Timing Is Everything When It Comes To a Publicity Campaign
WELCOME to THE PR PARTICULARS, A SERIES OF INFORMATIVE POSTS DESIGNED TO EDUCATE ARTISTS ON THE PROCESS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS. WRITTEN BY EXPERIENCED MUSIC PUBLICISTS, THE SERIES IS SPECIFICALLY COVERING BEST PRACTICES THAT LEADING MUSIC PR FIRMS USE IN THEIR DAY-TO-DAY STRATEGY AND EXECUTION FOR CLIENTS.
How Much Lead Time Do I Need For a PR Campaign?
When it comes to running a successful publicity campaign, there is always the key ingredient of lead time. Specifically, when it comes to a PR campaign tailored to a new album, a music PR firm should be engaged on a project at least four to five months ahead of the album’s public release date. There are a number of reasons why this is crucial and we break those reasons down in detail below.
A music PR firm should be engaged on a project four to five months ahead of the album’s public release date.
First order of business when it comes to launching a campaign and why lead time is important, assets need to be examined and this is an area where you’ll want to discuss with your publicist to get their insight and opinion on best practices. Is there a proper bio written on the band/artist and is it pegged to the new album or single? How’s the narrative, what’s the story, does it articulate the music? How are the visual assets; do we need more or better photos of the band/artist? At the onset of a PR campaign is when your publicity team is strategizing and going over which journalists, editors and specific media outlets will be heavily focused on.
A monthly print magazine like Rolling Stone needs to be pitched at least four months in advance as that’s how FAR ahead they’re potentially planning out their coverage.
Your publicity team needs to get ahead of the editorial calendars at each respective media outlet being targeted during a campaign that would potentially want to cover your new release. This varies on the type of media outlet (print, online, specialty interview or performance booking) and the specific type of feature.
A monthly print magazine like Rolling Stone needs to be pitched at least four months in advance as that’s how far ahead they’re potentially planning out their coverage.
Your lead time shrinks more when you move into more fast-paced media; specifically online. Going back to the example of Rolling Stone, ample lead time is still key to raising the odds of landing coverage on a project. It truly depends on the coverage and needs of a specific feature. If it’s a deep-diving profile feature that’s likely being pitched three months ahead of a release as an interview needs to be conducted, the piece needs to be written and other assets such as photos need to be dealt with. The outlet will want the feature to run near the projects release date - and that brings us back to why you need ample lead time when launching an effective PR campaign.
If it’s a proper album review, the PR team should be pitching an outlet’s reviews editor a solid four-to-five months in advance.
Kiefer Sutherland Performing on CBS’s The Talk
Performance bookings on national TV like ABC’s Good Morning America NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon book up well in advance, again on that four-to-five month timeline. Also, be aware that you need a budget to perform on these shows for union fees, backline, etc. That’s another topic though.
Another reason to keep lead time in mind as being a crucial element to a successful publicity campaign is the process of pitching and follow up
When artists are releasing a new album, generally the rollout schedule has two-to-three singles (sometimes four) that are being released ahead of the full album’s release. This gives your PR team the opportunity to not only be pitching for features on the overall album, but also pitch for coverage on the singles themselves as well. For emerging artists, a premiere feature on a single (allowing a media outlet a short exclusive window to debut the new single ahead of a release) can be effective and beneficial to garnering awareness and exposure to potential fans. Premiere features are being pitch about two-to-three months in advance.
Another reason to keep lead time in mind as being a crucial element to a successful publicity campaign is the process of pitching and follow up. Journalists and editors are inundated with the pitches they’re fielding on a daily basis. It takes time to garner their attention on a project and give coverage consideration.
Start speaking with a PR team five month’s ahead of your planned release date to ensure you’re maximizing efforts and properly building your team and giving them the required lead time.
