How to participate?

So… I am going to be an author of a marketing calculator. What now?

Congrats on taking on this exciting task 😄 You now have a chance to be featured in The Guardian, The Washington Post and even Nature! Before we start, here’s a quick heads up!

What to expect when creating a marketing calculator

Build phase

  • First, you will receive a draft of a marketing idea for the calculator.

  • There will also be a channel for us to discuss the calculator.

  • Once you have finished a draft of the calculator, the Marketing Team will compile their feedback as a separate file on the dedicated channel. You are free to comment on the document and share your thoughts about their suggestions. However, they cannot give feedback about every little change, so if it is not urgent, you can summarize all of the changes with them once per day.

  • Remember that old news is no news! If the topic is hot (and it usually is), you will work quickly to finish the calculator as fast as possible. Urgency is your constant companion 😅

Pitch phase

Now the calculator has been built, it needs to be promoted to journalists by sending emails to them. Journalists are always looking for ideas for stories, so they are generally glad of these emails.

  • The emails could be sent in your name. Of course, you will be informed beforehand. Two email pitches are usually sent per campaign.

  • There will be at least two versions of the email pitch that you can choose from. You can view them through a document that the marketing team will send you. You are most welcome to give your comments.

  • If you prefer, the marketing team can show you their replies to journalists first, but keep in mind that they need to reply ASAP, so if you can’t reply within an hour, then you can expect that reply to be sent.

  • Email campaigns are sent on Tuesdays-Thursdays, at 4 PM. Hence, we need the calculator published before 4 PM (5 PM at the latest). Otherwise, it will be sent out on the next day.

  • The marketing team works from 9 AM - 5 PM on weekdays, but when there is a running campaign, the campaign leader could contact you after these hours as well.

Response phase

  • Journalists always have questions. The Marketing Team is able to answer some of them, and they will contact you if they don’t know the answer. Please answer within 24 hours - time is critical here!

  • Please make yourself available for interviews while the campaign is running. Let the marketing team know when you’re working so that, if a journalist wants an interview, they can schedule it quickly.

Tip

Got an idea for a future marketing calculator? Let your new ideas come to life by first sharing them on our Brainstorm sheet of the Mastermind spreadsheet.