Journos hate follow up calls
It seems that journalists hate when PRs ring to follow up on an email according to a survey conducted by Iain Fleming as part of his CIPR (Chatered Institute of Public Relations Diploma) course at Queen Margaret University (thanks to Neville Hobson for pointing the story out).
The key finding: “The project also reveals that the practice of making ‘follow-up’ calls by PR practitioners is intensely annoying and ultimately counter-productive…”
This is nothing new; I’ve heard it time and again from news professionals all over, many of whom get more than 50, 100, 200+ story pitches each and every working day. If they took a call about each story pitch, answering the phone is all they’d ever do!
But here’s the rub. Based on my 18 years’ experience in the front line of media relations…the phone calls work. They do. Doing a ringround within a day of issuing a news release significantly increases pick up of the story; there is no doubt.
So what is the solution? I do feel for our colleagues in the media, and understand how they must feel undersiege. But the results speak for themselves…making that quick call to make sure the reporter notices your story helps get coverage.
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Nice post, I completely agree with you. A series of follow up calls can increase pick up by a huge percentage. Otherwise your story can be lost in a void of other stories, sometimes the human interaction is what you need to really sell a story to a journalist.
The call may work in terms of ‘selling in’ a story but, yes, they are intensely disruptive and irritating.
Can I make an alternative suggestion? Instead of following up a press release, why not make the call BEFORE you need something from the journalist and use it to build a relationship, understand their needs and interests and generally make sure that your press releases will be well-received.
This seems like it would take the same amount of time (or less) but is likely to be much more productive in the long run.
Only one PR company ever took the time to do that with me, back in my old journalist days. Bless ‘em.
(PS Check out my new, FREE ebook – 30 Days to Better Business Writing – http://www.badlanguage.net/free-ebook)
I agree Matthew, in theory this approach should work. But in practice the journo usually just says..do you have something you can send me. Then you send along the release. Then you often have to ring again after the fact to close the deal. I think the overall message is horses for courses. No one rule fits all.
I had a some interesting feedback on this post via Twitter:
@ABridgwater said: @sherrilynne Why not consider a PR call or email after we write something for once! PR people rarely seem to do that, they just move on.
@ Vibroseis said: @sherrilynne I think you’re right – but I think it’s about technique – the unimaginative ‘did you get my email’ calls used to wind me up.
Chris it seems you and I are not alone when we ring up reporters. See the comments above.
The answer has always been to narrow the pitch, and confine them to great stories. Think of it like a tiered approach. This is oversimplified, but might help:
4. Save the non-news for social media.
3. Save the semi-news for releases, without a pitch.
2. Save standard news items as releases, with secondary offers of who is available to interview.
1. And save pitch for those times when the reporter has a reason to cover something or take part in a live.
Limiting what you send where, how, and to whom can make all the difference in developing those relationships. As they develop, the entire process changes because the reporters will start to value the contact instead of thinking it’s another pitch, specifically the sale of something they don’t want to buy.
All my best,
Rich
The language identified by Rich is what I think it the real problem with these pre/post-release calls. As he says, a “pitch” is selling something someone doesn’t want to buy.
Unless you see PR as a cold-sales business, why adopt a tactic that you know drives the receiver mad?
The argument that it increases the “hit rate” is the same one used to justify any junk communication.
If your press release is something that needs to be sold – get a budget and buy advertising space.
Journalists soon get to know the people and organisations that deliver valuable news and stories and those who are salespeople (often for rubbish clients).
Thanks Rich. You propose decent framework, especially for less experienced PRs. It’s good to have guidelines to follow while you build confidence.
Heather, the point is that they say it drives them crazy but still it works. You just have to be smart and nimble when making the calls.
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