The media and publicists have a love-hate-love relationship. They need each other to do their jobs with maximum impact, but at times that's all one half can think of: the need. It can eclipse or even overshadow the finer points of human interaction, like etiquette and just being a nice normal human being to one another.
I've written about this before off and on, but it's something that always bears revisiting because it's a universal. Also, because, well, if you're a marketer, don't you want your message to be received loud and clearly -- and not because someone thought they had put you in their spam folder?
Canadian publication The Globe And Mail have a hot list of 10 habits you should break posthaste, according to entrepreneurs who are blasted with this sort of stuff on a routine basis. The top one, quite correctly, is cold calls. Or, as Matt Cheuvront, co-founder of Launch, puts it: "Cold calling with blind intent. ... Don't pick up the phone and spit out a sales pitch. Research… and tailor your pitch."
Hallele-freakin'-lejuah. I feel like this is the one that is most often overlooked because I run into it all the dang time. Or more often, it runs into me. It also takes the form of email blasts, which make sense for stuff like tour announcements, but less so when you're pitching an interview to a journalist.
We're an NBC Chicago blog, so we are focused on Chicago stories first and foremost. As cool as your vodka-brewing business is in Clearwater, Fla., it has very little relevance to the market here. Now, if you're planning on opening a location or uprooting yourself completely to Chicago? That's totally different. So, be sure to mention it.
In other words, do your research.
Another big item: Stop throwing away postage. Justin Beegel, founder of Infographic World, Inc., said, "I can’t think of a single time in my entire life that I’ve received something unsolicited in the mail and actually purchased the product or service."
If you're going to use mail marketing, make sure it's targeted and relevant.
Also, you might want to use this question as an acid test: Would this approach to marketing interest you? If not, don't do it.
Read more over at The Globe And Mail. Heed, my pretties.
David Wolinsky is a freelance writer and a lifelong Chicagoan. In addition to currently serving as an interviewer-writer for Adult Swim, he's also a comedy-writing instructor for Second City. He was the Chicago city editor for The Onion A.V. Club where he provided in-depth daily coverage of this city's bustling arts/entertainment scene for half a decade. When not playing video games for work he's thinking of dashing out to Chicago Diner, Pizano's, or Yummy Yummy. His first career aspirations were to be a game-show host.
