This week, the idea of a black list to stop PR agencies from spamming bloggers and journalists reared its not terribly attractive head, this time from Gina Trapani of Lifehacker who published a list of domains that had sent unsolicited email to her personal email address. In the not distant past, we had the same invocation from Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired.
They have a point, and I don’t dismiss the concern at all. More and more, PR pitches are poorly targeted, poorly written spam. Bad when sent to journalists. Inexcusable sent to bloggers.
But black lists don’t work. Not really. They didn’t work for Joseph McCarthy in the 50s and they aren’t going to stop bad blog pitching now.
Why? Because they trap the innocent, the naive, the well-intentioned as much as they trap the disingenuous, the guilty, the spammers. And since the truly guilty are playing a numbers game, a block here or there matters little to them.
Our collective attitude about PR is no different than our attitude toward advertising. It’s not that we don’t like ads. What we don’t like is bad advertising, poor direct mail and fundraising calls during dinner.
For the most part, we don’t want to block ALL email from PR and marketing agencies. Just that which is untargeted, irrelevant, impersonal.
So companies, and their agencies, need to get with the program and figure out how to reach out to their customers online in positive ways. Reactive and proactive.
How? It starts with understanding what interests your customer. Perhaps your product, but generally, campaigns built around products fall flat. You need to think beyond YOUR product and into your customer’s interests. Needs. Desires. Hopes. Aspirations.
That’s not so easy for your average cereal or soap marketer. And why so many campaigns end up in the bad pitch column. Even when they aren’t necessarily that bad.
And unfortunately, there is no magic formula. Anyone who tells you there is? Liar.
It’s a process. It starts with preparation, research and active participation with the bloggers that matter to you. And for whom you matter.
Then when you go to engage — to pitch — it means developing a program that is as much, or more, about them than it is about you. A press release about your latest announcement does not qualify. Sorry.
Watch this space over the next few months for some examples of companies that seem to understand what this means and have done outreach programs that resonated with bloggers.
And, please, stop looking for the bogeyman. There isn’t one — not even at the stupidest, spammiest PR Agency . Focusing our energies on looking for one obscures the real issue.
How do we want to engage with our customers online?
Want some help? I don’t often promote my consulting business here on the Roadmap. I figure if you want to call, you will. But please don’t forget that helping companies meet their customers online is my business. If I can be of service to you, nothing would make me happier.
Especially if it reduced the number of bad pitches landing in our inboxes.
Tags: blogger relations, black list, pr, public relations
Sherrilynne Starkie says
Well said Susan. Remembering that writers are hungry for stories and it’s our job to keep them fed is the key. Serving them up what they need in the way they like it is the key to PR success and the key to building a mutually beneficial relationship.
Todd Defren says
I wish everyone were as reasonable as you, Susan. Thanks for this post and for your excellent comments at my spot.
Matt Haughey says
“Remembering that writers are hungry for stories and it’s our job to keep them fed is the key.”
While it’s true bloggers are hungry for stories, most have already developed a system for keeping up to date (following hundreds of blogs via RSS, reading Google News alerts, hanging out on subject forums). What they don’t need is to be fed press releases all day, and that’s why this backlash started in the first place.
Susan Getgood says
Thanks for the comments everyone. Matt, you quote the first half of Sherrilynne’s comment, but not the second, which was her point — that PR people need to give writers — whether journalists or bloggers — what they need in the format *the writers* want.
I absolutely agree that bloggers should not be fed press releases. A significant amount of the content on my blog, tagged “blogger relations,” covers this very subject.
But I still don’t think black lists work. Quite some time ago John Gilmore said: “The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.” While I don’t equate a single person’s blacklist with censorship, I do think that those that take the PR spam approach will just move on to other victims. That doesn’t solve the larger problem of poor PR practice.
That’s the problem I prefer to focus on: how companies can engage productively with their customers on line. How to do it right, not the best way to punish those who don’t.
Kevin Dugan says
Susan – You’re right. I’m not suprised to learn of this blacklist, but I don’t agree with it.
That said, you note above that “More and more, PR pitches are poorly targeted, poorly written spam. Bad when sent to journalists. Inexcusable sent to bloggers.”
Not to split hairs, but I’m assuming you make this distinction as blogs tend to be more focused on a topic than a reporter at a paper who’s beat may shift slightly from week to week?
Personally what I want from the PR pitches coming to me is relevant information. If that comes in the format of a press release? So be it. When folks like Matt get caught up in format over content, they’re missing the point. That said, a ton of these bad pitches are littered with news releases.
I guess I’m splitting hairs again. Either way, thanks for your take on this.
Susan Getgood says
Kevin — the main distinction for me is related to role. The reporter is an intermediary, often paid, whose job it is to seek out and filter the news on behalf of the public. While I bemoan the fact that so many press releases and pitches suck, it’s the reporter’s job.
The blogger, on the other hand, is writing about something that interests him or her. Usually unpaid, and there should be no assumption of audience. It’s a multi-way conversation among the blogger and the readers. It’s also personal. Yes, of course, some bloggers act as journalists, with all that implies, but even then, it is still personal.
I agree with you that it is important to not get hung up on form over content. I am equally horrified at bad pitches and bad press releases. For me, however, one definition of bad pitch is a news release with no cover note. I get those a lot.
Finally, with journalist-bloggers, like Gina Trapani, if they make a distinction between personal and business email address, we absolutely must honor that. Email is impersonal and allows us to engage in behavior we would not otherwise do. Think about it, if you could only find a reporter’s home number in the phone book, not the business number, would you call it? Hopefully not, unless you had explicit permission from the reporter.
Mom101 says
I had read that blacklist post last week and I thought it was a little misguided (and perhaps better for generating her own bit of PR?). Blacklist individuals, not entire companies. And first give them a chance to either unsubscribe you or fix their approach to you. But half the time it’s just some clueless assistant ae or intern who was given a list and told what to do with it. I’d hate to think of some 21 year old’s first proud attempt to do a job ending in a blacklisting.
Techmama says
I think it is ok to ask for PR folks to send those emails to a business address and not a private one.. But the whole blacklist thing does not sit right for me because I saw some agencies on the list that do it right.. Maybe as Mom 101 said sometimes an intern makes mistakes. Let’s call the specific situation and not the agency as a whole. I am happy PR folks are reaching out to bloggers, they just need to know if they don’t do it right – then the blogosphere will let them know it load and clear.