One of the hardest jobs we have as PR professionals is writing catchy, effective headlines for pitches, press releases, etc. Let’s face it, there is a lot of pressure on us to capture the essence of something complex and then write a short, pithy, one-line sound byte that will grab the attention of a reporter. A drawback to the Public Relations profession is that as a group, we receive more spam than most other people. (I am a sorry to say, reporters aren’t alone in the spam wars). As I embarked on my morning ritual of cleaning out the overnight junk from my email the other day it struck me that we could learn a lesson or two from our not-so-friendly neighborhood spammer.
1. Know your audience!
I have always been curious of the type of profiling spammers use for their maniacal endeavors. Occasionally now you see the carpet-bombing approach (an example would be the acai berry flavored spammers) but most of the time the message is very targeted. Spammers obviously have some proprietary research that says every male over the age of 30 fears having some sort of sexual dysfunction, and are using it against us! Think about this when you write your next pitch, one size doesn’t fit all and there is no rule that says your email headline has to be exactly what is written in the press release. Get to know the reporters and the publications you are pitching so you can tailor your communication to them. A press release is a mass-communication device; it is our job is to make it personal for the reporter. Spammers seem to get this, I never seem to get any drug spam for women’s issues.
2. Get the message through!
Recently an effective technique employed by spammers (and I refer to them as a single living breathing entity, much like an evil blob) is to use your own email address as an alias to trick your filters into delivering the message. The lesson here is simple: do what it takes to get your message through. Ditch the fancy signature line with the embedded logo, this only serves your ego and is annoying to most people that receive it! Reduce the number of live links in your email and use plain text rather than html. These techniques will increase the chance of your message getting through. If your pitch is good and compelling it will get noticed with out the fancy formatting or graphics.
3. Be direct, entertaining and funny if possible!
Embolden, perhaps by their newfound success, spammers have become very direct in their messaging. Gone are the days of creative misspelled words such as V!@gra. Today spammer pitches are creative, entertaining and funny. I think even the Copy Editors at the New York Post would approve! Here are some of my favorites:
Don’t let flaccidity spoil fun
TNT to your nights!
Be a tank, not a minivan!
Double the fun of amour!
Power up your meat cigar
Heat in your pants
Get a spirit of Don Juan!
Never stay undersized!
Meat cigar instead of cigarette
When was the last time you wrote a headline as creative or catchy as these?
We all can take a lesson from the pages of the spammer. Be creative and personalize your pitches, the results may vary but may very well surprise you!
Blogging is one of the most common social media tools used today. Many marketers are in love with the idea of blogging. If you are a business owner with out a blog, you’re in the out crowd.
But B-to-B blogging still has some hurdles and many CEOs and PR pros still don’t see its value. Why should they waste their time on a blog if they cant see the direct track back to sales or measure the ROI? I can’t disagree with them (although I do) but I hope I can shed some light on some positive reasons to blog. The rule of thumb is, only blog if you really want to blog, otherwise it will fail. If you are not ready for the open exchange of ideas, I recommend that you stay away from social media and blogs as a whole.
So why should a small b-to-b company start a blog?
Blog content is conversational, allowing for readers (potential/current customers) to engage with what should be educational content, not sales or marketing
Blogs allow readers to talk directly with company executives, giving them a sense of open-door communication
Blogs allow for direct customer feedback are better then any market research can give you
Blogs allow for better SEO and Google rankings (search engines love blogs) but you have to have it connected to your Web site for full search engine exposure
Blogs can help you gain expert status in your industry only if you blog early, blog often, and blog about worthwhile topics
A blog will only be successful if the content changes often, giving your customers a reason to revisit the site. If a marketing department takes of the duties of blogging for an executive, then the blog could fail. A blog (especially b-to-b) should be done by an executive; they are the industry expert to which the customers are most likely to listen.
Finding the right journalists to target for your news may be a challenge to some, but it is one of the most vital elements in PR. Pitching journalists stories that aren’t relevant to their beat shows a few things: lack of research, laziness, and missing effort. Of course it’s bound to happen in your career, especially with journalists being replaced, switching departments or being laid off. You can score big with journalists when you take the time to do the groundwork and by following a few simple rules you can ensure you are always pitching the right reporter.
RULE 1: Do not depend solely on Media Atlas, Cision, Vocus, etc. With the turnover in newsrooms these days, I cannot stress enough how important it is to go to the outlets Web site and check out recent stories. If the past five stories aren’t relevant to your news, don’t bother!
RULE 2: Consider the readers. Yes, journalists rely on us to give them stories, and it is key to consider their audience. First, focus on the outlets and their readers and then move on the journalist and their beat. If all pieces of the puzzle fit you have yourself a great reporter to target, and your story is more likely to gain their attention.
RULE 3: Do the legwork and start with a good foundation. Making a well-organized and easy to follow media list is vital. This will avoid double pitching, and will help capture the reporter feedback and stay organized for your follow-ups. If you don’t take notes when you pitch, you are likely to make mistakes and potentially ruin relationships.
RULE 4: Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up. Follow-up is key to obtaining coverage around your story and establishing relationships. By doing so, you show journalist you really care about the story and what you’re pitching. Send your press release in the body of the e-mail with your pitch, not as an attachment and follow-up. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone, it shows you are making an effort on behalf of your client/story.
RULE 5: Drill the well before you need the water. The key word in PR is RELATIONS; so don’t reach out to journalists only when you want them to cover a story. Take the time to establish relationships before you have a story; this will help in the long run. You can do this by following and reading what reporters write and sending them an e-mail here and there saying key, I just saw your story on, Relationship building is a two-way street. Do yourself (and journalist) a favor and show that you value the relationship, not just when you want them to cover your story.
Media list building and targeting journalists is the most important foundational element in effective media outreach. Find the right reporter and follow-up, but don’t follow-up just for the sake of saying you did so. Know your material inside and out and be ready to answer any question that comes your way. Offer something of value and it’s easier to get your news covered.
The pressures on reporters are greater today than ever before. They received hundreds of pitches and press releases a day, are constantly inundated with stories they wouldn’t cover and have to produce more than ever before. Make your story relevant/valuable and I guarantee a reporter will look to you as a valuable resource, a good step in building a strong relationship.
As part of our commitment to providing quality information about the Public Relations Industry on the Lotus Seed, the staff of Lotus Public Relations will be writing a segment each month in which we get to turn the tables on the journalists we talk to every day.
In this segment we will see how they live and work each day, the pressures they face, what motivates them to be a journalist and we may even delve into their preferences in working with PR professionals.
I just had an interesting conversation with Dr. Pauly from Tao of Poker. We were all hanging out in the Caesars sports book after the AMAZING VILLANOVA WIN (I think I chain smoked 10 cigs in the last 5 minutes).
Pauly was twittering during the entire Dream Team Poker event today. For the first time he opted in for mobile updates on a few other players he knew were doing the same. This is definitely going to help me write my posts, he said. I can go back and reference hand play and bust outs.
If what Pauly says is true, Twitter is making journalists jobs easier. Brands can use Twitter to not only engage customers, but also use it as another PR vehicle to update journalists. This adds another component to Twitter, making it more valuable to companies, and something that PR firms should suggest to clients (more work for me damn it).
I decided to ask a few poker journalists what they thought.
Courtney Harrington of PokerRoad wasn’t as convinced. It’s interesting and adds good buzz for companies, he said. But it could be just a fad for now, we’ll see/
Matt Showell of PokerListings said that following poker players during tournaments helps him write his articles. But as far as companies Twittering, the jury is out. If companies Twitter in the right way its helpful. They have to join the conversation and not just bombard people with promotions. It takes a lot of resources, Showell commented.
Tweets help you collect perceptions. It adds the first person point of view for a story,added Gary Wise of ESPN.com. I haven’t really used Twitter in my work so far, but I see the value.
Matt Parvis of Bluff Magazine echoed Showell’s thoughts. Parvis said that Tweeting is booming in poker right now and makes it easier to do stories. Instead of waiting for a third party to give him player updates, he can get them right from the source. On the flip side, he doesn’t want a company pushing promotions in his face.
So there it is. It’s better for company individuals to Twitter instead of the company as a brand. Personally, I don’t really want to know that Banana Republic has a new shirt out. On the flip side I love when Starbucks tells me about specials. (mmmm’Starbucks). A few CEO’s are doing this successfully. One that comes to mind is Jason Calacanis (@techgurus & @JasonCalacanis), founder of Mahalo.com.
