Stop the PR Madness

In case the title isn't fair enough warning - this is a rant I kept hoping I wouldn't have to write, but I'm about fed up with the PR madness.

Before I start, there are a number of PR people who do GET it and we have nice, respectful relationships. I appreciate them and help them whenever I can. You know who you are.

Now, for the rest of you, there are a few things you need to understand:

1. I do not blog for a living. I have clients and their projects are what pay my bills. They—not you—are my first priority.


2. I cannot drop everything because your client is launching a new product tomorrow. Didn't you know that before today? Your urgency is not my urgency. Give me some lead time to work it into my schedule. I'll respect your embargo date. But I'll also appreciate getting to be one of the first to publish a story covering your topic.


3. I have a niche. I write about B2B marketing. Period. If your product, book, news or whatever else you're looking for press coverage about doesn't fit in with the theme of B2B marketing, don't send me your stuff. If you don't know the difference between B2B and B2C - go figure it out. Yes, amazingly, there are actually some PR people who don't know this.


4. Spamming me with a press release with no human message above it telling me why I should care isn't going to get you anywhere. It's rude. 


5. Do not send me attachments unless I ask for them. It's presumptuous.


6. Why is it you think you don't have to follow CAN SPAM rules? Oh, wait, I get it. It's because you're afraid everyone you spam would unsubscribe if you gave them the opportunity. Wise up and do it anyway. Beyond being considerate, there's a little thing called the law. Plus, if I respond and ask to be removed from your list - pay attention!


7. If you want me to respond to your request, spend a few minutes and read my blog and then use what you've learned to tell me why you think I'd be interested in learning more and writing about what you're promoting. Better yet, comment on my blog so that I get to know you and understand that you actually care about the topics I cover.


8. You also should understand that spam sent in representation of your client leaves an impression with me about your client. That they do business with someone who behaves this way rubs off on them. Is that what you want? Really?


9. Oh, and if I don't respond to your email, sending another one a few days later trying to guilt me into responding isn't going to work. I don't owe you anything. And your presumptuous behavior is making things worse.

I don't think this is asking too much. If you want something from me (essentially free work - see #1 above) you should be willing to make an effort. But in case you're feeling put out, perhaps you should understand what building relationships with bloggers can do for you.

• Bloggers have loyal followers that rely on them and their recommendations to find options to explore and to learn more about topics they're interested in.


• Many bloggers are syndicated. If they write about your stuff, it's likely the post will be picked up in numerous places that have audiences with interests similar to their own readers.


• Many bloggers are also heavily involved in social media and share their blog posts in those venues. They often have a network that proactively helps to share their posts - even more exposure for your clients.


• Once you've established a relationship with a blogger because you bring them something valuable to share with their readers, it's likely that they'll share your stuff again.

I'd say that the pay offs of a healthy and respectful blogger relationship are worth your time and effort. If not, that's fine. Just take me off your list. There are plenty of PR people who will make the effort and leave you in the dust with the results they get for their clients.

Comments

[Mark Galloway]

Well said Ardath. Unfortunately, the "new PR" mindset seems to drive PR people to do crazy stuff. Enjoy reading your insights.

[Ardath Albee]

Thanks, Mark! With all the talk about what's appropriate for marketing and sales it stumps me that most PR people haven't caught on to the ideas of permission, relevance and value add.

They aren't any different than anyone else. If they'd just think about mutual benefits instead of self-interest, they'd get much better results.

[James Hanson]

Disappointed to see this age-old issue still lives today. You'd have thought this stuff would be lesson one in the junior account exec 'induction training' programme, but sadly for a lot of PR agencies it isn't. In my view it's a by-product of clients' ever increasing demand for more for less and agencies resulting struggle to retain margin. It means many resort to generic mass mailings, as that's all they can commercially afford to do, in the hope that throwing enough mud at the wall will result in some sticking... What the PR world badly needs is far more agencies that can be confident explaining to clients that less can actually be far more. Less coverage, but better quality content and then use it everywhere in marketing, ensuring the people you want to see it do.

[twitter.com/arthury]

I agree with James, and would add that flawed measurement approaches that focus on outputs (# of placements, for ex.) vs. outcomes (how those placements drove strategic business results) are also a contributing factor.

Ardath, if you'd like to refer offenders to some good sources of current information on working with bloggers, PRSA just released its social media policy and three social media tookits, which can help professionals build a social media policy and foundation and stay on top of best practices. They're available free at http://ow.ly/3UDuK.

Cheers!

Arthur Yann is vice president of public relations at PRSA.

[Strategic Consulting]

I totally agree with James. I get sick of the amount of wasted paper that comes cross my desk every day with PR crap on it.

[Brandon Yanofsky]

Ardath

Just reading this article got me stressed out. Luckily I haven't had the robotic press releases yet, but I can imagine how much they suck.

Hopefully this article helps you filter out the bad ones.

[Neilglassman]

Thanks, Ardath, for being spot on with this post. Today I got a pitch to have coffee or a drink with the founder of a company so that he could tell me about new product developments while he's in San Francisco. I'm in New York.
- Neil Glassman, WhizBangPowWow

[Ardath Albee]

Thanks for all the support and comments.

I think James summed it up.

Arthur - thanks very much for sharing the link.

Brandon - sorry I stressed you out.

Neil - I'm with you in reverse :-)

Also - obviously PR people don't read this blog - with the exception of the person who unsubscribed from my feed saying I was obnoxious!

I say this because just today I've received another slew of irrelevant PR email spam for things such as manufactured bar sets, green retailing, the merger of 2 CPA companies and several others that boggle the mind.

Todd Defren took up the subject over on his blog today and the comments he's getting are interesting. Here's the link in case you're interested:

http://www.pr-squared.com/index.php/2011/02/pr-only-as-strong-as-the-weakest-link

Thanks again!
Ardath

[PhilDonaldsonNJ]

Thanks Ardath. I am reminded of Susan Powter's image and battle cry of the 90's -- "Stop the insanity!"

[Dan]

You should be flattered that your opinion is of value to people.

You'd be upset if PRs stopped feeding you stories, so why not just take the bad with the good?

Ignore the pitches you don't like. Write about the ones you do. It is not difficult.

Whinging about it only makes you sound like you have an inflated ego. Get over yourself.

[Ardath Albee]

Thanks, Phil - I remember that!

Hey Dan - Guess I hit a nerve, but I'm glad you decided to let me have it. Your comment sums up the problem beautifully. PR people aren't "feeding" me stories and the ones who spam me don't value my opinion. They want media coverage - from whoever will give it to them. And that's first of all, lazy and second of all, insulting to the people they spam.

If you were in my shoes, how long would you go on ignoring all the spam you receive from PR people? Or from anyone. How about if I say, Hey Dan - I'm going to send you a bunch of stuff whenever I want to and you just deal with it. If the stuff wasn't useful to you, would you be happy? If you had no way to unsubscribe and I didn't honor your request to stop sending you things once you'd had enough, would you be frustrated?

I don't think that's "whining" - as you've called it. I think it's bringing an issue to light that needs to be resolved if PR people want to improve the results they're getting for their clients.

So, Dan - thanks for helping me explain why flattery and ego play no role here. I appreciate your candor.

Ardath

[MarkVozzo]

Ardath, thanks for this blog post.

It's great that you've put this out there and I do hope PR folks read and pay attention. If they are engaging in some (even just one) of the above, please just stop.

Some of the tactics mentioned above may have worked in the past and produced good ROI results, but people and businesses have grown up and are more the wiser.

Our digital life is far more social now than ever before and businesses that are continuing to engage in PR activities that seek a ROI from 1-way monologue communications are bound to fail in the long run.

Businesses need embrace social media and be in a 2-way dialogue. I love your point Ardath "...if I respond and ask to be removed from your list - pay attention!"

[Dan]

Hello again,

I'm not sure you hit a nerve. I just see these kinds of blog posts all the time and thought I should actually reply for once.

I was in your shoes once as a journalist so I do know what it feels to be on the receiving end. However, I was trained to deal with this issue at journalism school so it wasn't exactly a surprise that I was bombarded by PRs, and I worked out how to deal with it, and even use it to my advantage.

What gets me is that bloggers seem to think they are the first people to have hit this problem and feel the need to write about it all the time, when in fact it's an age-old issue.

I switched to PR a few years back (at first working at an entartainment venue), at which stage bloggers were constantly contacting ME to try and get hot stories, blag free tickets etc. - such was the balance of power at that stage.

It is interesting for me to see how the tables have turned and now bloggers are fending off enquiries from companies.

I guess your post reflects this, which is interesting, but it still doesn't stop the fact that I think it's a bit self-righteous to complain about how people want to write about their stuff because they think you are a key influencer.

I also don't think many PRs are going to read this and change their ways. The good PRs know all of it already, and the bad ones aren't interested - hence why they are bad at their jobs.

So anyway - yes I understand the issues you face. I just don't think writing about it like this is the way to deal with it.

Oh and I apologise for telling you to get over yourself. That was a bit mean :)