PR Interview: Influence 50,000 Execs - Pitch Sales & Marketing Management Magazine

Contact Information

Michael McCue
Editor in Chief
Sales & Marketing Management
646-509-9757
michael(dot)mccue(at)nielsen(dot)com
http://www.salesandmarketing.com/

Background

McCue started at Sales & Marketing Management 18 months ago, but he’s been in trade publishing since 1991. He was Editor in Chief at Managed Healthcare magazine for 10 years. Before taking his current position, McCue spent a couple of years as a marketing director at a healthcare IT company.

Circulation/Readers

About 50,000 execs subscribe to Sales & Marketing Management. Their subscribers:

By industry:
-61% manufacturers
-27.2% service organizations
-4.8% educational institutions
-4.9% other

By title:
-27,064 - Sales/Marketing Directors, Managers
-18,725 - Presidents, Owners, Partners, General Managers
-10,859 - Vice Presidents
-3,283 - Advertising/Marketing Services Director or Manager

(Note: There is some overlap in the titles, which is why the total number of subscribers appears higher than the actual total.)

Readers are senior-level executives who manage teams of sales reps or marketers. They work for companies with $50 million or more annual revenue. Readers take an average of 10.5 business trips per year. They spend an average of $181,875 on incentive and recognition programs annually.

Editorial Coverage

Sales & Marketing Management covers everything executive-level sales and marketing managers need to know to do their jobs more effectively. Coverage includes:
-Features
-Strategies
-Case Studies
-Q&As
-Columns

Cover story features offer advice from top thought leaders. Topics range from employee recognition programs to their takes on flourishing during tough economic times.

Features are split into four categories:
1. Technology
2. Training
3. Incentives
4. Travel/Meetings

Strategies are split into six categories:
1. Smart Sales
2. Sales Strategy
3. Smart Marketing
4. Marketing Strategy
5. Smart Management
6. Management Strategy

How to Pitch

McCue appreciates people who want to help his readers be more effective at their jobs. Here are some tips for appealing to him.

->Tip #1: Keep readers’ pain points in mind

These readers “have a lot of power, authority, and experience, but they also have multiple hats they have to wear,” says McCue. And not all hats are ones they’re accustomed to wearing.

Many readers, for example, were star sales agents who were promoted to being in charge of a sales team. But they didn’t receive training on how to become a good manger. They need advice, for instance, on how to organize training events and meetings for a team.

Another pain point of readers is learning ways to distinguish themselves from competitors. Price doesn’t cut it anymore. Readers need advice on how to discover the value they provide that their competitors don’t. They need guidance for making that value the foundation of the message they communicate.

->Tip #2: Make your pitch applicable to all industries

The magazine covers sales and marketing management strategies for all industries. Pitch topics, therefore, should apply to multiple industries. McCue is always looking for successful strategies people are implementing.

->Tip #3: Identify how your pitch provides value to readers

Read the magazine and scan the website for a while before determining how your pitch provides value to his readers. McCue suggests using phrases, such as: “I know your readers are struggling with…” or “This is an area where we can help your readers, provide value to your readers” or “We can tell your readers something they otherwise wouldn’t know.”

He says “value” is the most important word when pitching to him or to any editor.

“If you show that what you’re talking about … is going to help my readers, the value is evident right there,” he says.

->Tip #4: Pitches must be non-promotional in nature

The magazine gets plenty of pitches from sales- and marketing-related vendors and agencies, McCue says. The one rule he asks them to follow is that a pitch be non-promotional. Case Studies, for example, rarely address specific products; they are more strategy-based.

For contributed content, McCue says: “If someone from a company wanted to write something about what their company does, we would allow that, but not about their product or service. They must talk about their industry or their solution in more general terms … about the usefulness of it.” So, prove that you are a thought leader and expert in the field.

->Tip #5: Discuss before writing contributed content

The magazine accepts contributed or bylined content, but McCue suggests discussing ideas for articles before writing them. Doing the reverse, submitting content before discussing the idea, will inevitably turn into more work because a prewritten article will most likely need to be rewritten to fit the tone and scope of the magazine.

->Tip #6: Offer help without expecting coverage

Sometimes, even editors need help fleshing out stories or finding the best angle. When someone offers to do that knowing McCue isn’t interviewing them for a story, he says, that builds a lot of trust with that individual.

“If you become that kind of asset … I’m going to be more inclined to listen when you recommend things because you’ve shown you’re not just in it to get your story printed,” he says. “You’re in it to help my readers.”

That helps build a relationship with the magazine, he says.