A Little Feedback Can Go a Long Way…
Yesterday I had an interesting experience.
A PR professional from an agency elsewhere in the United States sent me a pitch over email for the blog. It, um, wasn’t a great pitch. The subject line was a bit confusing. She let me know she liked one of my recent blog posts but then copied and pasted some stuff from a press release that had nothing to do with what she said she liked and also nothing to do with things I write and care about. There was a big typo in there somewhere. It just wasn’t a good pitch for me.
Because I’m a PR kid and a blogger at the same time, this pitch made me upset for two different reasons. As a blogger, it was a little upsetting to receive a pitch so off the mark. As a PR pro, it was upsetting to see someone sending out pitches like this one and know she’s probably not just sending it to me. It worried me that another public relations practitioner was running the risk of getting blasted on some blog for sending spam-like and lazy emails.
I called her up.
I told her who I was and said I had gotten her email. I let her know that as a fellow PR person, I wanted to call and talk about what may have worked better for pitching me. We ended up having a great conversation about the how difficult it is to always make the right decisions when reaching out to bloggers and we discussed some better approaches. I let her know that with me, if I’m on an outreach list, but she isn’t totally sure that her news is a puzzle-piece fit for me and my blog, to just say so and be honest. I told her not to waste any minutes of her busy day writing out a big flowery pitch and including paragraphs of information. Just tell me honestly why you’re reaching out, let me know what the news is and give me a few short bullet points with things like links so I can find out more before I write back. I stressed that while this is a good approach for me, it might not work for everyone, and it’s important to remember that. It’s a good idea to reach out to bloggers you want to befriend and ask them how they’d like to be pitched (if at all) and what types of things they are open to receiving.
The thing that makes my experience interesting is that this PR pro was really appreciative of my call. It’s so rare to receive constructive feedback in this business, so I think we both hung up feeling a little better. I wasn’t angry, I wasn’t threatening. It’s important to me that PR professionals improve their skills and understanding when it comes to social media. This was just one little way I felt I could help someone and by extension, the profession.
Here’s my call to action. We all get pitches we think are less than awesome, but so many people either ignore them or humiliate the person who sent them. Once in a while, give some constructive feedback. Remember that this person probably doesn’t want to annoy or offend you–they’re still learning how to respectfully and effectively reach out in this changing media landscape, and sometimes they need some pointers. Be pissed off for a minute, but then spend a minute thinking of how this PR person could have done a better job or how they could better approach you in the future. The profession as a whole will have an easier time improving and moving forward with a little guidance and a bit of feedback. You may be surprised at the difference it makes.
5 Responses to “A Little Feedback Can Go a Long Way…”
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V. Cool of you to donate some of your time that you could have spent improving yourself or enjoying yourself to someone you don’t even know so they can potentially become better in what they’re trying to achieve. :)
I know it’s a bit off the point this post, but I’ve found that time and time again, across multiple fields, Paul Graham’s statement holds true: “I’ve found that people who are great at something are not so much convinced of their own greatness as mystified at why everyone else seems so incompetent.” I’d say you find yourself in this boat. I know it’s not exactly up your alley, but here’s the essay the quote is from: http://paulgraham.com/gh.html Keep up the great posts (and tweets)
The thing is, I know I’m going to mess up too. I know I’ll send some emails to bloggers, reporters, editors, whoever… who won’t like them and will wish I never sent them. Sharing information is just not a flawless process and never an exact science. Even if just once in a while people help and guide instead of getting angry, we flacks will ultimately make less mistakes and this PR thing will work a lot better for everyone.
That’s great that you took the time out to have a conversation with the person, and she also reciprocated and listened to what you have to say. You’re right that the bloggers are also guilty of sharing no feedback – I tend to just post about whatever catches my eye even if it came through to me in a horrendous form, but it does occur to me once in a while how much the brand would benefit if they actually got some honest feedback from someone on their approach, like I learn from my own mistakes or through other people’s.
I am so impressed that you actually called her up and discussed ways she could be more successful. That took an awful lot of selflessness on your part! Then again, in the realm of PR, learning from your mistakes is of utmost importance. As much as it can be embarrassing to admit that you have invested in the wrong approach, it can really help you tweak your style.