PR spam
I know that spammers don't care who gets their spew so long as a fraction of losers people respond. Some professional PR folks seem to feel the same way.
I get a fair collection of both run-of-the-mill spam and PR spam every day. I distinguish between the two this way:
* ROM Spam -- The same junk everyone gets. Subject line: Can you make these commercial closings? and Insurance agent closers needed!! Two exclamation points!! It's important!! (Our spam filters apparently weed out the mail about Russian brides, although I do get the occasional Nigerian money transfer scam.)
* PR spam -- Please publish me in the paper or the Web site. Subject line: News from Pitt -- Dan Marino commencement speaker and Reminder: Start planning your Earth Day coverage now! and Creative Hong Kong in London.
They both take me about the same amount of time to hit delete.
Do news organizations exist that actually use the releases? Even the University of Pittsburgh item had no relevance to anyone around here except, perhaps, parents of Pitt seniors and I doubt there are many of those.
I know it doesn't cost the PR spammers anything to include me on their list, but it's so ineffective. I hope they're doing something else to earn their money.
Comments (11)
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PR folks who know what they're doing don't spam. If you are about to hire someone to do PR for you, ask them whether they have media experience. If they do, then they know how to place stories and they won't need to use email blasts to try to get coverage (or more accurately, to try to show clients that they are actually doing work, when they aren't.) If they don't have media experience, then don't hire them.
Posted on April 14, 2008 1:45 PM
Good advice. If I were a hiring agent, I would ask them specifically how they use e-mail. It does seem as if some methods work; others only annoy me.
Posted on April 14, 2008 2:23 PM
I too get a lot of PR spam, most of it from music promoters who obviously have never seen my websites. I'm not knocking Hip-hop but not many 51 year old white dudes are listening to or writing about Hip-hop.
As you may well know I'm prone to trash those promoters publicly.
Once, after heated blog postings and e-mail debate with one of those promoters spammers he had his lawyers contact me with a very nasty letter threatening the kinds of things lawyers sometimes threaten. I responded with a copy of the e-mail their client had sent me and they quickly changed their tunes.
In the end the promoter told me how he had bought 500,000 e-mail addresses of media contacts who were "receptive" to getting the sort of e-mail he sent me. He even went so far as to send me the link where he had bought the e-mail addresses.
When all was said and done he and his lawyers promised he would never use that software or any other purchased e-mail list again in exchange for my deleting my post about his efforts.
Sadly, the company that sold him that e-mail list that has my e-mail address and probably yours, is probably still in business.
The biggest problem with spam isn't the annoyance but the fact that over 1/2 of the energy used to run the Internet is used for spam. How much is the N&R's total cost for Internet access and web hosting? Whatever it is, over 1/2 of the bill is funding spam.
Maybe it's time the newspaper industry decided to help me fight the War against spam?
Posted on April 14, 2008 10:42 PM
JR, Could you post a list of your top 10 suggestions for local businesses and local PR who wish to submit press releases and story ideas?
Posted on April 15, 2008 9:35 AM
Good idea, M. Let me think about that.
Posted on April 15, 2008 11:32 AM
Spam with a huge file attached, usually because of extensive graphics or too-large photos, is particularly annoying.
Posted on April 16, 2008 1:06 PM
Have you given any more thought to our request for 10 tips for local businesses to submit info and sugggest story ideas.
Posted on April 22, 2008 4:53 PM
Yes. I was going to do it this past weekend -- it requires more thought than I usually have during the week -- but it got away from me. But, I promise, it is on my list to do.
Posted on April 22, 2008 4:56 PM
JR, Still waiting. I'm feeling like you don't want to let local businesses know how to best communicate wiuth your paper.
Posted on May 13, 2008 9:11 AM
JR, Still waiting. I'm feeling like you don't want to let local businesses know how to best communicate wiuth your paper.
Posted on May 13, 2008 9:12 AM
Nah, it's not that. Local businesses shouldn't have any trouble communicating with us. Call me.
Posted on May 13, 2008 9:15 AM