- ARMENT DIETRICH ARMENT DIETRICH
-
WORK WITH USWORK WITH US
-
CATALOGCATALOG
-
RECENT POSTSRECENT
-
YOUR FAVORITESFAVORITES
-
Five Tips to Help You Create Shareable Content
Gin and Topics: The Political Edition
The Spin Sucks Inquisition: David J.P. Fisher
36 Animals with a Better Social Media Strategy Than You
Four Things Your Public Relations Clients Want Right Now
Improve Your Communications Strategy By Asking These Questions
Five Ways to Ensure PR Success with Your Start-up
Top Free Content Marketing Tools for Beginners -
Twitter
Facebook
RSS
Pinterest
Google+
LinkedIn
I Hate PR People: The Rules of Pitching Bloggers and Media
I hate PR people.
I can say that because I am one, but also because those of you who do blogger and media relations disappoint me.
Greatly.
It’s rare these days for me to go out with friends without hearing a story of how a PR person didn’t do their research or prepare their client for an interview before a blogger or “social media influencer” was approached.
In fact, it’s become a game to see who can tell me the worst story they’ve had of late. Their ultimate goal is to hear me yell, “I hate PR people!”
Unfortunately, it’s a refrain both friends and my Arment Dietrich team hear a lot.
The Auto Show
Take the Auto Show, for instance. A handful of social media influencers were invited as media to a dinner and the opening without an understanding of why they were there. From my purview, it looks like the PR people went to the Social Media Club website, downloaded a list of their former and current board members, and invited those people.
No research. No discussion about why each was invited. No review of whether or not they have blogs and if those blogs fit the client’s needs. No expectations set. No client preparation for the interviews. Nothing.
Not only did the bloggers/influencers not understand why they were there (though it sounds like they had a blast…and free dinner), the clients didn’t know who each of them were and were not prepared to answer specific questions about the blogger’s expertise or topic.
Event PR
I get it. I do. Your job is to get as many interviews during the show as you can. No one said they had to be good interviews or make sense for the client. As long as the interviews happened and your client was busy talking to many bloggers or journalists, the event is a perceived success.
Even better if all of those people write something, but I know you can’t guarantee that they will, so you don’t.
But it’s not just events. It’s daily pitching that is a disaster, too.
I know we’ve talked about this before and I also realize most of you who read this blog are not the offenders.
Perhaps you’ll either forward this to a friend or they’ll find it through search (but that also means they know they’re doing something wrong and want to fix it, which is a huuuuuge leap).
The Rules of Pitching
I’ve put together a list of seven things you must do when pitching a blogger or journalist, no matter if it’s for an event or a story you want us to cover.
- The online media directories, such as Cision and Vocus, are a starting point. They help you create lists easily and target effectively, but the services do not do the research for you.
- Do your freaking research. I get an email at least five times every day that has nothing to do with anything we cover here. One of my favorites of late? Someone wrote an article on Super Bowl advertising, sent it to hundreds of people in the “to” line (didn’t even BCC everyone) and invited all of us to run it. I guess that PR pro has never heard of Google Panda or duplicate content.
- Go online. It used to be that we would get out the big, green Bacon’s books, copy a list of people, and then either subscribe to the magazines and newspapers or go to the library and check them out to do research. I remember how exciting it was when everything went online. No more hours of research. But no one uses the Internet. Every, single blog has an “about” page, which typically includes what they write about and how to pitch them. READ THAT.
- Stop the spam. I swear if I get one more email that doesn’t have an unsubscribe button, the poor PR pro on the other end is going to have the wrath of hundreds of poor email pitches built up over time.
- Stop emailing me multiple times. If I don’t respond, I am not interested. You forwarding your previous email to me, to show me how many times you’ve sent it to me without response is not charming or enduring. I get hundreds of emails a day. If I want to do something with yours, you will hear from me or Lindsay Bell. If it’s not well-researched and the pitch isn’t relevant to us, I will delete it without responding. Don’t contact me again.
- If I tell you no, don’t contact Lindsay. And vice versa. Sometimes I’ll tell you no because the story isn’t interesting to us or because you want it to run tomorrow and we don’t have space for it. Lindsay has this blog running like a machine. Think of it as a trade magazine. We are a good six weeks out with our blog schedule. Unless it’s how Beyonce’s PR people royally screwed up, we’re not going to push something to make room for your five tips on search engine optimization. So don’t go running to Lindsay to beg her to run it, after I told you no.
- For the love of all things great, don’t call me out on Twitter for not responding to your email. My not responding is me being nice. If you get a response from me, either I’m interested or I’m fed up and you are the straw that broke the camel’s back. I’m much nicer than some of my peers. Some will email you and shame you…which is hilarious to all of us that are BCC’d, but not hilarious to you.
P.S. Everyone wish Lindsay a very happy birthday!
Join the 48,223 Spin Sucks Fans
Books
The Latest Spin Sucks Inquisition
Leave a Reply
338 Comments on "I Hate PR People: The Rules of Pitching Bloggers and Media"
@benjohnston429 @spinsucks Not all PRs are this bad (but lots of them are)!
@HayleyToothill No, not all of them are, but 99.9% of the pitches I receive are…the others are people who build relationships first.
@ginidietrich Not many PR’s are very social-minded. A good PR should understand the World of blogging from both sides of the fence 🙂
@HayleyToothill TOTALLY agree! And then use that to pitch journalists, too
Angry Gini is funny.
@jasonkonopinski And this was after I calmed down.
@ginidietrich I need to start a Tumblr of all the crummy pitches I get. They’re quite comical. 😀
Oooh, punchy start to the week, I like it. What being a year older does to someone 🙂 Happy birthday Lindsay and you (belatedly).
@HughAnderson Thanks Hugh! It’s so frustrating. I feel like, when I get these pitches, just sending them links to blog posts like this.
@ginidietrich Send them to me. I’ll deal with them … one way or another … !!
@HughAnderson OK!
@HughAnderson Thanks Hugh!
@jesslaw Thanks Jess!
@ginidietrich My pleasure! Have a great week, Gini!
I consider this post to be my birthday present. Thank you SO MUCH for writing it.
Here’s a tip: always remember the 5 Ws – who, what, where, when and why. Before you pitch – think them through – they may not all fit, but surely one or two of them will help you focus and clarify if you’re barking up the wrong tree or not.
@belllindsay Happy Birthday!
@belllindsay Happy birthday, chica! And @ginidietrich , you just did everyone a favor by writing this, though as you noted, the people who most need it probably won’t realize it. Or pay attention. But *shakes fist*
@AmyVernon @ginidietrich Thanks Amy!!
Just one question. Why would a PR email have an unsubscribe button? One can on unsubscribe form something if one is subscribed on a list somewhere. A PR pitch is not supposed to involve any subscription to any list.
@amabaie The problem is many, many pitches are mass mailings. And they’re coming unsolicited most of the time. So they should be created in a software that provides an unsubscribe button. Otherwise I have to email you to say, “Take me off your list” and then you argue with me about why (not you, specifically). Mass pitches shouldn’t be sent to begin with, but when they are, use Constant Contact or MailChimp and provide an unsubscribe button.
@ginidietrich @amabaie I don’t consider myself a PR person but I do blogger outreach. I don’t use a mass mail program but the when I initially reach out to someone on behalf of a client I let them know they can ask me not to contact them about *this* again, etc.
@EdenSpodek @ginidietrich Maybe I’m naive, but I assume that any time I enter into a conversation with someone else, as soon as one person says they are not interested, the other person won’t be a bum and keep talking.
@ginidietrich Ah, that is the problem. If they are created in a software program that just inserts a name and email address, then mass mailed, they ARE spam and it is not an “unsubscribe” button that is needed but a disconnect from the Internet.
Happy Birthday @belllindsay (may your day be filled with unicorns and rainbows and your very favorite beer!). @ginidietrich , well done. Needed to be said and hopefully to be heard.
@allenmireles Do not let me forget to show you the card Mr. D gave me.
@allenmireles @ginidietrich Thanks Allen!! No beer, but I might be getting a puppy!!
I’m gonna use Words With Friends as my new approach to pitches. I figure if you play with me, you can’t turn me down.
@KenMueller LOL! You can chat me your pitch. Let’s see what happens.
@KenMueller Excellent plan!
Have to love the Twitter approach, since you didn’t respond anywhere else I am going to stand outside your cyberoffice and scream at you.
@Joshua Wilner/A Writer Writes It happens all the time to me. Do they do that to you, too?
@ginidietrich @Joshua Wilner/A Writer Writes Calling someone out on Twitter has to be one of the worst things I’ve seen/heard. It makes the tweeter look like a jerk and the recipient uncomfortable. Is there a word for them, like paparazzi only for Twitter?
This is one of those things where you need to treat people like you want to be treated. It’s not hard. If you don’t want to receive spam, mass emails, irrelevant pitches or be pestered incessantly, why would the blogger or reporter you’re trying pitch?! Think, people!
@lauraclick I think the problem is most aren’t using social media or blogging personally so they don’t really understand it. They’re just going through the motions, collecting their paychecks, and going home, where they really want to be. How many PRSA events have journalists talking about how to pitch them? And NO ONE LISTENS.
@ginidietrich Totally. And maybe that’s why PR people should blog. It would help them realize what it’s like being on the other side of the coin.
@lauraclick I am a huge advocate of that.
I’m starting to get random pitches via the web site. Me. I’m not in PR. I don’t write product reviews. It’s silly.
@jeanniecw I would blow my top. You should start responding with links to blog posts like this. Actually, *I* might do that.
@ginidietrich You just put down everything I think of when I read the brainless pitches in my inbox. Brilliant. I’m making a canned response with this link. Thanks.
@ecokaren @ginidietrich I have a canned response and it still doesn’t help. I only blogged once in 2012 and I received pitches daily. Granted I still had 12K visits/month but it was pretty obvious they hadn’t read my blog first.
Oh, and happy birthday, @belllindsay ! Hope it is a good one!
You guys practically have a week-long celebration with you and @ginidietrich having back-to-back birthdays!
@lauraclick @belllindsay And martinwaxman is tomorrow. We’re finding ways to keep it going all week.
@ginidietrich @belllindsay martinwaxman Wow! That sounds like some party! Have fun! 🙂
@lauraclick @ginidietrich @belllindsay I didn’t realize it was martinwaxman birthday tomorrow – cool! I’ll be seeing him tonight, so I can wish him in advance. 🙂 And happy birthday, @belllindsay !
@lauraclick @ginidietrich @belllindsay We are… I’d like to extend it to the entire month… Oh and great tips about the pitches – the principles are simple – if PR folks would do their homework and not spray and pray…
@martinwaxman @lauraclick @ginidietrich It’s all about February BABIES!!! 😀
I hate superheroes…. but I LOVED this post. You were at your sarcastic, ranting best and I ate up every word of it. I’ve always maintained that pitching is an art, not a science, but I would highly recommend integrating your scientific formulas.
Oh and happy birthday you hammerhead you
@jodykoehler http://t.co/McfapAnD
“Do your freaking research”….LOL x 100! That is all….
@ElissaFreeman So simple.
@belllindsay @ElissaFreeman So simple, yet so many people don’t do their research and that goes for some of the self-proclaimed influencer experts too. No, I’m not kidding. 🙁
@elissapr @spinsucks Best line: “If the pitch is relevant to me, it works 100 percent of the time.” #TRUTH
“I don’t like your pitch, but if I did, I’d choose Dos Equis. Stay thirsty my friend.” <—-If I got pitched, this is the email I’d respond with. The thing I don’t get about PR people (I’m not one) is that it makes sense to me that a good 5 pitches would net more than a poor 10. And the ratio is > for the smaller good than the < bad.
Why do so many intelligent people lack common sense when it comes to blogger relations?
@EdenSpodek laziness. plain and simple. spray & pray
@ryancox It goes even deeper than that. I find many people who are comfortable and successful at media relations are afraid of developing relationships with bloggers. Maybe that’s not a bad thing for people like me because it helps pay the bills. 😉
@EdenSpodek I don’t know. I feel like we’re easier to pitch. I don’t get it.
@HeatherTweedy You’re exactly right…media relations is ALWAYS delegated to junior-level staff. It’s how you cut your teeth. What gets me is when I get a terribly researched pitch from a VP. That’s when I go ballistic.
I JUST got called out on Twitter on Thursday. I should have screen grabbed it. I responded with something so sickeningly nice, it almost made me puke.
Happy birthday Lindsay!
And this reminded me of a time when I was schooled by a CEO, who insisted that I create and pitch a release about our adding a bunch of cubicles (actually just rearranging a few and using some spare parts) to the office. Despite a full year of pitching releases about major business partnerships, new software launches, and huge customer wins, this stupid release about cubicles won by far the most favor with local and regional media.
I have yet to figure that one out.
@mylefttom Slow news day. 😉
@mylefttom Are you serious?!? WHY did they run that story?
@dwaynealicie Owning up to it and apologizing. I think that goes a long way to make up for anything. And thanks! 😀
@belllindsay Sincere apologies always go the distance, right? See: unhappy-customer-turned-biggest-brand-advocate model, perhaps?
I hope the next year brings you everything you would like from it!
@dwaynealicie Thanks Dwayne, it sure can’t get any worse than the last couple I’ve had! LOL I’m hoping for much better things!
@belllindsay @dwaynealicie You’re familiar with the Bad Pitch Blog, right? You can always share your bad pitches with them and who knows, maybe they’ll blog about them. 😉
@EdenSpodek @belllindsay Fascinating head-shakers over there! Need to read more often…
@dwaynealicie I would have loved to see you laughing like a crazy person on BART this morning. LOL!!
I don’t know if they can ever recover…I suppose if they build a relationship with a journalist and then admit the wrongdoing, they can recover. For instance, if you pitched me on something and it was just wrong, I would tell you why, but I wouldn’t hold it against you.
It’s the people who, after my writing this today, sent me three emails about the same topic who can’t recover.
@ginidietrich Laughing like a crazy person is just one of my talents. I live for meta-laughter!
I may have to borrow the simple genius of “my not responding is me being nice” sometime.
And I see … the people who really need to learn these lessons aren’t listening; they’re oblivious to the fact that they are The Problem. This seems to be a recurring theme in life! I am 100% on board with putting the perps on blast.
Well, I’ve found the perfect content for the “Dear PR people” page on my blog! 🙂
@coffeewithjulie Steal away!
@GosiaAntkowski When I get pitches that make no sense for the blog, but it’s from a friend, I always offer to do something like a tweet or Facebook update on our business page. It sounds like you od the same?
@LisaPetrilli @ginidietrich great article. I always say make your pitch relevant, entertaining, and resonating.
Why not start a public call-out ‘sheet’ @ginidietrich ? You could amass a list, and other professionals (you trust) could add people to the list. If PR pro’s/companies were smart, they’d do everything they could to stay *OFF* that list, because it’s a Internet-facing call out sheet that their bosses (or a good boss) wouldn’t want to see them or their companies name on.
Or has that been attempted and unsuccessful?
@ryancox We’ve talked about it before, but it’s not my thing. I don’t want to call people out. It feels mean-spirited to me. I’d rather teach and mentor…even if it means it takes longer to get through their heads.
Great tips.
@momtrends Thanks!
Oh, and happy birthday Lindsay!
@LouHoffman Man, that Ogilvy guy sure was smart. 😉
@LouHoffman I don’t disagree one bit… but if you have to pitch something the client requires, I’m pretty sure you can find a handful of people, when pitched correctly, will run the story.
How’d you do on the 40 deliverable?
@ginidietrich I was afraid you might ask that question. We did secure 40+ interviews. One month later, we resigned the account, a happy ending from my perspective.
@LouHoffman That’s the same thing we would have done.
@magriebler LOVE THIS ANALOGY!!
I agree with your commentary Gini. It comes don to lazy/sloppy PR work. People are looking for shortcuts and making other PR people look bad in the process. In this case one ( or a few bad apples) are spoiling it for the rest of us.
@MacLeanHeather I suppose it’s the same in any industry, right? There are good pros and bad ones.
@ginidietrich Very true. However, this industry seems to wear it more.
I almost forgot! Happy birthday, Lindsay!
@magriebler 😀
Great post Gini. I guess you’re not interested in the story about my earlobe. I should stop emailing you about it. And Tweeting. And LinkedIning (?). But it IS a nice earlobe….and it can help so many. 🙂 Have a great week!
@spinchick Only because it’s YOUR earlobe am I interested.
In addition to getting PR folks to stop being lazy and do their research long before they hit the send button, more of them also need to learn how to push back on their clients and start getting them to think quality not quantity.
@JodiEchakowitz Very good point! We’re lucky…our clients don’t want the news releases for the sake of having them.
@JodiEchakowitz @SpinSucks I get some that email me 5 times; others ignore my requests because I’m not in the US. Some actually do it right
@JodiEchakowitz @SpinSucks One was so clever, I actually wrote about the pitch. #pr
http://t.co/PBZHRGwp
@gadgetgreg Ha! Now if there were more clever ones out there, the PR industry would be perceived quite differently.
@JodiEchakowitz So true, Jodi! This pitch was clever and real! It made a difference! Thanks for the great post! #pr
@UA_BrandiW http://t.co/7JtbahqC
@gadgetgreg I love the subject line!
@AmyVernon @ginidietrich #2 was hilarious.
@gvoakes @ginidietrich 🙂
@gvoakes The part about the Super Bowl advertising article he wanted 100 of us to run?
@ginidietrich Yeah, I feel like I’ve gotten a few of those emails as well.
@gvoakes Grumble, grumble
Awesome post Gini! It’s bookmarked and ready to share (in a very nice, constructive way) with those who don’t do their homework!!
@LeslieMcLellan LOL! I hope you DO share it with them. I’m about to do the same.
@Aujefferies Love the sinner, hate the sin. Everything is “media.” From the title of the books we read, to the ad on the side of a bus.
@ginidietrich Wow, crazy. It just boggles my mind that people still don’t get it and don’t recognize that their method is completely flawed.
Happy Birthday Lindsay!!!
Great post Gini, sounds like you really needed to vent about this. I’m trying to get my director is understand you can’t write a press release like a graduate thesis paper and then email it to your entire contact list. I can completely relate to the “no research” part of this post.
@stevenmcoyle Cheers!
@stevenmcoyle Please tell me your director isn’t a classically trained PR pro.
@ginidietrich She’s more of a marketing pro. I think she only issues press releases because they are “free”.
Ah, we always love ‘reminder’ posts 🙂 This serves as a great read for novice and veterans alike. We’ll be sending this out on Twitter as a gentle reminder that in the case of pitching, slow and steady (and researched!) wins the race.
Hope all is well! And happy birthday to Lindsay!
Best,
Lisa
@Cision NA Thanks, Lisa! You guys serve as a great starting point…but it’s not meant to do all of the work necessary.
@ginidietrich Yes, we work best when paired with a PR pro’s knowledge/research of the subject and can team to be a power couple if used well 🙂 We do offer lengthy profiles on a lot of journalists that list their preferences, topic coverage, etc., but it takes time to read those notes as well.
Either way, great tips – we’re thankful to pass them on! Here’s to the betterment of the industry 🙂
@Cision NA And you allow edits and adds to the profiles, which is really helpful, if people use them!
@Cision NA LOL! Use the Evernote app! You’ll be mad you didn’t use it sooner!
@Cision NA Thanks! 😀
RT @cision: To avoid any pitching faux pas, read @ginidietrich’s The Rules of Pitching: http://t.co/s2bpY1i3 #PR #MediaRelations
Don’t get me started…#5 is my pet peeve. There better be an “unsubscribe” button and it would be refreshing if it actually WORKED. One day I decided to unsubscribe to many of the vendors I use periodically (i.e. 1800FLOWERS, Toys R Us, etc.) and I believe that caused them to grow and grow and grow. Sorry by you got me started !!!
@PattiRoseKnight OMG! Mr. D posted on the 1800FLOWERS FB wall yesterday asking how many times he has to unsubscribe before he’s taken off the list. They responded by asking for his email address and saying they’d handle it. I guess unsubscribe doesn’t work for them.
@ginidietrich @PattiRoseKnight You can’t spell “unsubscribe” without “subscribe!” Winner!
#5 is my favourite. Piss off already.
@Danny Brown And get off my lawn.
@belllindsay Wow, another year younger, smarter, and more beautiful … happy birthday Lindsay! 🙂 Pouring you your favourite drink.
@Carmelo Awwwwww, that made my day Carm, thanks! 🙂
@Carmelo Um, my birthday was yesterday. @belllindsay
@ginidietrich @belllindsay What?!?!? Where the heck was I? Happy Late Birthday Wish Gini! Gee, I knew there was something special about yesterday.
… I just need to know your size! Spring is just around the corner, Gini.
Your birthday gift
@Carmelo Those are GORGEOUS!
@ginidietrich They will look great on you! And probably up your effectiveness 2x or more. Glad you like them!
@dalicie @spinsucks People still do that stuff. You should see what comes into my inbox and/or the strange pitches I get in other channels.
@EdenSpodek @SpinSucks Blows my mind! I’m not practicing full-time yet — still in school — but these stories shock me. Do you ignore them?
@dalicie @spinsucks Most of them. Sometimes I’ll respond if they’re really dumb. I use an auto-responder but they ignore the message.
@EdenSpodek I have also heard stories about angry calls from PR people when the final piece wasn’t what they wanted … <smh>
@dalicie I’ve only had one incident like that – it was actually to remove someone’s name – it came six months after the post was life. Ugh!
@dalicie On the consulting side, I wouldn’t call a blogger nor advise a client to call to complain about earned media.
@dalicie I had one situation with a sponsored post. The blogger didn’t entirely hold up his end of the bargain but it was better let it go.
@EdenSpodek It seems that situations like that could be handled tactfully. Of course, that seems to be asking a lot in today’s world!
@dalicie Agreed. Every situation is unique. When there’s an agreement and money changes hands the rules are somewhat different.
@EdenSpodek Ah, Money Changes Everything, doesn’t it? Didn’t Cyndi Lauper sing that in the 80s?
@dalicie Yes, it does and you’re aging us. 😉
@EdenSpodek Ha! I must also confess that I celebrated New Year’s Eve this year …. by watching The Goonies. Yep! It has come to that.
I wrote this a way’s back… I know we’ve spoken about it but I think it echoes the sentiment: http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/attention-pr-people-heres-how-to-pitch-a-writer/ (I may be a little harsher than you are 😉
@mitchjoel A-freaking-men!