Predictions Pitching: It’s Time to Get Started for 2021

It’s the fourth quarter of the year, and that means it’s time to get ready for the bevy of editorial opportunities that present themselves in the form of predictions for 2021. B2B companies in the IoT, cloud, mobile, wireless and telecom industries have a great opportunity to get their viewpoints in front of the audiences that can help them grow their customer bases. Sound too good to be true? It’s not!

Many publications use this contributed content in late November, December and early January to fill in gaps when the news cycle slows, and fewer companies are making announcements. They generally run two types of articles:

1. A round-up of shorter opinions put together as a bylined story on a specific topic. Examples might include 5G rollout timelines, Open RAN, edge intelligence, security, CBRS, and other hot topics.
2. Solo articles, where the author picks and pitches the topic(s) and waits for approval on a specific theme. The articles are run by the publications with relatively light edits and give accreditation to the company and author.

Both are terrific ways to get some additional coverage to round out the year—if done correctly. These opportunities are by no means a shoe-in. They take real thought, with some cleverness woven throughout.

When planning what your company’s predictions should say, keep these 5 tips in mind:

1. Know what perception you are trying to convey. How will you focus your piece? Will it be on a business or technology topic? Will it be vertically focused? How about products? Most predictions pieces are from the company’s foremost expert on a topic. This generally means at least a VP-level title, but many publications prefer the predictions come from the C-level.
2. Be as controversial as you can. Controversial topics will get the most attention from editors—and from readers. So, if your executive is one that can move past basic predictions into some controversial topics, now is the time to do it.
3. Try for volume. Develop a list of 5-10 short predictions and offer to expand them into full-length articles or to stand alone in a round-up article. The more topics you develop the more predictions coverage you may be able to land. Make sure each subject can stand alone in just a few paragraphs – the editor will want more or less based on their own criteria.
4. Be creative. Tell a good story about your prediction without making it about your company.
5. Pitch early. Many opportunities are first-come-first-served, so plan to start working on prediction pieces soon. Most predictions articles are posted in December, with some sliding into early January, pre-CES. You should see predictions pieces popping up in publications around Thanksgiving.

Prediction articles are both fun to read and to re-read at the end of the year to see who was spot-on and who was blowing hot air. The bottom line: They are a good way to get some attention during an otherwise slow news cycle. Calysto has years of experience with storytelling and can help you position your company’s predictions as thought-provoking and educational. To get a leg up on the competition and some great coverage to boot, contact Marissa Evans at mevans@calysto.com.