Let's Talk About: The Worst Phrase You Could Use In a Press Trip Invite
And no, it's not the controversial "confirmed coverage required" ... this is far worse
Good morning/afternoon, everyone!
In yesterday’s newsletter, I forgot to remind you about my upcoming Zoom cohosted with Amy Bartko that’s dedicated to elevating your clients’ brands with TV and movie product placement. There’s still time to sign up and we’d love to see you there!
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After my recent and WILDLY popular post called I’ve Just Received the PERFECT Press Trip Invite That Every Publicist Should Copy, a publicist I always enjoy working with sent me a few clarifying questions about specific language she had been using in her recent press trip invite outreach.
Because this topic has SO many nuances, I wanted to share her questions here so we could all dive a bit deeper. During this back-and-forth email conversation, I discovered that this well-meaning publicist (who is excellent at her job!) inadvertently used language in her recent press trip invitations that’s an enormous red flag and could even endanger a writer’s relationship with their editor. Trust me, that was the last thing she wanted or meant when she chose that language.
I’m not going to go down the “confirmed coverage required” rabbit hole in this post, as I’ve discussed it several times in the past … so that phrase isn’t what we’re talking about today. But if you need a refresher, here are some of my past posts about confirmed coverage:
Example of why there’s no such thing as confirmed coverage (this still makes me sad!)
11 Reasons Why You Can't Seem to Fill Your Super-Awesome Press Trip
The other thing today’s example will do is give you more ammunition for educating your clients on how press trips work, how to get the most ROI from them, how you vet your writers, etc. Letting your client dictate absurd requirements for journalists is NOT the path to editorial success … and only YOU can help them understand that. It’s your job to help them see the light and get them to trust YOUR vetting process and relationship management skills (isn’t your expertise why they hired you?!). And that will take pre-work on your end… long before press trip invitations are sent out.
Ok, here’s our actual email conversation
Publicist:
“This Substack is wildly helpful, Jill! As someone who is inviting for a few press trips right now, I’m definitely going to weave in some of your tips here.
The whole coverage thing…. We often say that we don’t need confirmed coverage for trips, but we “want a good idea of what’s possible” so we can set expectations with clients. Do you think there’s ever a good way to have this discussion with writers ahead of a trip? (I NEVER want to be a red flag, but I get why this line of questioning would be a turnoff). Like you, I’m of the mind that a good trip begets good media coverage, so I’d personally like to see how things play out after—but [clients] want to have information upfront. I’d love any thoughts you have on how to make this as least awkward as possible!”
My response:
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