NONE: ONLINE-ADS>> Using E-Mail as a Publicity Tool
ONLINE-ADS>> Using E-Mail as a Publicity Tool
Paul J. Krupin (dircon_at_owt.com)
Tue, 17 Feb 1998 21:37:55 -0800
Using E-Mail As a Publicity Tool
I just finished putting the polishing touches on the sixth edition of The
US All Media E-Mail Directory ( http://www.owt.com/dircon ). It now
contains over 10,000 e-mail addresses for magazines, newspapers,
syndicates, radio and TV in the US and Canada.
We went through a horrendous media data validation process to over 13,000
media to create the final. We received over 4,000 revisions and updates,
which took a little time to go through (HA!). I learned a whole lot about
database manipulation, extracting data from e-mail messages and web forms,
and how to use formulas and the amazing Vlookup function in MS Excel. If
it weren't for the speed of the computers these days, this would have been
a nearly impossible task.
Having gone through this publishing process, I want to share with you some
of the things we learned.
First, it is amazing it was to see who read the e-mail that we sent. We
specifically requested that the media identify the e-mail address they
wished to be used for news releases. The responses were mindblowing. The
key media executives really do read their e-mail. They responded at all
hours of the night. They passed the e-mail through their organizational
intranets. It provoked questions, and dialog amongst media personnel in
the organizations, many of whom wrote back and carbon copied the others
with interest in the communication, and who also wrote back. The key
respondant was almost always the top editor, or the managing editor. As a
general trend, we observed that the prefered e-mail address and contact
provided us in response to our validation request is almost always one of
the key decision-makers.
Second, it's clear that the media has continued to evolve over the past
year, and based on our survey requests, it is absolutely clear that media
executives are adapting to the use of e-mail as an increasingly preferred
method for receiving news releases, queries, and articles. The number of
media in the database has increased once again. This is a consistent
trend. In January 1996 the first edition had just over 2,500 media. Every
six months it has increased to 3,700, then to 5,700, then to 7,500, then to
9,000, now to over 10,000.
However, based on our estimates, only 15 to 20 percent of the media in the
United States, overall, are actively using e-mail PR. This varies by
industry (e.g., computer/high tech is almost totally converted to e-mail,
and it goes downhill from there). The rest are still relying primarily on
conventional PR methods (street, fax & phone) as the means by which they
receive their news. It means that e-mail PR is not a replacement for
conventional PR, but it is a good supplemental tool, when properly used.
For those who have predominantly web or computer oriented products, books,
or services, it is the primary tool. For those with non-web or computer
based focus, other publicity techniques will be more productive.
E-mail PR is less expensive that conventional PR, and it can produce very
good results, sometimes remarkable results, in just about every category
where the media has e-mail. It depends on the news release and where it is
sent. Content is still king. Our results showed that editors who read
their e-mail are very much content based decision-makers. They run with
news that fits their readership interest. The number of media with e-mail
is increasing, and the number of media using e-mail for PR in every media
category is increasing.
But for many media industry areas, the lions share of the media still rely
on faxes, telephones, and street mail. Thus you need to utilize multiple
techniques to have an effective publicity program. You can create very
specialized custom targeted media lists at the new Imediafax -- Internet to
Media Fax web site ( http://www.imediafax.com ).
About 8 percent of the respondants, out of the 13,000 we contacted, asked
us *not* to publish their e-mail address. The biggest beef these media
executives had with e-mail PR, is that people don't target carefully
enough. They tend to send news releases to media who just couldn't use the
news because of their particular editorial and readership interests. This
is an important lesson.
Hence anyone who is using e-mail PR databases, such as the US All Media
E-Mail Drectory, has to be acutely aware of their responsibility to
carefully select their target media. By targeting, I mean that you think
whether the media you send your news release to will be interested and able
to use your news. Then you have to make sure that the news release is
personalized -- that is, crafted to meet the individual editor's and
reader's needs and interests. (Not personalized by meaning individually
addressed).
As many of you know, I've written an article titled "Ten Tips on Using
E-mail to Get News Coverage", which covers my lessons learned pretty well.
If you want a free copy, drop me an e-mail message with the words Ten Tips"
in the subject line.
For those of you who want to share this information, feel free, and if you
wish to discuss this some more, drop me a line anytime.
Paul J. Krupin
Direct Contact/Imediafax
mailto:dircon_at_owt.com
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
Direct Contact Publishing E-Mail: dircon_at_owt.com
P. O. Box 6726, Kennewick WA 99336
Phone -- 800-457-8746 or 509-545-2707 Fax: 509-582-9865
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