The one thing that bugs me about PR agencies
Blast. That is the name of their game is blast and hope and pray that an esteemed editor of the NYT, WaPo or WSJ run the story. Or in the case of somewhat modern PR firms, is they hope their client gets featured on the likes of TechCrunch, Scobleizer or any others in the tech blogger echo chamber.
Blasting was the term for old-school, amateur marketing circa 1994-2004. Literally marketers (and eventually PR firms) would contact others in an unsolicited nature to spark interest in their article. I presume before this inexpensive form of blasting, phone calls and mailed letters preceded filling our inboxes.
I’d like to make my point very clear:
This message was blasted out and I received it just a few moments ago. Yes, obviously it’s an “Interview Alert.” The larger, bolded, underlined and uppercase typeface makes me read this with the utmost of respect and interest. Was there any personalization or tailored value for the interest of me running this on my blog or me attending — Nope.
Fundamentally, there is no difference between this excrement and the offers to enlarge the size of my anatomy. It’s not targeted and is hardly tailored toward my needs. I was tempted to toss this in my Spam folder, only to penalize them for sending such dross around on the Web.
Out of respect, I obscured the PR firm, but if they read my blog, they’ll know who they are. On a similar note, I will only make a grievance on topics that I can reasonably give a solution for. With that said, here is what PR agencies need to understand before they blast their client’s content:
- Segment your audience – am I a blue-chip blogger, or a tech gossip blogger; am I a critical blogger who aims for the jugular or am I a shiny-object blogger; am I even interested in your client’s company?
- Personalize the e-mail – Don’t be lame and use “interview alert” for the headline. At the same time, understand my needs and just send me a paragraph or less and include links to a story, images (maybe) and establish a rapport.
- Respect blogger’s opinions — Unlike most traditional forms of media, the great value in blogging is the honestly, authenticity, transparency and the dialog that takes place. If a blogger criticizes your client, be warm and embrace their feedback and go beyond your call of duty (ahem, ’service agreement’) and voice blogger’s concerns and respond back with the company’s officials.
- Use a social-media styled press release. – I strongly dislike traditional press releases due to the glossed nature of them; but when use them make it provide value to anyone who reads it. Shift Communications has shared an awfully darn effectively and valuable social media press release template [pdf]. Learn it, use it, and share it.
If all PR firms would behave in well, a human way, then I wouldn’t be so vicious about them. Tech evangelists like Jason Calacanis believe the best advice to get PR for your startup is to fire your PR firm. The reason why startups don’t need PR firms, is because they rarely are at the point of having the need for public relations services represent the voice of the company. Michael Arrington poured fuel on the fire by adding his perspective on PR and Blogging. (He did it so well, he got two PR reps to attack each other in the comments — priceless.)
I will be fair and say that only a small handful of PR agencies get it. They are adapting to the needs of bloggers and Web users, offering multiple forms of media for their consumption. In addition some of them are very good with interacting and building relationships (and sustaining those). For those in my good graces, I spare this entry from you and pat you on the back.
