A typo in a journalist’s name. A spray-and-pray pitch. An award announcement that’s news to everyone but not always the media. Want to know what makes a PR pitch go unread? Bospar’s Tech and Healthcare Content Director Doug Olenick has a list.
After more than 20 years as a reporter and editor covering consumer tech, cybersecurity and more, plus a stint on the client side at a pair of cybersecurity companies, Doug has seen PR from nearly every angle.
In this Expert Insights interview, Doug shares what makes journalists click, what makes clients tick and what it takes to turn a company announcement into a story worth telling.
When you were an editor, what separated a pitch that caught your attention from one that didn’t?
The pitches I paid attention to depended on three things: my personal relationship with the PR professional who sent it, whether it matched what I was covering at that time and whether it was timely. That would make me open the email.
The pitches that caught my eye also contained data. This could be new survey reports, a blog that dove deeply into a topic with supporting data, technological breakthroughs or research that discussed something novel like a new cyber threat group.
However, if the pitch was just a form letter, or a template-based email with no customization, I wouldn’t read it. To me, agencies that sent form letters were simply running a spray-and-pray campaign when pitching stories; they’d send out 500 pitches and hope a few would land. This was one of my pet peeves as an editor. So much so that I typically wouldn’t answer the request or engage further.
Any pitch that started with “Dear NAME:” or misspelled my name would also be ignored.
Journalists or editors don’t want to feel like one of many. They want a pitch that’s tailored to them.
When a company wants to invest in PR, what are signs of a good PR agency that delivers real value versus one that simply checks the boxes?
An agency that delivers value has people on staff who know the client’s business and understand the give-and-take required between editors, reporters and PR. Another standout quality of a good agency is staffers who are open, talkative, take the time to say “hi” at events and try to build a rapport. These agencies understand relationships are the core of public relations and behave accordingly.
You once worked at a company that partnered with three outside PR agencies. What did that experience teach you about what clients actually need from their PR partners?
Each agency covered a region: U.S., EMEA and APAC (mainly Australia). It taught me that global companies need local PR agencies so the work can be written for the region.
Just because the U.S., Australia and the U.K. all speak English doesn’t mean their blogs, press releases and thought leadership can be written in the same fashion. They have to be tuned to the local readership.
Clients need a PR partner that understands their business and the nuances of the audiences they need to reach.
As a former journalist, what are the most common reasons a company announcement fails to generate media coverage?
If a PR professional pitched me a company announcement, I wouldn’t cover it if it fell outside my area of coverage.
Let’s say a company is announcing it won an award. While the award is big news for the company and the organization giving the accolade, I likely wouldn’t cover it because I didn’t write about award wins, nor are they inherently news.
PR has to identify which journalists and outlets the announcement would appeal to to increase its chances of media coverage. That’s why curated media lists are important. They make sure PR teams hit relevant targets.
Speaking from your time as a client, what do you think clients misunderstand about how media relations works, particularly when it comes to setting expectations for media coverage and results?
Many clients believe they control the story and that the media will honor any changes they want. If there’s an error in a story, then a correction is justified. But I often received feedback that the client didn’t like how something was worded or focused on what they wanted.
However, once a company puts their news out, it’s no longer theirs. It belongs to the reporter. And that reporter can use, or not use, the news however they see fit, like using part of a quote or grabbing a data point that helps another story.
Another thing clients misunderstand is that top-tier media, like The Wall Street Journal or CNBC, will cover their product announcement or other minor news. They won’t, especially without a strong hook or data point. PR teams have to set realistic expectations for what they can guarantee with those announcements and what news would secure top-tier coverage.
Now that you’re on the agency side, how do you apply your experiences as a journalist when drafting content?
There are two skills every journalist can bring to an agency. One is an eye for what reporters and editors will cover and which media outlets will be interested.
Not every story will go to The Wall Street Journal, but it can land with trade publications or B2B media outlets. These are extremely important as they allow a small firm or startup to gain exposure and build credibility, and reporters at top-tier news outlets often find their news within the trades.
The second skill is writing quickly. Writers from busy newsrooms are accustomed to turning in a story a day, so quickly generating a press release falls well within our skill set.
What’s one lesson from your time in the newsroom that every company should apply to its PR strategy?
Don’t bombard a journalist with the same pitch. If they declined or didn’t respond, it wasn’t because they didn’t see the pitch. The reporter likely has many others to review and can’t respond to every one. They’ll reach out if they think the pitch has legs.
