This article was originally written as a post in response to
an e-mail message on the Pub-L mailing list.
Guy Downing wrote: Subject: Re: Media sources - which is best
I recently completed a class at UC Berkeley Extenuation taught
by a very experienced book marketer and publicist, her credits
include the Dummies books by IDG. She said that she asked her
journalist friends about how they like to receive press releases
and what, if any, services they used. Without exception they all
subscribed and checked first their wire service (Newswire, I believe).
I've also been aware the technology companies subscribe to a wire
service.
Would this be a better service? $1,000 per release, but massive
distribution.
Guy
Please don't be misled by the question. I know and respect the
author of the IDG book in question, but I must tell you, at least
in my humble professional opinion, next time, you need to have
her ask a different question. Her answer in my opinion, led you
astray.
They (newspaper journalists not covering a real local beat) tend
to look to the newswires for hard news, not for book information
and feature stories. And the number one news wire is the Associated
Press, followed by Knight-Ridder, Times-Tribune, and a host of
others. There are over 400 news services and syndicates in the
US.
I have conducted media questionnaires for several years in a row,
asking the media "what method do you prefer" and perhaps
have as good a handle on this as anyone, as I operate the Imediafax
- Internet to Media Fax Service. What the media wants and prefers
is very important to me and my clients. Success speaks loudly
in this business, but failure speaks even louder. I don't like
failure, and my business survival depends on my clients success,
so I track this very carefully.
The data I've compiled looks like this:
Percent |
|
|
Street Mail |
|
|
Fax |
|
|
|
|
|
Web Site |
|
|
You can see that e-mail has come of age in less than two years
time. Street mail has diminished somewhat, and web based communications
are rising but still don't compare well to the other methods.
What is crucial to understand is that while this is interesting,
it is not key question of importance to authors and publishers.
The key question is:"Which method works the best!" That
is, "which method yields the most publicity?" And guess
what - the journalists don't know the answer to this question.
That's because they've never analyzed their response to news releases.
Very few of them have ever even written a news release, and fewer
still have truly mastered the art of getting publicity. And yet
many of them sit in receipt of hundreds of news releases per day.
Do you want to know who knows the answer to this question? It's
right here in front of you.
Authors and publishers can give you insights into the answer to
this question. Ask the members of this list what sort of success
they have. There are numerous people here who have experienced
transmitting and tracking news release response. There are authors
and publishers here who have done this for five, ten, perhaps
twenty or more books.
And the ones who are most successful will all tell you the same
thing, because they have acquired knowledge enough by analyzing
the responses to the hundreds of releases they have transmitted,
and have captured real public relations wisdom, based on the consensus
of human experience.
And as usual, the answer is:It depends!
It depends on lots of things. It will vary with the book you
write, and the news you have to offer, what it takes to do a story
for the media, and timing.
If the book is great, the content is on point, timely, and what
you've proposed doesn't cost too much to use for a story, and
your pitch was well targeted (e.g., sent to the right media) you
will get publicity.
Will it break even or make you rich?
Maybe yes to the former, probably not to the latter.
As a general trend, I see an increasing amount of positive responses
from e-mail news releases, and overall right now I think it's
about 50 -50 between fax and e-mail. The above data tends to bear
that out.
But it varies. Some media are more Internet and e-mail savvy than
others. Some are simply swamped with e-mail and faxes. Others
refuse to enter the new age of electronic commerce for whatever
reason. Media are human beings too. Some days are busy, others
less so.
Some books or news angles are more prone to being shared electronically,
while with others, you simply can't be persuasive using the technologies.
Sometimes a picture will be persuasive, while text will not. There
is a stable group of key media who insists on seeing the media
kits and books, and they basically say that while the fax or e-mail
news release may wet their appetite, the electronic methods lack
"the personality" and tactile sense that "the real
thing" provides. To get these media to bite, it has to be
"in vivo".
This tracks with what we see as the purpose and best types of
content to place in faxes and e-mail. Which is, you don't write
the story, but you pitch the news angle and offer them the story.
Your fax and e-mail are designed to get the media to ask for more
information, which you then transmit by whatever means appropriate.
You make your "in vivo" presentation to media who have
indicated a willingness to look at your ideas. You send a review
copy and a media kit and you call to follow up.
So what this means is that any one trying to get publicity must
use as many means as they can possibly afford, and plan it out
systematically.
Based on what I'm seeing work best for the authors and publishers
I work with, what you need to do is this:
Identify YOUR target media. (BTW, I've used Bacons since 1978,
like many of the publicists you've heard on this topic this week.
I create custom lists every day for clients of all types and try
to send releases to media who can respond favorably. It's expensive
and cumbersome to use properly. If you are a one book author/publisher
I do not recommend getting it, rather use the services of a bona
fide PR services provider who owns it and knows how to stay within
the licensing restrictions. And even with it's high cost and nearly
half a million publicity contacts, it's still not perfect. It
takes real effort to maintain that monster database, and it also
takes skill and experience to use it properly. Yes even the almighty
Bacon's has it's drawbacks and limitations).
Prepare to design and implement an integrated year long outreach
to the right key media executives at maximum budget possible.
Study them. Stand in their shoes! Think about how they get news.
Watch what they run with, and give them material that matches
what they typically create. Design a and maintain a PR assault
that stimulates as many of their their senses as possible using
all available tactics:
1. Street mail
2. Fax
3. E-mail
4. In Person
5. Phone calls
6. Other media/research
7. Referrals
Design a Publicity Plan and implement it faithfully, at least
as long as it's profitable to do so. · Monthly via fax
& e-mail · Selected street mail call first ·
Judicious follow-up to three to five or more per day
Any by golly, if you get to meet with them in person, make it
memorable. Bring copies enough of media kits and review copies
for a small army, so that you create a buzz that lingers in the
office days after you are gone. And don't forget, there are lots
of ways to make a great and long lasting impression, and the best
one is to:BRING GOOD FOOD!
Don't ask me why, but it works. These folks are often stressed
out office hounds. They are starved for tension release and a
great inner office experience.
They feel forever indebted to you for feeding them, especially
if it's unique and high quality, or home made. Bring enough to
have a small office party, and give out lots of cards, postcards
or whatever.
For some reason, a dozen Crispy Creme donuts is really a good
idea these days. The news streaks across the newsroom faster than
lightening, and voila -- you have an audience of five to ten key
editors!
And it's show time!
Try it!
If any of you want a copy of the article I wrote after my presentation
to the Book Publicists of Southern California last month, send
me an e-mail message and ask for "How to Make the Media Fall
in Love with You".
Regards all,
Paul J. Krupin (author of the incredibly valuable book "Trash
Proof News Releases") Direct Contact 1-800-457-8746 509-545-2707
(Need Publicity? Click Here!)
http://www.imediafax.com/