Archive for April, 2008

Email Subject Line Tip - Get Noticed

Published
by
Robynn
on April 25, 2008
in Media Relations Tips
. 0 Comments

My resident media expert at Encyclomedia, Chantal, was speaking to a radio producer yesterday about his contact preferences and pitching tips and he gave a great tip that I’d like to share with you. It’s simple, perhaps it’s even really obvious, but I can guarantee you that very few PR practitioners practice this.

After pitching your idea to a journalist over the phone, when you then email your media release, write the following in your subject line: [Journalist’s name], we’ve just spoken - [concise headline].

For example: Thabo, we’ve just spoken - Purple pumpkin discovered in Potgietersrus.

According to this Kaya FM producer, he receives so many emails that even though you have discussed the idea with him, he may still miss your email. But by using his suggestion above, while scanning through the subject lines, he’ll be able to spot your email and media release straight away.

Popularity: 10% [?]


Replying to All in Email - Use Sparingly, Or Never

Published
by
Robynn
on April 17, 2008
in Communication skills
. 0 Comments

I’ve received a few marketing/spam emails lately, where the marketers have included the email addresses of their full recipient list for all to see. Although frustrating, this is of course nothing new. But I’ve never seen a reply, or a string of replies, quite like this before.

It started with a well-meaning email, where the sender, Siva, was trying to introduce himself and his new business, apparently ignorant of the fact that he was spamming everyone on his rather long list. After receiving what must’ve been several scolding replies, he then emailed everyone again (with all the addresses on view, again) to apologise for spamming them.

I thought this was a little strange, instead of just replying to the specific complainants and leaving it at that. But, as it it turned out, the comedy hadn’t even begun yet.

Wim sends a “reply to all” asking Siva for a price list, while letting everyone know (through his signature) exactly who he is. In the meantime, several people on the recipient list feel that they can follow Siva’s unfortunate example and send their company info and promote their sms competition lines to everyone too. It starts to get a bit ridiculous when Emma shouts this reply:

“PLEASE STOP SENDING YOUR ADVERTS TO ALL THE CC EMAILS! I’M GETTING BOMBARDED WITH EMAILS !!!”

To which Wim feels compelled to reply, replying to all, of course:

“I Agree… I only replied to a message sent to myself… So, some of you that swore at me, shame on you!”

A very frustrated Hermann, who had obviously emailed Wim privately before, now sends this message to everyone:

“I wrote you before DON’T SEND ME YOUR MAILS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!“

 The final reply from Wim sends me into shrieks of laughter:

“Its N OT MY MAIL A-HOLE!”

Well, I don’t think this post needs much more explanation. Revealing all of your recipients’ email addresses is dangerous; and using “reply to all” can be professional suicide.

Popularity: 7% [?]


First South African Social Media Release

Published
by
Robynn
on April 11, 2008
in WebPR
. 3 Comments

Social Media Press ReleaseSocial Media Press ReleaseThis week saw South Africa’s first online Social Media Press Release for the 2008 Standard Bank Pro20 cricket series - or at least that’s what the website says. I’m not 100% sure that it’s the first (there are several very smart webPR companies doing great behind-the-scenes work), but it’s certainly the first that I’ve come across. Perhaps it’s because this is the first local media release about a social media release.

I can’t help but wonder though, why did they call it a social media press release? The words “press release” really refer to the traditional way of gaining publicity through the printed press; whereas the words “media release” or “news release” are more inclusive and relevant for broadcast and online media. Perhaps “social media news release” or just simply “social media release” would work. But the terminology is a minor point, overall I feel that this is fantastic work by Standard Bank and all those who worked on this concept, including Cerebra, Brandsh and Melissa Attree.

All the information that a journalist or blogger would need is gathered in one place, from the quick facts at the top, to photos, video clips, quotes, match fixtures and contact details. If you want to see the updates to the release, you simply sign up for the RSS feed and you’ll always be able to access the freshest news around the Pro20.

Congrats to the marketers and the PR team for putting it all together in a simple way. I’m not sure how some of the traditional journalists will perceive this web2.0 thingamajig, but the easy-to-navigate, uncluttered layout will certainly help to convert the newbies. (This particular release was targeted at online journalists, bloggers, podcasters and videocasters.)

With the deadlines that some journalists suffer, they might moan about having to first click a link and wait for the page to load to see if the information is relevant to them or not. In this case, being able to quickly scan through the text in an email is easier. Or perhaps it’s just a habit, which means that it’s simpler to stick with the old ways of doing things? There will always be resistance to change and a social media release like this is certainly a big change from the usual press releases. 

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” - Charles Darwin

I hope to see many more media releases like this one.

Popularity: 15% [?]


How To Really Irritate a Journo in The First 5 Seconds

Published
by
Robynn
on April 4, 2008
in Media Relations Tips
. 7 Comments

It’s simple. If you start a phone call with “Hi, how are you?” you are looking for trouble.

Perhaps you’ve heard that public relations people are sometimes referred to as PR sales people? This is not because the poor journalists aren’t savvy enough to know the difference, it’s because people in our own PR industry are creating this perception - often unwittingly. In fact, some are so unconscious to the effect that their sloppy PR habits have, that they get upset and exclaim “how rude!” when an exasperated journalist doesn’t want to hear another irrelevant PR pitch.

I think I need a quick disclaimer here: I am not saying that journalists should be excused for being rude, there is no excuse for that. But after hearing some of their stories, I can understand why blood pressure levels rise as often as they do. 

Ok, so getting back to the PR/sales person comparison. Here’s what you can do to avoid a negative impression when making your call:

- Introduce yourself upfront.
Only untrained telemarketers selling dodgy products start a conversation with a bubbly “hi, how are you?” in an attempt to “build rapport”. The only thing this does is build scepticism. First say who you are and what company you’re calling from. No-one wants to make small talk when they don’t know who they’re dealing with; journalists generally don’t want to make small talk at all.

- You don’t need to be everyone’s best friend.
Get to the point and then be friendly, in that order. Once you’ve built a good relationship with a journalist, then you can chat away about your weekend plans and the weather. But up until that point, simply give the journalists what they need in a professional manner.

Please, for your own sake and for the sanity of the journalists you’re dealing with, understand why “hi, how are you?” just doesn’t work. Then pass on the tip to all of your colleagues too (despite its obviousness), because somewhere out there some PR people are unknowingly sabotaging all your hard media relations work.

What’s obvious to one is obviously not obvious to everyone.

Popularity: 9% [?]