If you’re like most publicity seekers, you probably think one project at a time. You’ve got a new product coming out in April, so you send out a release in March. You’ve hired a new executive, you’ll put out a release when she’s on board, etc.For hard-core publicity insiders, though, there’s a rhythm to generating coverage, based upon natural ebb and flow of seasons. Such an approach can help you score publicity throughout year, and will help keep your eye on ball from January through December.
Essentially, a yearlong approach consists of two strategies:
* Timing your existing stories (new product introductions, oddball promotions, business page features, etc.) to fit needs of media during particular times of year.
* Crafting new stories to take advantage of events, holidays and seasonal activities.
Before we run through four seasons of publicity, a few words about lead time. In this age of immediacy (only a few seconds separate a Matt Drudge or a CNN from writing a story and putting it before millions), it’s easy to forget that, for many print publications and TV shows, it can be weeks -- and sometimes months -- before a completed story sees light of day.
The phrase lead time simply refers to amount of time needed for a journalist to complete a story for a particular issue of a magazine or episode of a TV news program. For example, a freelancer for an entertainment magazine may need to turn in a story on Christmas movies by September 15. That’s a lead time of three months, time needed for editor to review and change piece, issue to be typeset and printed and distributors to place issues on newsstands before December. Lead time can range from a day (for hard news pieces in newspapers) to a few days (newspaper features) to a few weeks (weekly magazines) to many months.
The longest leads are domain of "women’s books" like Good Housekeeping and Better Homes & Gardens. These publications often have a lead time of up to six months, which means they need information for their Christmas issues as early as May!
Here’s a tip to help you discover lead time of a particular publication you’re targeting: call advertising department of publication and request a media kit. Since advertisers need to know when their ads must be submitted, each issue’s lead time is clearly stated in media kit.
Factor lead time into your planning as you look over following sections. If you have a great story idea for Rolling Stone’s summer issues, you need to be on ball well before Memorial Day.
The Four Seasons of Publicity:
First Quarter: January - March
What Media’s Covering: Early in year, media is looking ahead. It’s a great time to pitch trend stories, marketplace predictions, previews of things to expect in year ahead, etc. If a new President is being inaugurated, you’ll see lots of "Will new administration be good for (textile/film/cattle ranching/Internet/...or any other) industry?" types of pieces. This is a good time to have something provocative, or even controversial, to say about your industry.
The media also likes this time of year to run "get your personal house in order" sorts of pieces. Tax planning, home organizing, weight loss, etc. Anything that’s geared toward helping people keep their New Year’s resolutions can work here.