You’ve dreamt of being featured in major publications, with glowing reviews of your products, in-depth stories about your founder, or mentions in high-profile gift guides. But another great way you can get regular brand coverage is through inclusion in promotion and sales content. Many digital outlets run articles rounding up major sales, especially those for major holidays, but knowing how to pitch sales so journalists want to cover them is about more than just a good discount. Here, we’re breaking down what you need to know to pique a journalist’s attention and make sure that your sale is one they refuse to leave out.
Get started early
Waiting until the very last minute to pitch sales might seem like the right move, considering details aren’t always finalized long in advance, but it might mean you miss out on coverage. Do the best you can to get sales and promotion details organized early, especially for big sales events like Black Friday so that there’s plenty of time for writers to write their pieces. Worried they’ll forget about your pitch? Don’t be afraid to follow up with journalists when the date gets closer to put yourself back on their radar if they’re updating their stories or haven’t yet written them.
Do your research
Though it might feel like you don’t have as much you’ll need to learn when pitching a sale as you would when pitching other story angles, making sure you’re pitching the right people and places is still vital. PR research services like Press Hook can help you do some of this work. Many publications now have deals editors who work primarily on rounding up the latest sales and keeping an eye on when the products that perform best for them may have been discounted. If not, your next-best target would be an ecommerce editor or shopping editor. These kinds of editors, as the names suggest, focus entirely on shopping-related stories, so if there’s no deal-focused editors at the publication, they’d be the ones to either write or assign coverage of your upcoming sale.
Use a catchy subject line
As you always want to do when sending journalists pitches, you’ll want to make sure that you’re using a clickable subject line that makes recipients feel as though they have to open that email to see what the story might be. Avoid something like “Mother’s Day Sales Inside” that could be sent from any brand or publicist. Make sure you’re still thinking about the pitch as a story, even though it may just seem like a run-of-the-mill sale, to help set your pitch apart from others they may be receiving on the topic.
Short & sweet is better than lengthy & rambling
Ensuring your pitch—any pitch—gets to the point quickly and efficiently is critical for writers who are short on time. With the number of emails most journalists receive on a regular basis, making sure your pitch packs a punch without carrying on too long can help make the difference between getting included in a roundup and getting overlooked. Bullet the key points, including retail price, sale price, discount percentage, affiliates, retailers, and the like, and make sure that the journalist has everything they need to get their story written.
Check your email frequently after sending
Though you’ll do your best to include everything someone would need in the initial pitch, sometimes you may forget to add something or they may be looking for a specific detail that you didn’t think to include. After you send a pitch, do your best to make sure you’re available to quickly respond if a journalist reaches out with additional questions, a request for comment or images, or anything else. Waiting too long to respond to a journalist’s questions may result in you inadvertently being left out of the piece because they didn’t have the information they needed before their deadline.
Ultimately, pitching sales so that journalists want to cover them really isn’t all that different from pitching other stories. Make sure you’re giving them what they need quickly and concisely, point out the story or angle that sets you apart, and be available for any follow up that may be required. Being diligent and detail-oriented can set yourself up for success and better your chances for landing that coveted coverage.
