Drive Placements With Targeted

Media OutreachVanessa Childs, SVP

Valerie Lopez, VP of Media Research

22

The 5 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make

1. Sending irrelevant pitches

2. Using outdated lists

3. Not honoring opt-out requests

4. Being overly persistent

5. Spray & Pray

33

Spray and Pray

▪ Journalists almost never open e-mails that are clearly mass

releases

▪ Exclusivity is key with journalists

▪ Fast track to getting added to a blocked sender list

▪ Risk getting labeled as lazy and have all future pitches, even if

they’re appropriate, be ignored

44

Creating the perfect pitch

▪ Know what they cover & know their audience

▪ Keep it brief

▪ Stay relevant

▪ Personalize

▪ Update your lists

55

Finding the RIGHT influencers

▪ Narrow your search. Looking

to promote nail polish? Don’t

look for people covering

general beauty; find those

specifically covering nail

polish.

▪ Those nail polish influencers

will be following – and have

followers – who live, breathe,

and love nail polish.

▪ Goodbye are the days of

pitching to the wrong

audience!

66

The power of a few

▪ Find the RIGHT community

▪ Sometimes that group may

not have a huge audience.

▪ They WILL have an audience

who will absorb and distribute

on-target news.

77

Mass Influencers and Their Influence on PR

▪ Today, due in large part to social media, influencers are

everywhere and are not bound by employment with a traditional

news source.

▪ Ability to cover news faster than many traditional news

sources.

▪ Many specialize in niche topics and might be more receptive to

details which a general interest news source would only cover

sporadically or reactively.

88

Social Media Outreach

▪ Just because you can,

doesn’t mean you should

▪ Building relationships take

time

▪ Don’t ignore the little guys

▪ Honesty is the best policy

▪ Things can go viral in an

instant