Timing is Everything: How to Nail the Timing of Your Pitches
When is a pitch too early? Too late? When do you follow up? We have the scoop!
Hi Top Tier subscribers!
Thanks for all the love on last week’s newsletter. If you missed it, it’s a FREE post you can read here: 9 Steps for Handling Media Outreach During a Tragedy (and How to Educate Clients). It was a deep topic, and the outpouring of positive feedback we received — from veteran publicists to newbies — was truly overwhelming, especially during such a dark time.
We have an exciting topic planned for this week — and it stems from one of the most popular questions we get asked here at TTC. But first, check out these announcements/resources:
Do You Send Out Press Packages/Samples?
This is your last chance to RSVP for our “Everything You Need to Know About Sending Press Samples to Ensure Better ROI” workshop
(Can’t make it live? You can buy the recording to watch on your own timeline).
The holidays are just around the corner. Gift guide pitching is in full swing. Your clients have new products launching. Getting a product in the hands of a writer is a great way for them to experience it, taste it, touch it, and feel confident that it’s something that A) Works B) Does what it claims to do C) Is worthy of having their stamp of approval for it to go into a gift guide. So yes, it does dramatically increase the chance a writer will include it in an article — and it’s a non-negotiable for writers who pen “I Tried It” style articles, of course!
But sending press samplers is SO much more than just dropping your client’s products in a box and taking it to the post office. Drumroll….fortunately, we have a workshop for that!
There are many things you want to keep in mind before sending things out. That’s why we’re hosting a group session on October 30th, where we’ll dive into nailing the product sampler — especially from an ROI perspective, but also from a journalist experience perspective.
During this jam-packed presentation, we’ll share the scoop from a writer’s perspective so that you can look like a hero to your client. Well touch on:
How sending a press sample can lead to more coverage for your clients
When and how to send a product sample
How to vet the editorial opportunity and do your due diligence to make sure you’re sending your sample to a writer who has the potential to write about it (read: avoid unethical writers looking for freebies)
What writers like to see in the box and what they don’t
Big bloopers people make when sending press samplers (that they probably don’t realize they are making!)
Things writers receive that are an automatic waste of your money (avoid these and save your clients some serious cash!)
What else should be included with the mailing (hint: more than just the product)
Tips for how to best spend your budget AND get a stronger ROI
What to say in an email when asking if a writer wants a press sampler (and the number one thing that a writer never wants to hear)
How and when to follow up to ensure receipt and inquire about possible coverage
Open Q&A at the end where we’ll tackle any other questions that you have.
Date: Monday, October 30
Time: 11 am PT/2 pm EST (this session will last one hour)
Can’t make it live? No worries. Pay now and we’ll send you the link to the recording right after the session — then, you can watch it at your convenience.
Rate: $39 Paid TTC Substack Subscribers; $99 Free TTC Subscribers
Ready to sign up? Send an email to info@toptierconsulting.NET and we’ll collect payment and send you the link for the Zoom session.
Questions about the session? Just shoot us an email and we’ll answer them!
Holiday Gift Guide Pitching Resource Center
Pitching products for gift guides this year? Pitching sources for stories around the holidays? Here are some tools we highly recommend:
The ULTIMATE INSIDER’S GUIDE to Holiday Gift Guide Pitching Workshop (one full hour of best practices, sample subject lines, a checklist of what to include in your pitch, advice for how to stand out from the crowd, tips for getting your sources included, examples of real HGG pitches that worked and answers to your most pressing questions)
Christmas in July Zoom Q&A with Affiliate Marketing Expert Sarah Karger (this will answer ALL your affiliate-related HGG questions!)
A Real-Life Example of an HGG Product Pitch Format that Most Writers Will Delete (hint: Don’t do this!)
What NOT to Pitch in a Holiday Gift Guide (seriously, save these pitches for another time)
A Handy-Dandy Checklist of 10 Things to Double-Check Before Sending Your Pitch (don’t send another pitch before making sure you’ve included everything a journalist needs!)
Book a Private Consulting Session With
Jill & Nicole for November/December
Interested in picking our brains? Book one of these 1:1 sessions (with you or your entire agency):
Want to workshop a few pitches with two top-tier writers? Try our Pitch Perfecting session.
Looking to build deeper relationships with journalists? You’ll love our Become a Journalist’s BFF session.
Have a slew of questions you want answers to? Book an Ask Us Anything session.
Are you putting together a press trip and need help with the details? We offer a Press Trip Invites and Itineraries session.
Need fresh ideas for sending mailers to writers? Book our Press Package session.
Scheduling an in-person or virtual media event? We can help, with our Hosting the Perfect Virtual/In-Person Media Event session.
Have other ideas you need help brainstorming or creating an action plan for? We offer Custom sessions, too!
Now onto this week’s topic:
One thing we get asked about a lot Top Tier Consulting is “When should I send a pitch out to be considered for an upcoming holiday, national awareness month/day, seasonal content, etc?” We get asked all the time about timing when pitching for things like:
A holiday gift guide
For a writer to include their client in a story on a trend that’s happening
Summer travel season
Thanksgiving
Mother’s Day
National Heart Health Month
Take your child to work day
Etc. etc. etc.
We also get asked:
What is too early to pitch?
What is too late to pitch?
When can I follow up on my pitch?
There is definitely a method to this madness. And we’re going to do a deep dive into that today! We’ll also talk about how the process works in terms of us pitching our editors the pitches you send us — and what that timeline is like on our end as writers. Understanding this chain of events can definitely help you understand how to plan your pitch timing.
Not a paid subscriber? Upgrade your membership today to keep reading AND to receive access to our extensive archive of content AND the ability to join our monthly Top Tier Talks where both of us are on a Zoom with you to answer any questions that came up during the month. We also bring in experts to talk about all your burning subjects like affiliate marketing and beyond.
*Note: Our consulting sessions, workshops, Zooms and Substack newsletters are strictly educational. Signing up for anything has no bearing on landing coverage in any of our outlets. Our role is to finetune your approach and tactics so that you can apply these learnings when pitching other journalists.