea or a more general “what are you working on, here’s a product that may be a fit.”
Answer: We definitely want to receive your STORY ideas, not a pitch that simply states you rep a product/source. Unless we’re focused on a gift guide or an “I Tried It” piece, there often isn’t much we can do with a simple product pitch … we need some ideas of how to bring it to life!
For us to pitch to our editors, we need to hook them with an angle — so please help us help you! Is there a viral trend you can tag onto? Tell us! (But first, be sure you can PROVE it’s really a trend because we’ll have to prove it to our editor!). Or maybe you can tie it into something trending in the news cycle, or an upcoming awareness day or holiday. Can you group it with other similar clients and make it into a story that way (such as 5 products everyone needs for mental wellness)?
Required reading: How to Sell Writers On Your Client vs. Just Telling Us They Exist
And since you asked, we don’t love the “what are you working on” questions. Why?
First, so many of us have Substacks or put our calls for pitches on Twitter/social media … so if we do that and you don't check there first, you come across as lazy (and someone who maybe won’t be easy to work with). Always demonstrate that you’ve done your homework.
Second, that answer changes by the minute … we receive and submit assignments all day long. Our jobs aren’t static.
Third, we simply don’t have the bandwidth to field this question all day long … it would be a full-time job. And it’s not helpful to tell you what we’re working on if we don’t even know who you rep … I could spend 10 minutes telling you what I need for a travel story, but you only rep beauty brands. It’s just a waste of time all around.
Nataly: Any tips for subscription boxes?
Answer: First and foremost, the brand must be on an affiliate program — very few publications will feature a product they can’t earn a commission off of these days. Your best bets are Amazon and Skimlinks/ShareASale.
Next, make it very clear it’s a subscription box and what the various box options are (including what you get in it, frequency, cost, etc). Sometimes this info can be hard to figure out, so make it clear in the pitch.
Look for outlets that have featured subscription boxes before, as that means they are likely to again. For instance, every year, I update this Reader’s Digest gift guide on the best subscription boxes across a ton of categories. So watch for my calls for pitches on that (don’t know the timing, unfortunately).
Be sure to include a link to images (not attachments!) and include any details that help set your box apart from your competitors. It’s a crowded space!
Also, see: How to Make Your Product Stand Out From All the Other Products In a Writer’s Inbox
Kristjana: Is it more incentivizing for the publication/writer to include a product from a brand that is offering a flat fee per new customer acquisition than a % CPA, or is it all subjective - depending on AOV, CTP, etc?
Answer: I had to tap Sarah Karger for this one, and she said:
“It’s all subjective based on product pricing. After all, CPA directly correlates to the total order value. In this case, do the math for your brand and your unique circumstance. For instance, what is larger: 20% of the brand’s average basket size or the flat rate they’d offer? You can always share these tidbits when offering flat rates with media too — what % it breaks down to so media get a true understanding that the flat rate is a great deal for their publication.”
Hope that helps! And if you have other affiliate marketing questions, I highly recommend these 2 extremely affordable resources:
Our Christmas in July Affiliate Marketing Workshop (hosted by Jill, Nicole and Sarah)
Sarah’s masterclass on affiliate marketing, which has gotten RAVE reviews!
Charlotte: Do you always prefer pitches over press releases, as they are shorter and more concise? Or is there ever a circumstance where press release format is preferred?
Answer: I honestly haven’t read a press release in a decade, and none of my other writer friends do either. We really can’t do much with a press release … there’s zero chance we’ll use the canned quotes (that, no offense, you probably wrote on behalf of your client, so it’s not even their own words) because everyone else can just pick up the same copy too and then you run into SEO issues for the outlets, they are too long, and they are a really outdated model (my understanding is the only real value for them anymore is SEO or to satisfy rules for shareholders or something along those lines?). Finally they are super generic, too … something you blast out to everyone without zeroing in on your target audience.
Instead, always send a pitch ... as short and concise as the subject matter will allow (some pitches are more complicated and require more explanation and that’s OK if it’s really necessary). And make sure it’s targeted to the publication you’re pitching (and further targeted to the writer/editor you’re emailing), so that it feels personalized.
Maybe newspapers with a calendar of events section prefer press releases or syndicated publications do for certain sections, but beyond that I seriously can’t really think of a circumstance where it would be preferred over a highly targeted pitch.
Christy: What is the best place to request the publicity value of placements?
Answer: Again, Sarah helped us with this one, as freelancers aren’t really privy to the inner workings of PR agencies.
“This varies based on agency practices. Some say this is an outdated method, however one way to monetarily measure PR impact is ad value equivalency. Again, this can be viewed as outdated, but if your marketing team is passionate about number ROI and getting some kind of PR allocation to media placements this could be a good option. Media monitoring services like Meltwater and Muck Rack offer this inside their platform. Here’s the Meltwater breakdown. Cision also offers the ability to see how many people actually read an article as well. It’s an expensive service, but it is available.”
Haley: Do you appreciate PR folks sharing relevant info/products with you AFTER you've already published an article (i.e. counterpitching), and if so, is there generally a window after publishing that you might consider updating or adding to the article? I imagine as a freelancer you have less power to do this...?
Answer: You’re correct in that freelancers have no ability to update an article … even if we felt like doing free labor for you (once we submit an article, we get paid and then that engagement is over!), we don’t have access to the back-end CMS to make edits.
Also, see: Can a Writer Edit a Story After it Goes Live?
We also find it quite rude when publicists say things like, “We noticed our client wasn’t included in this article even though they were a perfect match so we’re hoping you’ll reconsider” or “Could you update this article to include my client?” …. those statements imply that we somehow didn’t do our jobs properly, even though we spent HOURS and HOURS on research and writing. They imply our articles are incomplete without your client, which is simply not the case. Either we didn’t feel it was a match for whatever reason, or you didn’t bother to pitch us when we were working on the article and therefore they weren’t even on our radar.
Instead of going that route, invite us to consider your client for FUTURE editorial opportunities by sending an email like this:
“I recently read (and enjoyed!) your XYZ article and wanted to put a similar product/source on your radar for future assignments along these lines …”
As for on-staff writers/editors, feel free to reach out to them, as they do have the power to make edits … but whether or not they have the desire to is another question entirely. If your addition doesn’t provide any value to the outlet (aka, an affiliate link with a lucrative commission) or their reader, then they aren’t likely to devote any man hours to it (especially given how short-staffed most outlets are these days). They won’t ever update an article to include your client just because you WANT to be included. So focus on the value proposition to them in your pitch.
Remember, a lot of articles get updated annually or regularly, so it often comes down to catching them at the exact right time (which can be hard to do!).
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Ok, that’s it for this week! We’ll be back next week with part 2!
Do you have any questions? Comments? Our comment section is open and we ALWAYS reply!
Thanks again for being a part of this wonderful community we’re building. If you know a colleague who could benefit from this, please share this newsletter with them. We’re putting so much time and effort into these weekly articles and are thrilled to be able to get them in front of people that are benefiting from them.
Jill & Nicole
PS: You can always email us with any questions: info@toptierconsulting.net
Thanks for sharing your insight and tips! I've been noticing the crunch as a PR a lot over the last year, and it's been hard to deliver my clients the quality of content they've become accustomed to. It's frustrating because I want so badly to make them happy, but things are definitely changing. And I need to figure out how to better adapt!
Thank you for sharing such actionable tips to follow what can sometimes feel like just "doom and gloom" for the industry. My head swirls daily thinking of all the potential routes our industry is headed.