So, you’ve put in a great deal of time and work into a new piece of content that you’re positive will drive traffic. You’ve done everything you’re supposed to do with an SEO-focused piece. You’ve read up on the importance of B2B writing that informs, you’ve researched exactly how link building for industrial companies works, and you’re sure none of your competitor’s pieces can even compare. Maybe you’re already dreaming about the number of leads that will start coming in. There’s no way that it won’t be picked up by industry journals, RIGHT??
Well, it’s not as simple as that. There are a few more pieces to the puzzle of getting content picked up.
Why you need to get content picked up by industry journals
For your B2B company, creating informative, timely content for industrial journals should be a part of your marketing strategy. Think of it this way: Create high-quality content for high-quality industry publications that will link back to your site. Getting more authoritative backlinks will improve your rankings in a Google Search. This is also an opportunity to grow your audience by reaching those who visit industry relevant journals. You get to expand your reach and have fresh new eyes on your content. It’s important to become well-known in the industry and position yourself as an authority in your niche to help drive traffic. This should all be a part of your link building strategy.
Now let’s dig into the actual process.
1. Do your research
What is the very first step of writing any great piece of content? Research, research, research! The same step applies to pitching your content. This key stage seems to be overlooked A LOT. Take some time to actually research what the publication is about so that: 1. You get high-quality, industry-relevant publications that you can get authoritative backlinks from. 2. When pitching to the editor, you’ll be able to customize and make the pitch more personal. 3. You won’t look like an idiot who’s pitching content to a site that covers nothing about that subject matter.
Know who their target audience is
A great starting place is the “About Us” section of a site. This part typically summarizes exactly who their audience is, what type of content they include, and whether or not they will accept outside content. If this site seems relevant to your piece of content, keep researching the site. Once you find the editor (an actual name!), take a look at their Twitter and Linkedin profiles to get an even better idea of who they are. Take note of anything that could be attention grabbing and worth referring to in your email.
Read through some of their articles
This is self-explanatory, but reading through past articles will give you further clues as to what type of content they want featured on their site. You can also figure out what section your piece of content would make sense under. For example, would it make sense under the “News” section? Or maybe it belongs somewhere a little more specific? Take note of this to use in your email pitch that we’ll talk about later.
Use Google Search Operators to see if they’ve covered your topic in the past
These search operators will help you get more specific results and will save you a lot of time in your research process. Let’s say I want to know if a site covers plastics. This is what I would type into Google:
site:www.manufacturingglobal.com “plastics”
The very first Google result is exactly what I was looking for on the site, a page about plastics. Therefore, I know that Manufacturing Global definitely covers this topic. There are a variety of search operators you can use to make your research process run smoothly.
Once you’ve built a list of relevant, high authority publications that you can pitch your content to, you can move on to actually writing the pitch.
2. The nitty-gritty of pitching
Has a stranger ever come up to you and asked to borrow your car and your immediate response was “YES, of course!!” and you threw your keys at them without even batting an eye? No? You would never do that, right? No, that would be crazy. So, let’s start from the beginning before we ask any favors.
Introduce yourself
It’s as simple as that. Start out by introducing whom you are. Imagine a face-to-face conversation. Tell them your name, let them know who you’re working with, and even ask how they’re doing. Start out each cold email pitch in this way.
Keep it conversational
In most cases, there’s no reason to sound like you’re speaking on behalf of the Queen of England. Write in your own voice to make it sound more personal and sincere.
Provide something of value
Remember this key point: it’s about their audience, so your content should provide immense value to them. Explain to the editor what value your piece of content will bring. How will it benefit and help their audience? Why should they pick up your piece? Explain these details to the editor. Remember those notes you took earlier on the editor? Now’s the time to bring those up. Mention the specific section you think your content should live under. Did you learn from her Twitter that what inspired her to enter into this profession was a life-changing trip? Don’t be afraid to mention that you saw her Tweet about it! This is your chance to make a lasting impression and create a long-term relationship.
End with a question
Every email sent between you and an editor should end in a question. This is your chance to ask for a specific call-to-action. For example, you can ask: “Would you be interested in publishing this article in the industry news section of your site?” or “I would love to hear from an expert, could you give me some feedback on this article?” Asking questions like these is a way to make the editor feel more motived to respond. Does that make sense?
Attention grabbing subject line
This is one of the most important parts to pitching. I like to save this part for last. It’s the first thing that editors will see in their inbox. It takes a fraction of a second to determine whether an email is relevant or not. This is your opportunity to capture an editor’s attention long enough to make them want to open your email. Spend some time thinking about how you’ll do that and look at more tips to improve your email marketing subject lines.
Keep it short
Editors are bombarded with hundreds of emails a week. The quicker you can get to the point, the more likely they’ll read the whole thing. Oh, and they’ll appreciate that you didn’t send them an essay-length email. Check out one of my favorite articles on how to email busy people.
3. Follow up!
So, you’ve gotten some replies and maybe even some industry journals have agreed to pick up your content, congrats! But don’t stop there, there’s more work to do.
For those who haven’t responded
Follow up about two days later. Remember that editors are busy and they may have overlooked or meant to come back to your email later. Send a follow-up email saying that you wanted to “check in to see what their thoughts were on that article.” Don’t forget to end the email with a question like we talked about above. Be sure to keep this email on the short side as well.
For those who have responded
Congratulations! You’ve built a new relationship and have opened the doors to keep the conversation going. Whether or not they’ve picked up the piece, mention that you’re currently working on creating another great piece that you think their audience will absolutely love and you’ll be sure to send it over. They’ll be more likely to pick up pieces from you in the future if they’ve deemed you as an industry thought leader.
Getting started
Getting content picked up by industrial journals is an art. There’s a great deal of time and effort needed to be placed into the promotional side of each piece you plan to push out. Having a great piece of content just doesn’t cut it anymore. An inbound marketing company can help you reach out to these publications and generate the right kind of website traffic. Gorilla 76 is an agency that offers both content writing and promotion services. We can work with you to build a targeted content strategy that is results driven. Click here to request a free consultation.
