1. Contact them on deadline. It’s a little like asking to speak with a restaurant manager during the lunch rush. Find out when the publication goes to print from the editor’s assistant or the receptionist, and don’t call at those times.

2. Know your stuff. Didn’t expect the editor to answer the phone? Don’t have a clear idea of your story idea, or don’t have your notes in front of you? When you call editors, you can’t always expect to talk with them then and there. But be prepared if they happen to have a moment for you.

3. We already covered that. Take the time to see if the publication has covered the topic in the recent past. If they have, you’re not likely to score.

And here are six practices to follow that will greatly increase your chances of success:

1. Do your homework. Investigate the publication’s readership profile to make certain the audience is a good match for your story idea. Does the publication accept contributed pieces? What is their editorial calendar?

2. Keep it newsworthy. Make certain your story idea isn’t self-promoting—for example, “XYZ Company provides novel IT solutions to security problems”. Instead, use this approach: “Five novel IT solutions to security problems.” The byline will be all the promotion the company needs and positions the author as a subject matter expert.

3. Use query paragraphs to create interest. Start with a catchy headline, and follow it with a short description of the proposed article. Emphasize what’s new and controversial, and what questions it will answer for readers.

4. Limit the number of topics. Five is the maximum. Editors don’t want a shotgun approach, or “throw it against the wall and see what sticks.” Make sure each topic is coherent and well-thought out.

5. Let them know the company’s reputation and credentials. What makes the company worthy of space in the publication? Let the editor know about the company’s experience in the field and if they have written for other publications.

6. Fulfill your end of the bargain. Turn in a good story, on topic and on time. Follow the publication’s editorial guidelines and whichever style manual they prefer (ALA, AP, etc.). Doing so will place you and the company squarely on the editor’s good side and not in the mix with those other contributors who are always late, sloppy or both.

Following these six steps—and avoiding the three pitfalls—will help your pitch be a success and avoid the editor’s death sentence: the delete key!

Social media? Bah! Humbug!

behind that of their B2C colleagues, according to the report.

For example, 60 percent of B2B marketers have no one on staff dedicated full-time to social media, compared to just 46 percent of B2C marketers. Only 10 percent of B2B marketers had engaged an outside agency for social media marketing, compared to 28 percent of B2C marketers. Most revealing was the level of acceptance of social media among executives: 36 percent of B2B marketers reported low executive interest in social media, compared to just 9 percent among B2C marketers.

This begs the question, why? Here are a few reasons that B2B marketers haven’t fully embraced social media marketing:

• B2B marketers are ROI-driven. A B2B sale can be literally years in the making, involving strategic organizational decisions and budgeting on the part of the buyer, as well as significant investment of the part of the marketer. The stakes are too high to gamble in a field where ROI has proven especially hard to determine.
• Likewise, B2C decisions are emotional, while B2B are logical. A tweet may drive thousands of consumers to impulsively download the latest hit pop song from iTunes, but it’s unlikely to sell an enterprise solution to a major manufacturing company.
• It’s generational. Social media is still largely a youth-driven phenomenon. As more top executives retire and are replaced by marketers who have long embraced social media as a part of their lives, you may see B2B marketers embrace social media more consistently.
• B2B marketing isn’t brand-driven. B2B companies are often entrenched in a niche in which there may be relatively few players, compared to a typical B2C industry. Therefore, social media’s role as an effective brand promoter is not as effective.

White Horse provides a spot-on summary of the state of B2B and social media by stating that the end result for B2B and social media will be a happy marriage of new and traditional marketing methods:

“We believe strongly that the ultimate evolutionary stage of social media marketing is its integration with traditional tactics, and B2B marketers are uniquely well-positioned to make this leap. Social tactics align more naturally with highly relationship-driven B2B tactics than they do with awareness-centered B2C tactics.”