If You're Not Reverse Pitching, You're Missing Out on Major Opportunities

Over a summer holiday weekend, the owner of a local fitness studio hauled 25 spin bikes from the basement of the gym to a dock along the lake. (Talk about sweat equity!) We had a glorious spin class on the water that morning, but amidst the music and moves, I couldn’t help but notice the reverse marketing strategy she employed.

Not only had she set up the bikes on the water and provided every rider with gift bags filled with branded swag, she’d hung a banner depicting the name of the fitness studio from the dock — facing outward.

Every time a boat floated by, its occupants were rubbernecking at our crew on the bikes. The banner was for them — and all of us on the bikes were a living, breathing advertisement for the studio.

The media industry can learn from this approach. As publicists, you’re employing push marketing by regularly pitching writers and editors.

But by employing a few simple strategies that take only a few minutes of your time, you can reverse pitch and drive awareness and sales for your clients while you sleep (or go on vacation, spend time with your kids, take a personal day, etc.).

Here are three ways to do this:

1. Use autoresponders wisely

An out-of-office message or autoresponder is an amazing reverse marketing opportunity that most people miss.

A typical OOO reads something like this: “I’m away and not checking email; reach out to so-and-so in case of emergency.”

That’s sufficient to cover your bases, but it’s not doing you any favors — especially if you work solo and don’t have anyone else to direct them to.

Every person who emails you receives this message, so how can you provide more information that’s of value to them, that could potentially turn into a win for you as well?

A well-crafted autoresponder can:

• Showcase your recent wins, including publications and story links

• Communicate your current client lists, including brief summaries and links to their websites or social media channels

• Convey your enthusiasm for building relationships with journalists

• Boost your own or your company’s newsletter signups

• Create personal connection and grow your own social media following by encouraging people to follow you there

Here’s an example.

Hello! I'm traveling this week and will only be checking email once per day. I so appreciate you reaching out and appreciate your patience with my response time! If you are a journalist inquiring about a story, I will circle back with you within 24 hours. For urgent assistance, please contact my colleague TK.

In the meantime, feel free to check out resources that might be helpful to you:

- My current client list, which includes X (which does this), Y (which has great gifting ideas for the holidays) and Z (a fun story angle here).

- This article on ABC, which I was so proud to work on with (journalist name here) to get my client X published in TK magazine.

-Our firm’s monthly newsletter, which shares all our latest industry news and insights from our clients in the TK space.

I also invite you to follow along with me on Instagram to see what I’m up to away from my desk, or on LinkedIn to catch my latest takes on the PR industry.

All my best,

 2. Maximize ways for people to learn about you

LinkedIn is a tremendous tool if you complete your profile and use it to network with writers, editors and other publicists. Any time you work with someone in the industry, remember to add them to your LinkedIn network, and this site will soon become a powerful marketing channel.

This works best when you make it easy for people to get in touch with you and learn more about you there. Devote an hour to updating your profile, taking care to add relevant links (your recent client placements, for instance) as well as your own or your company website and the clients you represent.

Don’t forget to add your information to the “Contact Info” button that appears under your name and title. So many people don’t do this, and it’s a missed opportunity to show people how to get in touch. You can learn how here.

Similarly, Gmail enables users to add information about yourself to your Google profile, which shows up whenever someone hovers over your name on an email. Be sure you’ve set up a profile photo and filled out the relevant fields in your Google profile to maximize this feature.

3. Implement a dynamic email signature

Beyond your name, title and company logo in your email signature, you can include more specific information to use this space as a mini marketing opportunity that will be in front of every person you email with.

This could include:

• a link to your current client list

• a link to select clients based on time of year (for instance, a candy or jewelry company near Valentine’s Day, or a holiday decor company near Christmas)

• a link to a major win you’ve recently scored in a top publication

• links to the social media channels you frequent

• your current home base, or current locale if you’re frequently traveling

• anything else you want colleagues to know about you

Reevaluate and update your email signature monthly. It only takes a few minutes, and by doing so, you’re enabling anyone you’re in contact with to instantly discover more about you and what you do.

A writer or editor may even spot this and discover a way to work together that you hadn’t even thought about.

Tell Us: Has reverse pitching ever proved fruitful for you?