2020 has brought a number of surprises, but some things just stay the same: #PRFails and journalists highlighting what’s wrong with PRs and founders when pitching stories to them.
What’s astonishing to the team after collecting pet peeves for a few months now is how often PRs get names wrong (or not at all). These kinds of mistakes set the bar very low and give the industry a bad name. They do give other agencies the chance to stand out in a positive way as well. Yessi Bello Perez from Growth Quarters (The Next Web) even wrote an article about how it actually makes you lose money to get names wrong after receiving about 1 million emails misspelling her name. At least all those pitches made it into an article, after all.
But imagine if journalists made basic mistakes as those and published articles with names, dates, and places wrong? Perhaps the PR industry needs to create a new role: PR editors. They could make sure PR pitches are on point, this would also filter out bad pitches and lower the inbox stress faced by journalists.
Let’s dig into this month’s edition of Journalist’s Pet Peeves.
Just. Don’t. Be. Creepy.
Following up with your pitch is OK, but make sure that you are chasing the right person with the right story!
Don’t show off your previous coverage when pitching a news story. It must be something fresh and something that hasn’t been covered before!
Instead of using mail mergers, just take some time of your day and make sure that you do due diligence and basic research. Please tailor your email to whoever you are approaching!
As old as the world – Katherine is not a “Kevin”, Shivali is not a “Kevin”, Hannah is not a “Hanna” and George is not a “Mike”, Get the names right or you face a chance of being blacklisted!
No #spam allowed! Researching a journalist before approaching them with your story is a must! Your pitch must be relevant and timely.
Buying media lists might be very appealing, however, it might backfire at some point! If you want to have an up-to-date media list – spend some time and create your own. Make sure it is well-researched and is always up-to-date.
Invest in your photography when pitching journos! Imagery is often underrated, however, it is a crucial part of storytelling. Use your company colours, subtle logo on a background, branded merch, showcase your product… Options are limitless!
Journalists are not advertisers: you cannot buy them.
OK, seriously. Do you know how busy journalists are? At least let them have a holiday. If you know the journalist is on annual leave, leave it! Don’t ruin the relationship in the long term (we hope you care about long term relationships).
Journalists get hundreds of email pitches per day ( most of which are irrelevant), so don’t expect to hear back from them right away. Or do something that makes your pitch stand out!
Lack of the very minimum of research necessary can have disastrous and hilarious consequences.
Might be surprising, but… journalists have names, so why not try using them?
We know that getting the desired media placement is the main goal, however, holding information “hostage” until an interview is confirmed is rather unorthodox and beats the purpose – how will they know your numbers make the story newsworthy?
PRs need to stop using buzzwords and sounding the same. Freshen it up!
20 This one is just hilarious. What some people write press releases about…
