Not even spam filters can save Fast Company writers from horrible PR pitches. Here are 3 tips on how you can use social media to win hearts, minds--and ink.
Every day I immediately delete about 20 percent of the messages in my inbox. Historically, the emails I trashed were mostly relegated to Nigerian scams and requests for cash from someone "unable to access" his pending inheritance. Fortunately, Gmail spam filters have helped to abolish most of these. Unfortunately, these same filters can do nothing for the endless stream of PR pitches that assault my inbox that are often irrelevant, impersonal, and, dare I say it, lazy.
The laziness is especially damning in the age of social media. Never before have PR professionals had such an enormous opportunity to custom tailor pitches to journalists, bloggers, and content creators, who are most likely flocking to sharing sites online. With a few minutes of simple due diligence on a pitch recipient, which means dipping into Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, an email message is easily customizable to become more relevant and personal (i.e. PR professionals can suggest the media platform that might be a good fit for the story, and why the story is a good fit for the reporter).
For example, within minutes of browsing Fast Company reporter Austin Carr's Twitter feed (@AustinCarr), I have a solid sense of what magazine he works for (Fast Company), what industries he covers (tech, tech, and more tech), and what approach he often takes. This effort takes less than five minutes, and yet you wouldn't know it from the pitches he gets, a number of which have cited his work for "Fast Car" magazine and suggest stories in the automotive industry. (Or this gem from yesterday: "Dear Austin, As a long-time media expert and author, I can say firmly that President Obama is a great orator, but the worst president I’ve ever seen when it comes to explaining his plans and achievements. If you want to discuss this more fully, please le...
[Source: Fast Company]
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