We have finally made it to Spring. Even though it wasn’t a harsh winter, it’s now that time of year to look forward to the weather warming up, and packing away the heavy jackets until next winter. For all you mobile food business vendors planning PR campaigns, writing press releases and pitching stories to the media, your PR campaign to-do list is filled with Spring in the air, right? Wrong.
For the majority of food truck owners out there, if you focused your PR campaign on only springtime angles you would be missing out on a huge PR opportunity. Right now, thousands of reporters at major magazines are writing about Summer, not Spring.
Case in point, if you starting to sell a branded food line and wish to get a review in Cuisine or Bon Appetite magazine, you better be pitching a summertime angle right now. Perhaps their website is still focusing on Spring because they don’t have as long a lead time. But if your goal is to make it into the print edition, those editors are focused on finishing up June and getting ready for July angles.
Most print magazines that have three or four-month lead times. Walk into any Barnes & Noble and browse the magazine section (remember, physical bookstores still exist). Most of the major National and Regional titles you see are published with this long-lead approach.
This is not isolated to just magazine with consumer readerships. There are many business magazines that are published with a long lead time. As with every PR campaign, it is important to know whether your story is better suited for a consumer or business audience. Once you have that figured out, do your research to see if your list of targeted magazines has a long lead cycle.
PR Campaign Tips For Pitching Print Magazines
When crafting your story pitch think three to six months ahead. What season are we in at that time? What are the major holidays? What are the annual occurrences taking place? Shape your story around all of these to get the editors attention.
Apply the same rules as every day pitching for a reporter. Send a well written email with a compelling subject line. Offer links to your website where the editor can find additional information and resources. Also offer contact information where editors can get back in touch with you.
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Read the magazines first and get to know its style, tone, format and editors. Create a pitch that matches all these and target the appropriate editor. Most magazines will include contact information for many of the editors and writers.
If you are pitching a product you sell from your truck or website it is okay to send a press kit with your product for a review. The press materials that accompany the product should focus on the mobile food trend and explanation of why yours is a compelling product, in addition to the focus on the features and benefits. If you call the editor be sure to get to the point.
Every food truck PR campaign should include long lead magazines because achieving a story in one of these magazines can change your mobile business overnight. Depending on the publication, a feature spotlight of your food truck in a magazine read by millions, and passed on to thousands more, is just as good as appearing on a daytime television program.
Have you run a PR campaign for your food truck? Do you have any advice you learned from the process? Share your tips in the comment section below or on social media. Facebook |Twitter