Lessons learned from #PRfails in pitching
Ten percent of social media users complain daily via a status update, tweet or other public communication, according to a study from VentureBeat.com. My guess is that number would be a lot higher if we posted a status update every time we considered complaining; sometimes discretion wins, and mumbling to ourselves must suffice.
As media relations professionals, we can learn a lot about better ways to pitch our targets if we take note of journalists’ gripes that do make it to public status. I’ve been keeping track for a few months to see what frustrations with PR folks push journalists over the edge. Below are a few real tweets from journalists along with my lessons learned. These are just some of the ways PR pitches can go sideways–for more advice on avoiding #PRFails, download our free guide 5 Reasons Your Media Relations Strategy is Failing.
I'm so sick of PR folks sending me emails, saying "just attribute to this executive." No. That's NOT how it works/need to TALK to executive
— Scott Mayerowitz (@GlobeTrotScott) February 19, 2015
Do make spokespeople and key executives available for actual interviews (unless there are extreme circumstances.) And I know Scott Mayerowitz, who is an Associated Press airline reporter, would likely disagree with my words in parenthesis.
Hi. As much as I like the name, best not to address PR pitches to me with Hello Laura. cc @DearPR
— Tom Giles (@tsgiles) March 11, 2015
My name is not Julie. #PRfail pic.twitter.com/vwWIGcjtWx
— MissPond (@MissPond) May 7, 2015
Get the person’s name right, including the spelling. I’d be a hypocrite if I said I’ve never messed this up — at a certain point, you’re going to type the wrong name or spell one incorrectly. But, as a “Stacey” with an “e” that my mom tells me was unintended (long story), I know we should always do our best.
I just got a pitch to interview a cat at SXSW. In defense of the pitch, it was described as a "VIC (Very Important Cat)" so there's that
— Kurt Wagner (@KurtWagner8) March 11, 2015
If you’re going to be off target, at least be entertaining. Well, I’m being a bit sarcastic, but yes, try to avoid ridiculous and off-target pitches.
FYI: If your company isn't quite a boldface name, it doesn't hurt to add a sentence to the PR pitch about what good or service they provide.
— Rob Pegoraro (@robpegoraro) April 28, 2015
Explain the company, briefly. We all aren’t representing Google or Apple.
The more exclamation marks you put in an email subject line, the higher the probability I will delete without reading. #PRFail
— Emily (@JournoBird) October 23, 2014
attn publicists: I will not open your email if it contails 11 attachments. #prfail
— theminty (@theminty) November 14, 2014
Exclamation points and attachments are equally unwelcome.
Good luck with your pitches today. May they bring you a successful contact leading to a potential story versus a tweet with a #PRfail.
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