No Basic Pitches- WMagazine.com
No matter what area of expertise a publicist focuses on or how far along in their career they may be, the one thing everyone can agree on is that there is a ton to learn from what we here at VPR refer to as wish list media placements. While each placement is valuable and exciting in and of itself, the real magic happens when the following three criteria are met:
The outlet is prominent among the clients' target audience
The topic of the coverage is right in line with client objectives
The experience deepens an existing or growing relationship with a media member
Recently Victory's own Christina Gorini secured a placement for client Style Edit in W Magazine's online version WMagazine.com in a piece entitled Predicting the Beauty Trends of 2016. Below she shares three tips to securing wish list media placements.
Be patient. I met Mia Adorante at a Style Edit launch event last summer. From there we kept in touch and she ended us sharing product samples with her beauty director, Jane. Jane, who has covered root concealers in the past, seemed to really love the product. From the time we met to the time the placement hit about seven months passed. And I hope to work with her again!
Keep your eye on the prize and set goals! W is an iconic media brand and as a pr pro it is always my goal to have interest from editors who are industry tastemakers and movers and shakers within their fields. This was a dream placement for me and a milestone placement for our client. Style Edit is a small but mighty brand with an incredible team behind it (which I am so proud to be part of!) and being in a publication like W puts them in the same arena as mass market, time tested competitors.
Be prepared. When you're working with any media, the last thing you want is to be caught off guard with requests for standard material. The basics you'll need are product samples, images, product sheets, and a great narrative to share with media.
Each placement is just the tip of the iceberg - the work that goes on behind the scenes of a media placement is extensive on both the part of the media and the publicist. But when the stars align and we as publicists do the best we can, everyone gets what they need. Editors get the great content they need and clients get the great exposure they need!
{Check us out on Instagram @VictoryPR and connect with Christina @gorinigirl}