New PR Thinking: Blast Releases to Everyone and Anyone
If I had a dollar for every junk press release I received a day, I’d be rich. I’m not talking about the non-news press releases blasted out by some of the companies we cover (like the one that announced it signed a new client but did not reveal the name of this new client… how important is this new client if you can’t name it?). I’m not talking about the ones sent to me because I’m still listed as Web Editor at
Fleet Owner (a publication I haven’t been with for seven years). I’m talking about releases with little or no relevance to our audience.
It seems to me this is the new three-step way of thinking for several PR agents and agencies:
- Get an account with Constant Contact, Vertical Response or a similar do-it-yourself e-mail marketing company.
- Add the e-mail addresses of every journalist from every publication in the world to your address book.
- Blast your press release and pray someone posts it (word-for-word) on their site.
Hey, why not, right? If the journalist doesn’t want the release, he or she will ignore it. Or he or she will click “unsubscribe.” It’s got to be okay to send unsolicited e-mails if the recipient can opt-out!
Here’s a funny one I got today. It’s from a news site, telling me to read some columnist’s view on the proposed Arizona immigration bill. Oh, and to post a comment and reply to the e-mail.
There’s no link to unsubscribe, but this message which explains why I am a target, and how to opt-out:
You have been sent this e-mail in hopes that the content mentioned is relevant to your work, research or publication. If you do not wish to receive similar notifications, please reply with the word “REMOVE” in the subject line. If you wish to receive them less often, reply with the word “LESS” in the subject line.
Maybe I’ll just reply with a link to this post.
