PITCHING MAGAZINES with Cece Feinberg of Feinberg PR.
With so much attention on Social Media, understanding how to land coveted exposure in actual magazines is a complete mystery to many independent designers.
Public relations maven Cece Feinberg is both a strong advocate for the next generation of fashion entrepreneurs as well as an expert on successful media pitches. Her company Cece Feinberg Public Relations is a Miami and NY based publicity, creative marketing, and special events firm with a proven track record of success that spans more than 20 years in the fashion, lifestyle, hospitality, entertainment, and visual arts fields.
What basics do designers need to know in terms of approaching magazines?
Firstly, there are two types of magazines that you may want to consider pitching your products to: NATIONAL magazines and REGIONAL/LOCAL magazines. Each type has different lead times. Lead time refers to the amount of time a magazine needs in the production process to go from a pitched idea to the published version.
How far in advance do you need to pitch NATIONAL magazines?
National print magazines work four to six months in advance. It’s important to realize that these magazines usually hit the newsstands a month before the issue. For example, a print magazine’s May issue will be available on newsstands in mid-April. For these reasons, you must plan your pitches ahead of time. If you are pitching a feature story about your company, four months is reasonable. But if you are pitching seasonal products (swimwear, outerwear) or holiday gift guides, then you should be thinking about six months ahead.
What about REGIONAL/LOCAL magazines?
Regional magazines are glossy monthly magazines that focus on the fashion and lifestyle news of your city, county, or state. These magazines prioritize fashion brands and retailers from their area and are a wonderful place to get your first breakout press hit.
Regional publications typically work two to three months in advance so if you were pitching items for Mother’s Day you would start getting in touch in February/March, Valentine’s Day pitching would start in December, and Holiday Gift Guide in September.
What about the magazines online issues? When should you approach those?
Online editions of magazines can vary from publication to publication, but it is important to note that anything digital has a short lead time because it needs to be topical and relevant in the here and now. If what you are pitching is time-sensitive such as a limited collection drop then it could be covered the same day you pitch it. When pitching your Spring/Summer 22 collection, you want to pitch it once it is available for customers to purchase. Last-minute gift guides can be pitched as late as December when it comes to online magazines.
How can you find out which themes they are working on for future issues?
Editorial calendars are an essential tool to help you understand what themes the magazines are working on each month. Magazines often plan out their content annually, and the calendars, which are part of the magazine’s media kit, typically include overall issue themes (some are more descriptive than others) and “close dates” which are helpful for figuring out when it might be too late to send your pitch.
To find a particular publication’s calendar, just Google “magazine name” editorial calendar and download the magazine’s media kit. Certain themes become self-evident once you start reading a publication through the eyes of a publicist....
For example, April issues usually cover green and any category of eco-friendly products as well as “Clean” your life and Spring products such as rain boots, umbrellas, gardening, outdoors, etc. January issues cover New Year themes such as New Year parties, entertaining, outfits and activities; ‘New You” on everything you need for a fresh start, including beauty, clothing, journals, calendars, organization and New Year’s Resolutions such as fitness, food, apps, workout gear, health items and vegan products.
Realize that you will be pitching magazines with different timelines and topics all in the same month. For example, your pitch plan for November might look something like this:
Week 1 – pitch national magazines for April
Week 2 – pitch regional/local magazines for January
Week 3 – follow up with national magazines
Week 4 – follow up with regional/local magazines
How can you identify the right writer or editor to contact?
It is important to be as specific as possible about which writer/editor you would like to pitch. Pitches sent to a general email will rarely get to the right person.
To find contact information for the editor you want to pitch, look up the publication’s masthead or Google “Glamour fashion editor,” or “Elle masthead” and then search for the market, fashion, or style editor. (If you are an accessories brand then search for the Accessories editor, for beauty brands, the Beauty editor). Once you have the editor’s name, there’s usually a common email formula.
If you want to pitch to a Conde Nast publication (Vogue, Teen Vogue, Glamour, Allure, etc.), editor email formats are usually firstname_lastname@condenast.com
For Hearst publications (Harper’s Bazaar, ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Seventeen, etc.) editor email formats are usually firstname.lastname@hearst.com
What is the best way to first approach them?
Keep your pitches short and straight to the point. Editors are very busy and do not have the time to read long and drawn out emails. Introduce yourself, tell the editor what your pitch is, give a brief description of your brand and/or collection, give them some idea about how this is a relevant fit for the magazine and/or theme issue they are working on, and include great professional images.
Fashion is a visual industry, and you want to make the best impression so make sure to include 3 to 5 great photos of your collection.
If you’d like more guidance for marketing your fashion business, email me at cece@feinbergpr.com to schedule a consultation call. And visit my fashion blog at www.feinbergpr.com