How to Use E-mail in Public Relations
As media culture fully embraces the digital age, the more traditional methods of information distribution for PR professionals--phone and fax--may not always be the most effective way to reach writers and editors. At the same time, many older media professionals will retain their ties to an "older" way of doing things. This article will discuss a few pointers and ideas toward integrating email into an effective PR campaign. While email is not a failsafe salvation for getting your story placed in the ideal publication at the ideal moment, it has benefits that can improve upon communication with reporters and provide a greater context than a mere phone call or faxed press release.
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Instructions
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The Basics of Email and PR
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Most reporters and editors have email addresses easily available, and many of them have these addresses placed in print where it is easy to track down contact information. If not, check a publication's website, or utilize a media contact database such as Cision or Vocus. It is wisest to organize email lists by beat, and/or by type of publication, and/or by geography if necessary.
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There are two ways to employ email in pitching a PR story. You can send focused emails to a single editor or writer, offering a pitch exclusively to them, and use a call to follow up on the pitch. Additionally, one effective alternative is an email "blast," written more generically and offering the same essential pitch to several editors/writers at the same time. Each approach has their place and advantages--individual pitches can be personalized to the outlet and writer, while an email blast increases the opportunity of success by widening the pitch's reach. Email blasts can also be an effective way to quickly stay in touch with reporters between press releases--sending a blast out every week or every other week keeps your client's name and happenings in front of the media.
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If you decide to send a series of emails with a single pitch, you can place a list of e-mail addresses into the "BCC" (blind carbon copy) field of the email, and then send the email to your own address in the "To" field. This allows you to maintain a private email list of press, and will disguise the fact that a number of editors and writers received the same pitch.
Crafting the Pitch
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Writing a PR pitch via email is a hybrid of a more typical email "letter" and what you could view as essentially the lead to an ideal story you would like your target to write. This is a rare opportunity to attempt to dictate a "lead" and convey the story's hook in a quick set of two to three paragraphs. The first paragraph should convey the guts of the story--what's the point? Why should the writer/editor want to follow up and pursue this angle for their publication?
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The second graph should expand upon the concept in the first paragraph, and weave in how your client relates to the topic of the story. Why are you pitching this story to them? Who do you want interviewed on behalf of your client, and why? What can the source offer on this topic that no one else can?
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The final graph should explain why you feel the pitch is interesting, and offer contact information, along with a promise to follow up in a few days if you have not heard back.
Follow Up and Follow Through
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Three to five days is a safe period of time to allow for a writer/editor to respond to your email pitch. They may send an email back, or they may call. Knowing reporters and editors, chances are they may also skim your email and move on to the next deadline.
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If you get no response from your email, you can follow up with a phone call. Here's where one of the great advantages of an email pitch can be found--instead of a straight-up phone pitch, which requires PR professionals to hook their audience with a carefully-crafted spiel that is often glossed over by the listener within seconds, the email lays the entire pitch out beforehand, and gives the PR professional an excuse and context for calling.
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Finally, if you are lucky enough to get a story out of the email pitch, be sure to follow through and provide all the information and access you promised!
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Tips & Warnings
Send an email pitch to reporters on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning--this gives you the rest of the week to follow up without having to allow a weekend to interfere and give your reporter time to forget the email while he's relaxing with his family and friends.
Use a sourced fact in the opening sentences of your pitch to support the idea you're trying to convey. Add a link to a site where more information about the fact can be found.
Do not be surprised if an email goes unread or gets completely lost--spam filters can snag emails and toss them forever into a trash or spam folder. Reporters and editors may also get such a volume of email that they cannot read and reply to each note. When following up via phone, simply dismiss the email in conversation and move on with a verbal pitch--you may also offer to resend the email while on the call if you're at a computer.
Be careful when sending email attachments to writers and editors--some email programs have filters that will block attached files. The safest way to send a press release via email is to paste the copy into the email itself, rather than send an attachment. Also hold aside photo attachments and send under separate cover, unless absolutely necessary.
