PR Pitch Spam – An Inconvenient Truth

Spring is in the air, the flowers are blooming and… wait, what’s that smell?  That stink of rot and decay?  Could it be the bloated corpse of old school PR tactics and the latest rants about PR pitch spam?

The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease used to be the operative mode for PR firms.  Now, the squeaks may get the wrong kind of attention, which can echo online and throughout the blogosphere.

The stakes are higher now and there is less room for error.  The traditional media have always had a somewhat love-hate relationship with PR but at least the lines were pretty clearly drawn and it worked on some level.  Now the old rules are out the window.

Try Fugu, the Tasty new PR Pitch Delicacy

Brian Solis wrote a long, heartfelt Mea Culpa on the PR 2.0 blog regarding some unfortunate blog blow back about a pitch.  Things went awry even though the person on his team did due diligence in terms of researching targets and tailoring pitches.

As Brian said:

In their defense this person did not blast a generic media list… nor did this person send information to someone who doesn’t cover or write about products in the space.

Further, he proposes a new definition that seeks to elevate tailored pitches above Bacn, the term Chris Brogan invented to label email that is subscribed to but almost never read (like newsletters and such).

Tofu (new category – suggested name) is email that is sent individually to people who are pre-qualified or identified as being related to, or interested in, a particular category or topic. Or, they have made their email publicly available on their site, thus intentionally or inadvertently inviting contact. I’m not sure what to call it, but the idea for tofu was inspired by the fact that we can almost make it taste like something else, but at the end of the day, it’s still not the real thing.

Well I will one up Solis.  I propose a new PR pitch category called Fugu, inspired by the Japanese fish delicacy that is at one enticing but also poisonous.  You are hungry again one half hour after you digest a Fugu pitch, that is if you don’t die first.

Fugu is comprised of nutritional components that make it look, think and act like genuine thought, and is genetically engineered to be produced on a mass customization basis.  As such, Fugu meets the old school PR person’s need to feel like they have accomplished something by carpet bombing, meets news school PR needs to adapt to the conversation and hot buttons of each target, and in any event detractors won’t be around too long to bellyache.

On a slightly more serious note, perhaps we can agree on a real definition of Fugu – anything boilerplate that is intended to be mass produced and distributed regardless of how well the list is researched.  Fugu stinks, is deadly and should be banished from the PR lexicon

Is MicroPR the Answer?

I can sympathize with Brian because I have found myself in a similar position, i.e. people on my team have occasionally generated unfavorable blogger attention in our zeal.  So what is the answer?

Not Tofu, according to Stowe Boyd, in his post: The Growing Backlash Against PR Spam, and the Rationale for MicroPR

Brian Solis attempts to make the case that PR folks sending things we might want — based on their decisions — should be considered ‘Tofu’ not ‘Spam’. I am sorry Brian, but there is no Tofu, there is only Spam.

Boyd makes a compelling argument for what he calls MicroPR (actually, my first reaction was “oh brother, what next? NanoPR? And then no PR at all?”  Which some people might actually celebrate, that is until it comes time to promote their book, or they join a start up that needs to make some noise).

So, this is an … argument for MicroPR: forcing PR firms to approach us in the open, on open social flow apps like Twitter, and in the small, where they have to jettison all the claptrap of the old press release model. In the open, that can’t lie easily, or they will be caught on it. In the small, they have to junk the meaningless superlatives, the bogus quotes that no CEO ever mouthed, the run-on phrases, the disembodied third party mumbo jumbo, as if the press release were edited by God.

On Twitter, I will simply block people that abuse my willingness to have an open dialog about products with PR folks, or basically anyone else, for that matter. And I am implicitly inviting everyone in my Twitter sphere of influence to participate, too. I want it to be a shared space for investigation into new tools, so by all means, twitpitch me!

Boyd focuses on the mechanics of pitching but his idea seems to be in sync with the new, blog-driven ethos of transparency.

I blogged in detail about the subject of PR pitch spam and won’t repeat the full post here.  I will say, however, that there are a few key things PR people should focus on when approaching bloggers:

Relevancy, relevancy, relevancy

In short, know your audience, know what they like to blog about, and don’t send them Fugu.

Folks, this is easy, it is not hard.  Bloggers wear their preferences on their sleeves, and sometimes even spell out specific instructions on how to best approach them.

And, while some might object to getting any unsolicited emails, it is hard to see how you can go wrong if you truly listen and engage in the ongoing conversation on their blogs.  Why email a pitch when you can comment on the blog?  Why flog information if it might be shrill and dissonant with the forum?

Most news-oriented bloggers – especially those who cover fast moving spaces like tech – love to get tips about relevant news stories.  The lines might be less clear with bloggers who tend to be more selective in their topics and focus on opinion and analysis.  Approach these types at your own peril.

But if you are truly listening and know your audience, and take the time to demonstrate this understanding in your approach, it is hard to see how you can go wrong – you will already be so far ahead of the Old School herd and on your way to earning respect and getting the attention of these bloggers.

This might seem like more work, and perhaps you will feel less productive in taking this approach.  But in the long run you will actually achieve better results and are less likely to run into blow back and public humiliation.