Rob Bresnahan is being outed for bad pitches. After seven pitches, distributed via email marketing software, I can assume that Rob is an Iditarod sled dog. These dogs are bred to run. It's literally part of their DNA. If you let them, they'll run until bones are sticking out of their fur. Luckily the Iditarod mushers take lots of breaks and take top notch care of their sled dogs.
So this is my attempt to do the same. I'm willing to overlook the fact that he sent news releases on some of the following products to a blog called Strategic Public Relations.
* "Non-Corrosive High Lumen LED Spreader Flood Lights for Boats, Rigs and Equipment"
* "12 / 24 Volt LED Explosion Proof Light for Rigs, Remote Locations and Paint Spray Booths"
* "Solar Powered LED Area Light with Rechargeable 12 Hour Battery"
* "Lightweight, High Powered Portable LED Light Tower"
* "Dimmable 30 Watt LED PAR 38 and 40 Watt LED PAR 46 Bulbs"
* "Magnalight Lights Used in HBO’s True Blood and the new Green Lantern Movie"
* "Explosion Proof LED Paint Spray Booth Cart Light"
I've done my share of business to business product marketing. The above is of possible interest to lighting trade publications. But Strategic Public Relations focuses on, uh, public relations, communications strategy, marketing, social media and related tangents.
From there, I'll note that none of the pitches contained anything more than a news release. In fact, they were all attached. If you're using email marketing software to send out news releases and you're attaching news releases to the email...and NOT including a pitch? You're not the brightest bulb in the lamp store -- or is it the fastest dog pulling the sled?
Email marketing software also makes it harder to contact the person sending the email and last I checked media relations works best when we have two-way communication with the media.
Rob is Lazy. Are You?
As we move from summer to fall, check your media list. Has anyone changed beats, changed publications, changed careers? If PR people are going to use email marketing software to pitch media, they should understand that the email lives or dies based on the quality of the list.
Spend time building the list. And spend time keeping that list up to date. Once Rob got my no thanks email, he should have realized his initial mistake. Instead he turned on his high beams and kept telling me about magnalight's bright future. Yeah, I said it. You don't think someone there made the same horrible joke?
Poor Rob is in the wrong business. He should be working at a car wash.
ReplyDeleteWhy anyone would rely on automated pitch distribution software is beyond me. Targeting works! Less is more!
I looked Rob up on LinkedIn-- apparently he's president of that company, not their dedicated PR person. Maybe he didn't know any better? It still doesn't excuse continuing to spam you with bad press releases, though!
ReplyDeleteYikes. I have never been with an agency who uses automatic pitch distribution software, but this has me a little scared to even try.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like wonderful way to alienate outlets you might actually have relevant news for in the future.
Or have a not-so-savory blog post about you pop up in Google searches.
Anyone have a positive review of software vs. targeting? Is this simply an example of negligent use?
Ouch.. that is not the track record you want. I love the lightbulb picture!
ReplyDeletethat is not the track record you want. I love the lightbulb picture!
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot of time on your hands. Most people just press opt out and move on.
ReplyDeleteYou're giving Rob a hard time, but the ones you should be blaming are the largest PR distribution companies in the business, like PRWEB, Businesswire, and PR Newswire. Those are the ones who are distributing these things to lists that obviously aren't perfectly targeted.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone's clean in this example. But it reminds me of the gun defense. Sue the gun manufacturers, not the guy who fired the rifle. And that's flawed.
ReplyDelete@Joe I'd point out that PRWeb's distribution is strictly opt-in and by syndication partner. I can't speak for the others, but I'm sure it's the same. Now Vocus owns PRWeb and that system works differently, but similar to Kevin's point and like Journalistics wrote, "I don’t think you can blame service providers for the PR spam problem, just as you shouldn’t blame a hammer for crooked nails." Here's the link to that post: http://bit.ly/dl04Vk
ReplyDelete