Kibbe on Marketing: Make it a Date

One of the most underutilized resources at every publication is its editorial calendar. This is the best insight into a publication marketers could ever hope to have, yet in my experience, so many fail to use it.

Editorial calendars list the major topics a publication is expecting to cover, planned features, special sections, and regularly occurring sections. What’s more, deadline dates for copy and ads and publication dates are all spelled out in black and white. Only a face-to-face conversation will let marketers know more about a publication.

At the very least, editorial calendars present a great snapshot about the publication and the topics it covers, serving as a great tool when exploring new sources of exposure for clients. At best – and this is key – marketers will learn precisely what the publication is going to be covering AND just when to time a pitch about a client who’s a spot-on fit.

While I would receive some calls from marketing folks regarding the calendar, I’d get more calls pitching a topic that was just covered. That’s like looking to catch the football after the touchdown. More times than not, the topic of a feature will not be repeated in a publication for at least a year. Of course there are perennial favorites like the economy that are always covered, but you get my point.

And a quick word to the publications themselves – put the bloody edit calendar where people can find it! Publishers so often hide the darn thing when it should be one of the easiest things to find. It’s a publication’s calling card for heaven’s sake.

Two other bits of information that many marketers do not pay enough attention to on editorial calendars are the deadlines and publication dates.

The newspaper I worked for published every two weeks. Not weekly. Not monthly. Every two weeks. While the funky deadlines were specific to that paper, all publications have them, which mean all publications work in a bizzarro future timeframe. Most magazines, for example, work several months ahead, often three months or more (yes, as you’re reading this, some mags are putting together their holiday issues), so if a marketer is thinking she’s got a great Halloween feature, she may have been tricked, not treated.

For calendar sections, it’s almost impossible to send event items too far in advance. In fact, the earlier the better, and you will almost be guaranteed print coverage.  When I edited the calendar, the online version was mostly comprised of those items that missed deadline.

Another issue that frequently occurs is confusing publication dates for deadline dates, two very different things. Deadlines are there for a reason. They are not arbitrary. It takes time to put a publication together. Nasty things can and do happen if briefs, ads or what-have-you come in at the last minute. The item will be buried in the well of paper, and that’s IF there’s space available. There’s little time to troubleshoot problems. And it’s just a mean thing to do to the production and proofreading staff.

Editorial calendars provide a wealth of free information for marketers about a publication. Use them well and client coverage will be a timely success.

Cindy Kibbe, an editor for a New England business publication for nearly a decade, can be reached at cindykibbe@comcast.net.