♪ “With a stranger in my face who says he knows my mom / And went to my high school” ♫ If “familiarity breeds contempt” then feigned familiarity breeds snark and this post.*
This pitch was sent via email marketing software (strike one) and it was written in a tone that assumes they know us (they do not). The author also references himself in the third person (strike two) and at the same time tries, and fails, to be cute and even makes a typo (strike three plus).
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Subject: Social Media Soup for the Business-Savvy Soul
Lately, businesses have been asking, "NAME, how can Social Media work for us?"
[THREE PARAGRAPHS LATER]
Measurability is just one of the many ways Social Media can be utilized. The solutions for creating brand buzz, optimizing websites, and developing long-lasting relationships with the consumer are absolutely legion.
[LEGION!? LEGION OF DOOM?]
CLIENT realizes the power of a well-implemented Social Media strategy and has been vetting SM gurus accordingly. To learn more, let's get a dialogue going the old fashioned way: PHONE NUMBER
Best E-gards,
NAME
CLIENT
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E-gards? E gads
If you are going to write a pitch with a breezy short hand that implies you know the recipient, you should know the recipient. Of course sending the pitch via email marketing software also doesn’t help. And Kevin thinks that when people reference themselves in the third person, it comes off either as ego or worse.
*We referenced Gwen Stefani and Mark Twain in one post and nothing exploded. So follow @badpitch on Twitter and “we just might follah back girl, just might follah back…”
Oh man. What an epic close to a pitch. However, I feel they should have swapped "Best E-gards" for "Digitally Yours..."
ReplyDeleteYou need to drop your bias toward email marketing software. It doesn't necessarily mean we're blasting to the universe. If we don't know an editor, email marketing software often keeps us from going in the spam bucket. Also, if it's a pitch that is going to large number of journalists in a certain niche, better to use that than BCC or as I've seen CC. Or would you have us spend hours emailing you all individually so you feel "special?"
ReplyDeleteFollah back... funny.
ReplyDeleteBonnie -
ReplyDelete>>You need to drop your bias toward email marketing software. It doesn't necessarily mean we're blasting to the universe. If we don't know an editor, email marketing software often keeps us from going in the spam bucket.<<
Not sure how email marketing software gets you through to an editor.
>>Also, if it's a pitch that is going to large number of journalists in a certain niche, better to use that than BCC or as I've seen CC. Or would you have us spend hours emailing you all individually so you feel "special?"<<
Here's the thing, if the pitch is on topic and relevant, I don't care if you wrap it around a brick and throw it through my window. But when the pitch is off topic and IS blasted the fact that it comes via email marketing software makes me that much more likely to delete it.
I don't need to feel special but I wouldn't mind getting some relevant content every once and awhile.
Love that "wrap it around a brick" will try that sometime! FYI, many ISP's limit the number of emails you can send at a time or you get labeled as potential spammer - it gets worse if you have bad email addresses and with so many media moving around it's hard not to have several bounces these days. Email software avoids that and gives you tools to help subject lines avoid "spammy" words as well. But of course you're right an irrelevant pitch is a bad pitch no matter how it's sent.
ReplyDelete