Beware the PR tactic of 'PITCH & PUSH'

I'm both a media consultant AND a journalist and having this hybrid role has allowed me, for more than a decade, to see all the things people do that they 'think' are okay when they contact journalists. Why? because they speak to that habit business owners and PR agents have of thinking that journalists are a 'separate' breed and can therefore be treated differently to a client.

It's the 'chuck any old story' at a journalist approach and hope that it sticks and then harass them to remind them over and over again to use that story because all journalists are a bit stupid and will need constant reminders. If you are working with anyone who is doing this then walk away right now. You are damaging yourself and your brand for short-term gain and you will not build a healthy relationship with people like me.

Remember you are not paying us - what you are doing is sending us stories which you hope we will use. No money is changing hands here and, if it was, the process would take on a different hue altogether. In most cases, you wouldn't even be dealing with a journalist then, you'd be dealing with an advertising professional.

Now I know in business and sales, the follow up is very important. However just how do you follow up with clients? Is it in the same way as I'm about to describe? If it is, I suspect your conversion rate is very low.

One example of poor behaviour is the PR practice which I have dubbed the 'pitch and push' - I don't do it and I won't ever do it and I won't work with any company or brand which expects me to do it. This tactic is the 'hard sale' when it comes to journalists. It's very common in PR companies and I've never met a journalist who likes it, responds to it and doesn't then form a negative impression of a person or brand which does it. Never. And I know a lot of journalists who write across many sectors and subject matter.

When you as a business owner have a conversation and start to build a relationship with a potential client and you send them some information, or a contract - do you chase them within 24 hours, three times within an hour, first by email and then by phone? Do you do that? Do you find that tactic works well? Or do they shut you down because you've crossed the line between being confident, having an adult sensible follow up and harassing them?

Some PR agencies, PR consultants and those in companies who have been given these roles (because they are such easy roles aren't they?) do it daily to journalists. Every single day and we hate it. We hate it so much that when your next story comes through we will make it our lowest priority and probably won't bother with it at all.

Ask yourself this, if you were on the end of that kind of treatment from a potential supplier or anyone else - how would you feel about them? Regardless of the quality of their product or service?

The lesson here is - if engaging with journalists is important for you, your business or organisation - please treat us as people. If you wouldn't do it to a client then don't do it a journalist.

Why? Aren't we there to serve you and publish your stories? No we're not, we're there to make a living and to write the stories we are paid to write by the people who pay our wages - whether that's an employer or multiple clients. We know what stories we need and when we need them and we're not generally shy about sharing that information. We also have the power of access to an audience you can't reach and if we can write about you we are showcasing you to that audience. So why do you subject us to the hard selling approach?

As a freelance journalist I will average 400 emails every day - and I work only on local publications. Translate that to a national journalist and they will receive 1000s. To manage that I have to prioritise and it may take me a while to get to every one. Most journalists will prioritise based on their own deadlines and stories which are time dependent. AS WE ALL DO.

This week, I've been sent a story by a Wiltshire business which has achieved a milestone. I saw the story and thought it was okay. I then got another email with a picture which was different. Within 24 hours I got an email to check I'd received it. I didn't respond as it wasn't a priority. Then yesterday, I got three phone calls in the space of half an hour from an unknown number. I responded by text each time to say I couldn't talk right now.

When I was free I called the number and it was someone (another PR person or someone within that business they didn't tell me) chasing me about using that story and when was I going to use it? Assuming I would definitely use it. Three times in half an hour, even though I said I was busy and then a 'push' tactic. How would you have responded to that? Journalists tend to be creatives and they respond very, very badly to that.

I politely explained that as a freelance journalist that I write stories I'm commissioned to write by two local publishers and I write to their brief - therefore no I wouldn't be writing that story and they needed to go elsewhere.

This 'pitch and push' tactic is the bane of a journalist's life and they don't want to be hassled on the telephone or via email in this way. When it happens you certainly remember the company related to that experience and you feel differently about them - and believe me it's not good.

My advice is this - if you are going to use a third party to do your PR, educate yourself around what good looks like as this third party is representing you and your brand and if they act in this way they could actually be damaging you.

If you are a business person who is focussed on ROI and you want that PR person to be on the phone following up with the hard sell approach - media relations is not for you. It's a complete turn-off to the person you are trying to reach and the goal you are trying to achieve. It simply doesn't work that way. You have to see things in the round and not through your ROI spectacles.

Don't get me wrong, journalists do like stories and you can have very positive relationships with them, just like with clients. However they are not a receptacle for your selling message and any bad attempts at making advertising into a story. It comes down to building a relationship and not assuming you know what we want. My top tip is to just ask us.

You can some positive suggestions here - https://scottmedia.uk/how-to-be-a-journalists-dream/