Day to day, I wear many hats. On one hand, I’m a blogger, I need news and stories to feed my writing, occasionally receiving these useful tidbits from PR and marketing people in the industries I cover, most of the time sourcing them from my RSS feeds. On the other hand, I find myself in the position of - or working closely with - the people who need to send out those press releases to bloggers.
It’s a fascinating, if sometimes morally uncomfortable, place to be. Over the years, I’ve built up a list of the best and the worst ways I, or other bloggers around me, have been accosted by PR people.
Untargeted email: This one’s pretty simple. You send me a press release about Windows Vista when I’m obviously an Apple fangirl since I was a child, you invite me to try your new product when it’s only available to US residents, you tell me to listen to this new awesome tween band when I’m as far from a tweenie bopper as it gets. Epic fail! Fake personal email or friendliness: Don’t pretend to be my best mate in a cold email or cold call. I’d rather have an impersonal email than to be sung the same canned song as everyone else. Large attachments: This isn’t specific to PR, but when I receive a handful of releases with videos attached on the same day, it’s a real pain. Suggesting that I should post your video online without directing me to a YouTube account where YOU have already done the hard work of uploading and tagging it shows that you haven’t got a clue. You’re fired! Secretive/partial release of information: So you’re looking for a hook, something to grab me and keep me at your mercy, waiting for baited breath for your next announcement. But unless you provide enough info to allow me to write confidently about the product, it’s a waste of my time. The carbon copy: Blind carbon copying someone is the cheapest way and laziest way to broadcast to a number of people, but unless they’ve specifically signed up to a mailing list, this is an unacceptable way to introduce yourself to a group of bloggers. Worst yet is putting multiple recipients in the “To:” field, making their addresses public to others. The boaster: This is often down to the client rather than the PR agency, but it’s a pet peeve nonetheless. Companies that claim to be “the best”, “the first” and “the biggest” grate our collective nerves something nasty. Let us decide if you’re great or not. Getting our names wrong: It’s Vero. Not Vergo, not Vera, not Verona. And yes, Pepperrell is a triple double consonant name. Yes, it’s hard work for me too, but it is written on my blog, you could even copy/paste it. Thanks. Now get it right. Lack of responsiveness: You’re hoping I’ll post as promptly as possible about your product, so be responsive if I have questions. You don’t want me to post wrong information, neither do I, since we’ll both look like numpties. Quicksticks! Failing to provide plenty of digital assets: Colourful screenshots, high quality logos and readily available video will make my life so much easier, and could make the difference between posting now and putting it in the “to write later” inbox (known as the press release graveyard). Calling it an exclusive when it’s obviously been around more than Paris Hilton’s first video: It’s great to flatter our ego every so often, but don’t pretend you lurve us so much as to give an exclusive, then let it become obvious you’ve been saying it to two dozen other bloggers.
Thanks to the many bloggers who suggested items for this list, and here’s to hoping that marketing and public relations managers hear us loud and clear. What are your pet peeves coming from those who want you to write about them?
This post was inspired by Rohit Bhargava’s panel during SXSW called “Core Conversations: 10 Easy Ways to Piss Off A Blogger”, which I unfortunately missed but heard much about afterwards.
[Update: Adam Ostrow has also posted on 12 Things Not to do when Pitching to Mashable. There you go, PR people, don’t say we didn’t warn you!]
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Tags: blogging, marketing, media, public relations
This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 6:48 pm and is filed under public relations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 18th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
[…] It helped me discover how other bloggers felt about being accosted by PR agency, resulting in an article for The Blog Medic called “Marketing Ethics: Ten ways to piss off a blogger”. […]
Darren Barefoot Says:April 19th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Good list. Some of these ought to be self-evident, but as a frequent recipient of pitches, I know they’re not.