Your follow-up needs a new reason to exist

A reason following up feels so icky to so many PR pros is they’re stuck trying to reinvent polite ways to say, “How ‘bout now?”

Typing that stuff usually feels cringe and rarely works.

A stronger – and more emotionally comfortable! – follow-up gives your email a new reason to exist by adding something useful that wasn’t in the original email.

So rescue your creative brain from dreaming up novel versions of “in case this got lost in your inbox.” Apply it instead to finding a new asset that could save an overworked journalist time or make your story easier for them to choose.

For example, you can reply to the original email and add any of these that weren’t in your first email:

• Different visuals
• Different sources
• Updated source availability
• New internal data
• External data that validates the story
• Breaking news relevant to your idea

Tact and sensitivity still matter. You want your energy to be less “pick me, pick me” and more “know you’re super busy, here’s something that could help save you time at your important job.”

Here are my paraphrases of the five emails Inner Circle member Terri Vanech tastefully sent to an Inc. writer before getting a commitment for coverage. That doesn’t include the 10+ later exchanged for scheduling and fact-checking.

The first three were more traditional follow-up, appropriate at the early stage of outreach. By the fourth and fifth touches, she knew she needed to bring more goods.

Email 1 – Initial pitch about long-term impact of a course created by the guru she reps (no response)

Email 2 – In case you missed this (journo sends quick response about leaving for vacay)

Email 3 – Have a nice vacay, I’ll come back to you when you return (no response)

Email 4 – Hope you had a nice break, would you like to interview founders of companies that have grown out of this course? (no response)

Email 5 – Here are four new examples of successful companies that have grown out of this course (The journo apologized for not responding sooner and committed one of her colleagues to do the piece.)

Pro tip: Next time you’re sweating over a draft pitch because it’s too long, cut an element and save it for your follow-up email.

And remember that you’re not nagging someone who isn’t interested. If you’ve properly targeted and framed your news, you’re making it easier for someone to do their job.

I shared six more successful follow-up threads with the Inner Circle (one spanned two years!) – register for our Wait List and you can get access to that session when we open up for new members.