Yesterday morning I received an email pitch. Nothing particularly exciting about that; it wasn’t the first pitch I received yesterday and it certainly wasn’t the last. It wasn’t tailored and it wasn’t addressed to me but it was on topic. I noted that it was for an ebook on social media marketing and set it aside to read properly later.
Very quickly, though, I began to see replies to that pitch. And then more replies. They kept coming. As it turns out, the sender of the pitch had created a mailing list and had emailed that list using the ‘To’ field in the address bar.
Over the next eight hours, I received 27 replies to the original email from people on the list. People who, apparently, like the ‘Reply All’ button (which, I think, should have an “are you sure” prompt when you use it). Emails getting increasingly irate at the original sender. Emails from well-known social media types like Mike Driehorst, Jennifer Leggio, Om Malik and Francine Hardaway. Emails from reporters at the WSJ, at AdAge, at AP and Newsweek. To make matters worse, everyone began getting copied on support tickets about the removal requests.
All told, we received 45 emails over an 8-hour period.
Spray and pray worked
One telling point, however? The first reply in the email chain was from someone who wanted to review the book. So was the fourth, which raised the possibility of a Blog Herald review.
Sadly, spray and pray was getting results. From a short-term perspective, the spammy pitch may have actually worked. It got two responses. Perhaps, were it not for the mailing list disaster, it might have received a few more.
In the long-term, however, the pitch did nothing to impress those of us on the list who viewed it as spam. It built no relationships and it certainly destroyed plenty (numerous people noted they have blacklisted the sender).
This is part of the volume/customization trade-off that PR people face. Some agencies will continue along this path – despite the people they alienate, they will land coverage for their client.
Other agencies (ours included) will choose to take a more targeted approach. We’ll pitch less people, choose our targets and personalize our approaches. We’ll aim for a high return from a smaller number of pitches.
Like it or not, both tailored and spray-and-pray approaches can work. However, one of them builds relationships in the process while the other damages them. I choose the former.
What do you think?
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RT @davefleet: My thoughts on why spam PR pitches won’t go away: [link to post] – interesting, so what’s a practitioner to do?
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RT @davefleet: My thoughts on why spam PR pitches won’t go away: [link to post] (spoiler alert… it works
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RT @davefleet: My thoughts on why spam PR pitches won’t go away: [link to post] (scatter vs. target; aiming is harder)
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Two views on the Brody PR “spamgate” from @davefleet: [link to post] and from @shel: http://bit.ly/2FSvcK
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@davefleet It all comes back to an agency’s ignorance-integrity. Running a targeted PR campaign takes planning, care & knowledge. spam=none
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@davefleet that, btw, gives all the more credence to why spam is less and less effective… especially when it counts. due diligence.
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@davefleet when reading your posts on pitching, I always think…why would someone pitch you? Good practices for elsewhere though, for sure
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@davefleet do you ever, would you ever, have you ever posted to your blog as a result of a pitch? I figured not, right?
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@davefleet couldnt agree more. tailor, tailor, tailor. u gotta remember that everyone IS A REAL PERSON, not just an email address.
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Why Spam PR Pitches Won’t Go Away | davefleet.com [link to post]
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Agreed, totally Agreed, gr8 discussion! RT @davefleet: My thoughts on why spam PR pitches won’t go away: [link to post]
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@davefleet cool, was just on that one – I figured from what I’ve read that you wouldn’t. good read, thanks.
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Spam spam spam spam baked beans spam spam @davefleet and spam. [link to post]
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just what i needed! Yes!
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@knealemann SPAM at it’s finest, in haiku! http://tinyurl.com/4y3h8
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@knealemann Green eggs and spam? Hope the tech stuff is going swimingly!
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Why Spam PR Pitches will never go away (from @DaveFleet) [link to post]
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RT @KeithBurtis: Why Spam PR Pitches will never go away (from @DaveFleet) [link to post]
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RT @davefleet Why Spam PR Pitches Won’t Go Away | davefleet.com [link to post] (via @storyline)
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RT @davefleet Why Spam PR Pitches Won’t Go Away | davefleet.com [link to post]
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