7 deadly PR sins
IN the course of my work as a technology journalist over the years, I’ve had to deal with a lot of public relations practitioners, both internal and external. A good PR professional can do a lot to help project his company’s image; a bad or an indifferent one can do a lot of damage. Sadly, many of the PR practitioners these days fall in the second category because they are guilty of any—or all—of these deadly PR sins.
No. 1—Being a fair-weather contact. PR practitioners will give you their full attention when they have a press release to get out, or when there’s a press conference they want you to attend. But if you need their help, say, to interview an expert for a story you’re working on independently, good luck. Most of them won’t deliver, which brings me to the second deadly sin.
No. 2 – Broken promises. How many times have I heard a PR practitioner say he or she would get back to me on a question I need answered? They almost never do.
No. 3 – No discrimination. Most PR practitioners don’t care about the quality of journalists they invite to their events. Heck, half of them aren’t even real journalists and are there just for the food or the giveaways. These PR companies just want to pack the room so that they look good to their clients, who don’t know any better, either.
There’s no discrimination, either, in the way they mindlessly pack people from the same publication, even though they know this will not add to the amount of coverage they get. Sometimes, the people they invite will never get anything in print, but who cares?
No. 4—Failure to appreciate good work. A good story is its own reward, but when you spend time and effort hammering one out, it’s good to know that it’s been read and appreciated. And just to be clear, we’re not talking about anything material, here. A simple call to say, “Hey, good story, thanks” sounds like good PR practice—yet so few people in the industry bother to do it.
No. 5 – Looking out only for the Top 3. It’s no secret that companies tend to advertise only in the top three newspapers but their PR people—internal or external—will keep pestering you to publish their press releases. Message: your paper is good enough for our press releases, but not good enough for our ads. Thanks a lot.
No. 6 – Not listening. I get regular visits from a PR for a tech magazine, who wants me to print press releases promoting their upcoming issue. I told her some time ago that I had no interest in promoting their magazine this way. Instead, I said, why don’t they allow me to reprint one article—useful content for my readers---as a way of promoting what’s in the rest of their magazine. She still comes every month, with the same press release. Don’t these people listen?
No. 7 – Failure to understand journalists’ needs. Many PR practitioners do not understand that journalists want real stories and access to information. The PR person is in a unique position to help journalists and their clients by putting them together, but they often drop the ball. PR shouldn’t be just about sending food and press releases to the newsroom. It should be about a more thoughtful process that takes into account the requirements on both sides and trying to bridge the two. Any inquiry should be treated as an opportunity, not a bother or an imposition.
