The Formula for a Stellar Press Pitch Letter

Did you know that getting your jewelry in the media not only increases exposure and brand awareness, but can also increase your sales too? It’s true!

During the Tracy Matthews Designs days, my jewelry was frequently featured in magazines and TV shows. A few placements in Lucky Magazine and InStyle back in the day brought huge surges to my sales the months those articles were featured.

One year I had an awesome media placement for Mother’s Day. A pearl necklace I designed was featured on the Today show (it didn’t even make the live segment but was featured on their website) and my phone didn’t stop ringing for a week. We sold out of the necklace in 3 days and were scrambling to find more of the pearls to fulfil more orders.

With our media obsessed culture, getting your jewelry in media outlets can be a huge opportunity for your brand. I will admit, every placement doesn’t always create a huge spike in sales, but all media coverage helps get your name out into the world builds awareness around your brand.

We’ve heard from many of you that you don’t even know where to start when it comes to pitching PR so I thought I’d walk you through the The Formula for a Stellar Press Pitch Letter.

Title:  Start with Descriptive (and Interesting) Headline

Editors are fully aware that you are pitching so write a compelling headline so they know what to expect inside. If you are pitching for a specific holiday make sure you include that, as well.

Here are a few examples:

“Statement Earrings: the look for less” or “Statement Earrings under $100”

“Bold Jewelry for Holiday Gift Guides” or “Unusual Take on valentine’s Jewelry: Spiked Hearts Collection”

Introduction and First Paragraph: Introduce Yourself and Your collection

The first sentence should always be an introduction of yourself and why their reader should care about your work (or how it works into the story that they are working on).

For Instance:

Dear (Name),

My name is Jane Smith and I design a line of statement jewelry full of colorful stones. I think my statement earrings would be a great fit in Marie Claire’s your “Looks for Less” section.

Second Paragraph: Tell a little more about your collection and your brand

The second paragraph should be no longer than 2-3 sentences and should concisely state more about your brand or collection as it is relevant to the pitch or publication.

For instance:

As a former fashion stylist, my designs are strongly influenced by current fashion and runway trends. My most recent collection of statement earrings is of the moment and inspired by the statement earring trend that was all over the FW 2014 runways. I’ve attached a few images from my Holiday 2014 Collections with the retail price points range from $50-150.

(Insert 2-3 low res images no bigger than 2 MB total)

Paragraph Three and Closing: Wrap It Up and Call To Action!

The final paragraph should wrap up the letter and tell the editors what to do next if they want to look at your collection. You should always include a link to your website and details about how they can request samples or take the next steps.

For Instance:

You can view more of my work on my website: JaneSmithStyle.com. If you would like to request samples or would like more information, hit reply to this email or call me at 555-555-5555 and I’ll get right back to you.

Thank you so much for your time!

Sincerely,

Jane Smith

JaneSmithStyle.com

DIY PR is not as challenging as you think! The key is to make it easy for editors to feature your work, be efficient, keep your pitches on point and make sure you follow up regarding your pitch via email one week after you send it.

If you’d like to make it even easier on yourself, take some shortcuts. We are happy to announce a PR hack that we think you’ll love called Get Media Happy (brought to you by one of our partners, Andreea Ayers). Get Media Happy saves you time because you don't have to spend hours searching the internet for editorial calendars or calling magazines to find out contact information for editors. As a Get Media Happy member, you simply log in to the members area, view what opportunities are available for you to pitch and email editors and bloggers directly. What used to take hours, now takes minutes!

In the comments below, tell us the following:

1. Does pitching your own PR overwhelm you?

2. How are you going to make the “pitch” process easier on yourself?

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