Posted by Episode #287 of Six Pixels of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.
Why do most PR pitches suck? For the most part it has to do with the fact that they are either not focused or there is no relationship between the PR professional and the media outlet. It’s a cold, dark and harsh world out there and Public Relations – as an industry – is also going through both a digitization and a brave new world where everyone is (or can be) a publisher. They very fabric of what it means to be a communications professional is changing, adapting and morphing. Leading this charge/change is Gini Dietrich. Gini Blog at Spin Sucks, is the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich and is co-host of the very popular PR Podcast, Inside PR. As if that weren’t enough, she has begun to create and launch products at Spin Sucks Pro and is about to launch a book called, Marketing In The Round, that she co-authored with Geoff Livingston. In this episode we attack and deconstruct everything from pitching Bloggers to the value of community and the changing face of communications. Enjoy the conversation…
You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast #287.
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What a great podcast, Mitch. I’ve been listening for a couple of years now and this is one of the absolute best. I loved the discussion and the energy between you and Gini.
Thank you!
I like to think of these podcasts as a conversational jam, so they’re only as good as the guest and their talent. Gini is tops.
I just got around to listening to this and it is a great conversation. I tend to follow both of you pretty closely and I think this is a conversation where 1 + 1 = 3 because some great stuff comes to light during the course of the discussion.
Funny you asked Gini about how she manages her time… because I have also wondered how Gini manages her time… she’s all over the place and I’m always blown away by her interaction and content pace.
The concept of why so many pitches fall short is an interesting one and I think it often comes down to the fact that everyone likes to think they can do PR. Marketing suffers from this today as well… when in reality it’s really hard and few people do it well and those that do make it look easy.
Like any marketer in a small company, I’ve had to do some PR activities including pitching media for coverage. I managed to get a product review done on a mommy blog and it was A LOT of work… it’s not just as easy as blasting an email. And I could see that relationship was an important part of the process.
Recently, I turned this activity over to a professional and getting a chance to watch a pro work from over his shoulder, I began to really understand how effective PR really works. It’s not an exact science and it requires judgement that often comes from experience. A good PR person knows when to step on the gas, when to ease up and when to close the deal. Plus, they ideally have existing relationships that can result in better coverage in less time than if I was do it myself.
But I don’t envy professional PR people because the client expectations are often way out of whack and many people don’t really understand where the line between what PR can do and what marketing should do very clearly and a good PR person is really good at managing expectations – which is funny because anyone who has worked in a marketing agency should have the same skill – in spades.