NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> The Value of Awards / PR
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> The Value of Awards / PR
Bob Schmidt (schmidt_at_magicnet.net)
Wed, 27 Aug 1997 23:21:27 -0400
Eric Ward writes about pr techniques,
> A writer who covers Wedding Getaways for Bride's Magazine is a
>hell of a lot different than the guy who writes the singles
>travel column for Playboy. Yet they both get lumped into
>the category of "Travel Writers". Depending on your travel
>news, one (or both) of them has just been spammed...
Without disagreeing with Eric, I will offer a slightly different
perspective. From a public relations standpoint, the sole value of sending
releases en masse in the first place (through a news service or do it
yourself, to awards editors or elsewhere) consists entirely in spreading
around the releases in an UNtargeted fashion. It is most effectively used
as a "Plan B" or extra boost rather than the only component of an editorial
contact effort.
This is because the best way to obtain placement of one's release or
feature story is through the application of a rigorous methodology of
professional practice consisting of thorough research of all applicable
editorial environments, identifying the precisely targeted editorial
coverage that is relevant to the product, service or company being
publicized, and THEN identifying and establishing personal contact with the
reporters, writers or editors who are going to be responsible for producing
that editorial coverage, and then custom writing a targeted news release or
feature story that speaks directly to the editorial agenda. This is the
only sure way to discern the nuances between, for example, what one travel
writer covers versus another.
By this method, there is no need for a news service at all since releases
will be sent one at a time as the opportunity and only be sent to the right
editorial contacts. It is time consuming and more expensive, but it is
effective.
Because a large number of publicity seekers are reluctant to make the
necessary effort or are uncomfortable talking to reporters (many of whom,
let's face it, are peculiarly fussy about minor details quite often to the
point of unprofessionalism, each with his own unique set of personal likes
and dislikes-- what a luxury it would be for the rest of us to behave so!),
it is tempting to turn to an impersonal method such as a news service.
When the cost of using such a service (or doing it yourself) is modest,
it's hard to argue with the logic that "you never know" when one of these
random releases will result in a hit and a single hit may well justify the
entire expense. The biggest problem though is that usually you actually
will "never know" even if you do get a hit because the prohibitive cost
comes in tracking what was published in hundreds or thousands of publications.
By the way, two other factors conspire against those seeking to automate or
de-personalize the publicity effort: "beats" are largely a thing of the
past, thus what one reporter covers today is not what he will cover next
month, and the editorial job is a revolving door at most publications, thus
the editor you knew yesterday is not the editor you need to know today--
and, to be fair, makes the claims of many pr types who "have contacts with
the media" to be of more limited value than they would have you believe.
As to overwhelming the journalist with too many untargeted releases from
news services, well, I'm afraid that is best viewed as simply an
occupational hazard that comes with the territory. Hopefully, it does make
the pr professional who establishes personal contact to discuss a
newsworthy subject that much more appreciated. <g>
Bob Schmidt
www.provider.com
Author of The Geek's Guide to Internet Business Success
The Definitive Business Blueprint for Internet Designers, Developers,
Programmers, Marketers and Service Providers
http://www.vnr.com/vnr/geeksguide/
ISBN 0-442-02557-2
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