Follow up on your pitches
Haven't heard back from any journalists yet? It doesn't mean that your story won't be covered - sometimes they just need a little nudge. We all miss emails here and there, which is why follow-ups can be so valuable. Remind a journalist about why your pitch is important by scheduling follow-up emails with Propel.
If you're more of a visual learner check out this tutorial video instead.
If you're more of a visual learner check out this tutorial video instead.
Follow Up with Multiple Recipients:
- After sending a pitch using mail merge or generate drafts, if you would like to send or schedule a follow-up email, simply select the original pitching initiative.
- Next, select the "Follow up" checkbox on the right side of the toolbar. This signifies to Propel that you want to send this email within the thread of the original pitch, not as a new email thread.
- From here, you can select the recipients that you would like to receive the follow-ups. You can either click the "Add all pitched" button next to the Follow up checkbox or individually select the follow-up recipients from within your media list.
Propel will only allow you to select follow-up recipients that:-
- you have already pitched for this specific pitching initiative
AND
- you have already pitched for this specific pitching initiative
-
- have not responded to the original pitch
(Why? If a journalist has responded to your initial pitch - hooray! You cannot send a follow-up email to this recipient, because you're already in correspondence and should base your unique reply on the journalist's response.)
- have not responded to the original pitch
-
- Write your follow-up! Write the content of your follow-up email as your normally would when sending any pitch with Propel. Do not edit the subject line. Check out some of our follow-up best practices here.
- Send your follow-up using one of the following options:
- Send Mail Merge - this button will send the follow-up email immediately to all selected recipients within the same thread as the original pitch.
Example:
- Schedule Mail Merge - this button will give you the option of scheduling your follow-up emails to go out at a later date/time. The follow-up emails will be sent to all selected recipients within the same thread as the original pitch. If any of the recipients respond to the original pitch before the follow-up email is scheduled to be sent, the follow-up email will be canceled and deleted. You will find your scheduled follow-ups in your drafts folder. If you wish to cancel the follow-up, you can simply delete the draft.
- Generate Drafts - this button will allow you to further personalize your follow-up emails. When selected, Propel will separate all follow-ups into individual drafts in your drafts folder. You will see the drafts as replies to the original pitch.
Follow-Up with One Recipient:
If you sent a pitch to only one recipient, or you want to follow-up with journalists individually, simply reply to the original pitch (as you would with any regular email).
What's the difference between a follow-up notification and a follow-up email?
Follow-up notifications are helpful if you just need a reminder to send follow-ups on an individual basis, but do not wish to write the follow-up email yet.
To schedule follow-up notifications:
- When sending a new pitch, simply click on the "Follow up reminder" button underneath Gmail's send button.
- Once you've sent the pitch, you will see the date and time of your follow-up notification in the sidebar.
- If the recipient hasn't responded or you haven't followed up, you will get a follow-up notification in the Propel icon at the top of your screen. From here, you can view a folder of all pitches that require follow-ups.
