Top Tier's Top Tips to Kick Off 2024: Start the New Year Strong with These 17 PR Best Practices

Read our best advice for PR pros—from pitching to follow-ups—in one easy-to-reference spot

Dec 13, 2023

Hello Top Tier subscribers!

It’s hard to believe the year has come to an end, but here we are already. Oh 2023, what a year you were! We did some big things at Top Tier Consulting and are so grateful to our community for being a part of them. And we’re so excited about the newest edition of our TTC family, baby Zane. :-)

We hosted some amazing workshops which if you missed, you can still get the video recordings:

Affiliate Marketing Workshop
Gift Guide 101 Workshop
Press Samples/Mailer Workshop

We received so many wonderful comments about these workshops they made our heads spin. Each one included a presentation and open Q&A, which attendees found super valuable. Videos for each are still available for purchase.

Email us at info@toptierconsulting.NET to order your copy today.

And we hosted monthly Top Tier Talks and covered sooooooo many topics

As a reminder, these are free to paid subscribers. Once a month we log onto Zoom with our members and answer ANYTHING you ask. We also talk about what’s trending in the industry and bring in special guests to talk about things like affiliate marketing.

Paid subscribers can get access to these monthly sessions and past recordings as well — you can search for them by typing the phrase “here’s the recording” into the search bar in our archives. Each of the links you find will show you the topics covered within. For instance, here’s what you missed in November and here’s what you missed in October.

Plus, we worked with so many of you 1:1

We offer a variety of consulting packages and loved working one-on-one with PR agencies and solo publicists in 2023.

A dedicated brain-picking session on one of the following topics could REALLY put you ahead of the competition for 2024:

Want to workshop a few pitches with two top-tier writers? Try our Pitch Perfecting session. THIS IS OUR MOST POPULAR SESSION.
Looking to build deeper relationships with journalists? You’ll love our Become a Journalist’s BFF session. THIS IS TIED FOR OUR SECOND-MOST POPULAR SESSION.
Have a slew of questions you want answers to? Book an Ask Us Anything session. THIS IS TIED FOR OUR SECOND-MOST POPULAR 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!

Learn More About Our Services

Our paid subscribers receive weekly articles in their inboxes where we write about best practices for how to build and maintain relationships with journalists, rise to the top of busy writers’ inboxes, and get maximum ROI for each outreach effort.

THIS WEEK’S TOPIC:

And on that note, as we wind down 2023, we thought it would be helpful to help you prepare for 2024 … who doesn’t want a jumpstart on the competition? We’ve compiled these tips from topics that came up in 2023 and they not only all still apply next year, they are CRUCIAL to your success. So if you missed some of our newsletters or just want an easy refresher, check these out and set yourselves (and your clients!) up for success come January:

1. Did your client just flake on an interview? Never never never ghost a writer. Here’s what to do instead.

Have a client commit to a story then drop out? Say yes to an interview but then get questions ahead of time and realize they are not the right fit? Did a client drop you in the middle of promised coverage? Ghosting is never the answer. Instead, send a quick email that says:

Hey I need more time to get back to you on your question but wanted to check in to let you know that I have an ask out for more details from my client — what’s your deadline to receive this?

These interview questions may not be up their alley. I’m checking and will let you know as soon as I hear back from them.

My client is on vacation this week and I want to get a phoner set up but let me get back to you when I am able to discuss with them.

I’m at a conference this week, but saw your email, am excited to work together on this and will circle back soon with some interview dates/times.

I actually don’t think my client is the right fit for this after all. Let’s hopefully work together on something down the line though! Please keep him in mind for XYZ, as this is their specialty.

Deeper dive: Are You Guilty of Dropping the Momentum When Working with a Writer?

2. Writers don’t like email attachments. Here’s how to handle photos and other things you want to send outside of the email text.

Include links to photos (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.)

If you want to send a press release, paste it at the bottom of the email, below your actual pitch (or send a link)

Send a link to a press kit if you want to include it

Include a link to a website for further information

But again, keep in mind that what you paste into the body of the email is what is going to win a writer over. They aren’t going to interact with anything that’s an extra step unless they are first swayed by your initial pitch.

Deeper dive: Why Sending an Email Attachment May Harm Your Coverage Chances & What to Do Instead

3. It’s important to be sensitive when pitching journalists in times of a tragedy.

Some tips here include:

Sometimes, silence is best. If the news cycle is heavy, take a day off to let things settle before bombarding writer inboxes.
Decide as an agency (or freelancer) how you want to handle communications. You could send a blanket communication to media acknowledging the tragedy and giving media the opportunity to opt out of emails as they grieve — or have your team send heartfelt sentence or two in their intro before diving into individual pitches.
Look at your pre-scheduled pitches and social media posts, too. If you use scheduling systems for pitches and social media posts, it’s easy to forget that those are still in play. You may want to adjust or cancel some of those posts/communications. Take the time to assess them now.
Meet with your clients and provide education and support. Client education is crucial at a time like this and you may have to have some really tough conversations. And at the end of the day, you have to do what’s best for your business.
Look at any campaigns in progress and decide how to proceed. Some agencies may decide to hold/cancel a collaboration. Others hold on launches. Again, discuss this with your clients. And explain that their “big” news will likely get lost in a heavy news cycle anyways.
Have a media event that week? Decide if it should be rescheduled.
If you have a personal relationship with a journalist you know is affected by the tragedy, reach out. This is the time to remember the relations side of your public relations role.
Think about timing. How long you continue to do these activities and make special accommodations is up to you and the aftermath of tragedy taking place. Trust your instincts. Check the vibes on social media. Ask your colleagues what they are doing. Watch the news. You’ll know when it’s OK to resume business as usual.

Deeper dive: 9 Steps for Handling Media Outreach During a Tragedy (and How to Educate Your Clients)

4. When pitching, you can never pitch too early, but you can definitely pitch too late.

One of the most commonly asked questions we get at TTC is “when should I send my pitch?” Here’s a little guide:

Editors like to assign stories as early as possible — whether that’s print or online. And now that many print magazines are folding (moment of silence here, sniff sniff) and going to online only editions, editors are doing their editorial planning the way they used to when things were print (translation: They are looking to assign stories several months in advance). Therefore, it’s always better to pitch early. If you’re asking yourself, “Is it too late to send this pitch?” please know that other publicists have probably been pitching for that timely angle for quite some time and you may be a bit behind.

Holiday gift guides: Start pitching right after Labor Day
Mother’s Day content: Early February
Valentine’s Day content: In early December
National Health Months: Several months before the month starts
National Whatever Days: 6-8 weeks before

Deeper dive: How to Nail the Timing of Your Pitches

5. Want to pitch a story around a National Something-Or-Other day? Try this:

You’ll probably get more bang for your buck if you can tie something to a larger awareness month vs. just one day

So many outlets don’t have the bandwidth or budget to write stories around all these little one-off days. But something like Heart Health Awareness Month is going to be much more appealing because:

It’s more well-known to the public
It means that readers may also know about it and may be searching for stories tied to it (hello more clicks and views)
It will give them more time to decide when to run it.

If you can fit into an awareness month (bonus points if it’s something well-known) prioritize that vs. a one-off day like The Color Pink Day.

Deeper dive: Do Journalists Care About National Days (like National Ice Cream or National Lipstick Day)?

6. If you’re pitching a client associated with a company or brand, explain what that company or brand is.

Sometimes we may describe a company as something that “does XYZ” when in reality, your client always says they do “ABC.” Well, we tried our best based off some online research, since you didn’t supply the necessary info AND we were under the gun on a deadline at 11:59 pm on a Sunday.

Help us help you: When YOU clarify what type of company they work for, we can ensure that the company is represented accurately. If it isn’t, this results in a messy situation where a publicist will come back to us and ask us to update a description to something that they feel better represents a client. Well if it’s not factually incorrect and you’d just like different wording, it’s likely too late for us to change it.

Required reading: Can a Writer Edit a Story After it Goes Live?

Bottom line? If you’re mentioning a client, please tell us what they do. Dr. Joe works for X company that does what? This realtor is affiliated with X company, which does this. And this shopping expert is aligned with this brand, which does XYZ. Yes, still include the link, as we’d like to click and learn more, but that snappy description we’d need to include in our stories is what we’re ultimately looking for when vetting potential sources.

Deeper dive: When Pitching a Lesser-Known Brand/Company, You Must Also Explain What It is

7. On the subject of pitching, here is what to ALWAYS include about your client in a pitch.

So many times publicists leave off pertinent information in pitches. And if it’s not all in the inbox, a writer likely isn’t going to take the time to dig to find it. Serve it up for us on a silver platter!

When pitching, make sure you hit these points:

Your expert’s full name, bio, professional title, education/certifications, credentials, website link, social media links, and a link to their headshot (don’t attach anything!)
Your product’s proper name, website, pricing, and embedded or linked images (no attachments!)
Is your product on an affiliate program? Let us know exactly which one(s) … and if you’re pitching e-commerce editors, tell them the commission if it’s attractive
A brief explanation of who your client is, who they work for, or what the product is/does. You never want to assume that a writer is familiar with a product or company… if it’s not a household name, we probably aren’t!
An email subject line that communicates who the client is and why this pitch is timely

Deeper dive: Your Handy-Dandy Checklist of 10 Things to Review Before Sending ANY Pitch

8. An answer to a question someone submitted during one of our Ask us Anything Substack editions: “Do writers 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?”

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)?

Deeper dive: How to Sell Writers On Your Client vs. Just Telling Us They Exist

9. When answering HARO queries or Substack calls for pitches, the early bird gets the worm!

Yes, there may still be 2 days left until the query closes, but you don’t want to be the last in line here. We’re usually reviewing pitches as they come in and the second we find the perfect fit, our search is over … so even if you sent a great pitch at the 11th hour, there’s a good chance we’ve already moved forward with someone else (and maybe we’ve already written the piece, too!).

Deeper dive: 7 HARO Do's and Dont's That'll Improve Your Response Rate

10. Examples of email subject lines that writers surveyed said big time missed the mark:

“Final notice” — kinda threatening, yeah?

“Editorial request” — way too vague

“What are you working on?” — screams “this email will take too much effort to answer.”

“Coverage request” - if only it was that easy

“Can I pick your brain?” — aka “can you work for me for free?"

“Can I send you?” — too vague

“Are you working on TK?” — probably not

"Where to Play WASPy Sports This Summer" — too WTF does that even mean?

“Bad news” — no thanks

“Anything that has my name misspelled” — This can really rub some people the wrong way.

And most importantly, someone mentioned this, which is beyond true: “ALL the ones that don't match any topic or beat I cover.”

11. A tip on writing a good subject line:

The best subject lines are ones that make it very clear what the product or service or person you are pitching us is. They also tie a pitch to something timely for a journalist.

When it comes to whether or not we can feature a client in a story, we need to know 2 things: Who/what is the client exactly? We need full clarity on that. If it’s unclear as to what a product is or who a client is from the subject, we’ll probably delete the email and won’t engage with it too much further.

Next, we need to think about where we can tie your client in story-wise. You can pitch a writer the best product, service, or client in the world but if we don’t make the connection as to what we could do with it story-wise, it’s not going to turn into an article.

We talk about this a lot in our Pitch Perfecting Workshops. If you have a product that you’re pitching, help us link it to a story idea by tying it to an upcoming holiday gift guide opp, position it as a back-to-school essential, the perfect thing to have at your summer BBQ, etc.

If you have an expert you are pitching, help us out by suggesting a few things that are timely that they can comment on, whether that’s the trend of people making their own cottage cheese ice cream or a celebrity who revealed they have alopecia or a new trend in real estate.

If you have a celeb, do they have a new project out we can interview them about? That’s a heck of a lot easier to sell that to an editor than an evergreen story on the celeb.

Deeper dive: A Subject Line is Your Pitch's 1st Impression—Here's How to Nail It!

12. Use this tip for selling your client when pitching them to a writer looking for sources.

Share what makes your client stand out from the competition

Every client/source is unique, so capitalize on those special qualities they bring to the table that others don’t — this is how you cut through the noise of dozens of similar pitches. Things like:

Their pedigree, education, certifications, fellowships, apprenticeships, etc.
Their views within their chosen field: maybe they have a unique or controversial perspective the world needs to hear
Their social media following: if it’s HUGE, tell us: our editors love sources with reach who will promote the article to their captive audiences
Their recently published medical studies, or TedTalk or book they’ve written on the subject at hand: this helps prove what a credible source they are
Their ability to take a complicated topic (maybe in the medical field or tech or finance) and make it fun and engaging for readers because they have an awesome personality and lots of juicy anecdotes for relatable examples

Deeper dive: How to Sell Writers on Your Client vs. Just Telling Us They Exist

13. To bring new life to an old pitch, try a new hook/intro

The intro of your pitch is the most important thing after the subject line. Just like an article you read lures you in (or makes you say “pass”) with it’s first paragraph, your lead sets the tone for whether or not a journalist wants to continue interacting with your pitch.

Find a new angle and lead with that. Sometimes that means giving your subject line an overhaul. Did you leave helpful information out of it or not convey something timely within the headline? Other times that means working your new angle into the header. There is no perfect pitch but we always do tell publicists that writers do a ton of email scanning. If we’re not hooked by the intro, we’re likely going to move on to the other hundreds of emails in our inbox. Put the most important information up top: The who, what, where, when, and most importantly why now for your client.

Deeper dive: How to Give New Life to an Old Pitch

14. Two of our top tips for throwing a great in-person media event

Don’t make an event an all-day ordeal. Stick to an hour lunch or a quick dinner. Writers are more likely to say no if you’re asking for a long commitment, like inviting them to a breakfast, then a beach cleanup, then a surfing competition, then lunch, then drinks on the patio.
Be mindful of timing. Don’t set your event for a venue that’s difficult to reach at rush hour if you want to hold it at 6 pm. Similarly, not everyone can skip out at 4pm to make a 5pm happy hour. You won’t be able to please everyone, but the more convenient you can make it, the higher your attendance will be.

Deeper dive: In-Person and Virtual Events, Client Desksides, and Others Ways to Network with Journalists

15. This is key when working to build relationships with writers

Tailor your pitches to us and avoid mass pitching. Do you respond to junk mail and spam calls? Of course not — but that’s exactly what generic pitches landing in a writer’s inbox feels like. While there may be a time and place for mass pitching, by and large your best ROI will always come from highly targeting pitching.

Use our name. Start off with something personable. Demonstrate that you’ve done some homework on us and our beats. It’s a lot harder for us to ignore a tailored email, so you’re more likely to get a response (even if that response is no thank you).

Deeper dive: 4 Reasons Why You Need to Build Relationships with Freelancers Now

16. Pitching a product? Do this to make it stand out from all the other products writers get in their inboxes.

Include ANYTHING that makes your product unique

If you are pitching a writer a pair of leggings or a lipstick or a portable charger, we want to know EVERYTHING unique about that item that could possibly make it different from others on the market. Catch our attention with things like:

For every pair purchased, does the company plant a tree?
Is there a charitable partner that the company gives back to?
Is the product handmade by artisans in a developing nation and they are paid a fair wage?
Is the product made from anything interesting, like recycled ocean plastics or carbon-footprint-reducing bla bla bla?
Has someone fancy like a celebrity or notable person like a prominent chef endorsed the brand? Is a celeb a huge fan?
Are the shoes dressy enough to wear to work but also comfortable enough to walk miles in?
Is this olive oil specially pressed only 1x a year to be the freshest on the market?
Does this face cream come with a fancy third-party study about how well it works?
Was your brain supplement created by a super impressive scientist?

Deeper dive: How to Make Your Product Stand Out from the Competition

17. The ONE TRICK to improving your pitch follow-up strategy

As a publicist, you put time into your pitches. You carefully craft them to include all of a client’s top selling points, you make them timely, you perfectly curate the list of writers you’re sending them out to.

But then we see a BIG MISTAKE happen in the follow up strategy time and time again… it’s follow-ups like these:

Circling back on the below

Kindly checking back in here

I am just circling back on the below

Just checking in

Wanted to put this at the top of your inbox

Wanted to follow-up here.

Quickly following up on the below

This strategy is a mistake because your follow up is your second chance to make a first impression. Instead, tell us something new that might pique our interest … something that wasn’t in your initial pitch.

By giving us new details about your client you’re ultimately helping a writer to consider new story ideas that could work around your client. There have been many times that we have deleted an email pitch and then found inspiration in a well executed follow up to find a way to work a publicist’s client into a story. A well crafted follow up email makes all the difference and when it works, it really works!

Deeper dive: How to Make Reporters Who Didn’t Reply in the First Pitch Say Yes to Your Follow Up

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Did you learn anything new today? Do you have questions? Our comment section is open and we ALWAYS reply!

Top Tier Consulting