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Monthly Newsletter: The MVPR Spectrum
MVPR Spectrum Newsletter: Email and the Media
Aug 13 2004
Welcome to the MVPR Spectrum, an electronic newsletter published by Mt. Vernon PR & Communications. MVPR Spectrum features topics of interest to PR, marketing, and communications professionals and others in corporate and association management.
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In this issue:
-- Email and the Media
-- Getting Past the Spam Filter
Check out the MVPR resources page and link to some of the Web sites we have found helpful. While you are there, you can view our Crisis Communications white paper and sign up for our white paper alert service (http://www.mtvernonpr.com/resources_wp.asp). If there are topics you'd be interested in seeing here, please contact us at info@mtvernonpr.com and give us your suggestions.
Previous issues of MVPR Spectrum are available here: http://www.mtvernonpr.com/newsletter.asp
Best Regards,
Rosanne Desmone
Principal, Mt. Vernon PR & Communications
_________________________________________________
MVPR Spectrum
Volume 2, Number 3
July/August 2004
The MVPR Spectrum is published by Mt. Vernon PR & Communications to provide our friends and clients with information on public relations and communications topics that we trust will be useful and/or interesting.
-- Email and the Media
Last month, Bennett & Company Marketing released the results of its 14th annual media preferences survey. In an interesting twist, 58% of journalists (up from 47% in 2002) indicated their first choice is to receive information via email; this is the first time that email surpassed wire services. Respondents also indicated that only one-third of the correspondence they receive is electronic. Seventy percent of journalists also said they read every email, except for obvious spam (see next article for spam info). According to one business journal editor, she reads every email, but she reads the ones with good subject lines first.
Just about all of us, at one time or another, use email to contact media and analysts, either sending news releases, pitches, requesting interviews, etc. Many journalists, after receiving thousands of emails, have written articles or posted their preferences about email – what they want and what they don’t want, what works and what doesn’t – so I thought it might be helpful to create a list of those tips. I realize that most of us already know and use many of these tips, so you can skip over the no-brainers and scan the ones you may not have seen before.
Below is the list I have compiled of tips to make your email news releases as effective as possible – and to get editors and analysts to open them. If you have any others that you think will help all of us, go to www.mtvernopr.com/tips and post yours.
1. Starting from the top of the email, a big complaint of journalists is the long list of email addresses in the “to” field. The best advice here is to get a program or use a service that sends individual emails. Barring that, you can put your name in the “to” field (an empty “to” field scores high with spam filters) and put your list in the “bcc” field (this could trigger some spam filters, however). One reason given was that they simply don’t want to have to scroll down through the names to find the subject line or the news. [I’m not sure why else they object, but it’s easy enough to comply with this request, so why not?] One other thing: use the editor’s name if you can get it rather than sending to editor@ or news@. They’re more likely to respond to an email that’s directed to them personally.
2. A good subject line is a must – it’s your “hook.” Don’t be cute or clever, make sure it’s believable, and keep it close in wording/meaning to the release headline and keep it as short as possible so the editor’s email software doesn’t cut it off. Make the headline compelling, but be sure that it reflects the headline and content of the release. Some editors suggest putting [News], [Press Info], or [Story Idea], as appropriate, at the beginning of the subject line, but I don’t know if this works any better than a headline alone; might be worth a try. If you forward the email release (see #3), make sure there is no “FW:” in the subject line; many editors delete these without even opening.
3. Always copy your release into the body of the email in plain text and never send the release as an attachment. Not only are many viruses spread via attachments, many programs screen them out if the sender is unknown. Don’t forward your releases… most journalists find it a sign of laziness or disrespect when they see those >>> symbols running down the page. Of course, if you can set your email program to forward without the >>>s, that would solve the problem. [Remember to delete the “FW” in the subject line; see #2]
4. The format of the release is important, too. Use a standard font (Courier 10 pt, for example) and type only 60-70 characters per line. Some editors recommend hitting the return key at the end of every line to avoid runaway lines that can result with users of Pine and Unix mail, which don’t always automatically wrap text. The shorter line also keeps your lines within view in most standard-size email windows as well.
Put “For Immediate Release” at the top of the email, then put the company name and Web site URL [format as “http://www.companyname.com”] on the next two lines. Contact info should follow the release. If the release is more than a page or a page and a half long, consider including only 4-5 paragraphs of pertinent information along with a link to the complete release. And don’t use all caps; remember - that’s the equivalent of shouting.
5. Use hyperlinks to additional information such as graphics, photos, white papers, bios, etc., but do not attach them to the email. If the editor is interested in the news, he or she can go the site to download the collateral. When you post photos, make sure they are print-quality and not Web-resolution quality.
6. If you set up your email to include a signature file, you won’t have to remember to add it. This not only gives the editor all the info needed to get in touch with you, it differentiates your email from spam, which usually has no signature info. Most editors requested the following info: name, company name, complete contact info [including email address]. Don’t attach a V-card instead of using a signature file.
7. Target your emails to editors who would be most interested in your news. Make sure your list is up-to-date so the news gets through. You should be updating your contact list at least once per quarter.
8. Give editors a way to get off your PR list and honor their request. If your releases don’t fall within their coverage area, they need to be able to stop them.
-- Getting Past the Spam Filter
Are you finding that some of your emails don’t seem to get through? Maybe you are unintentionally triggering spam alerts by something you are doing or saying, and your emails are being automatically directed to the “junk” folder. But there’s good news, too. The most widely used network level spam filter seems to be SpamAssassin, and there are many articles/tips that help you get past it. I have included some of them at the end of this section.
Another great resource is the free SpamCheck from SiteSell. I tried it myself and, in a few minutes, got back an email with a spam score. Mine, for this newsletter, was 0.9 and I was advised that anything up to a score of 5.0 likely would get through. The email also listed the items that resulted in that score. You can access SpamCheck at: http://spamcheck.sitesell.com/
20 ways to outsmart spam filters
http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt8/spamfilter_avoidance.htm
Words and Phrases that trigger some spam filters
http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt8/spamfilter_phrases.htm
“To unsubscribe might trigger filters’
http://emailuniverse.com/ezine-tips/?id=439&cat=management
Mt. Vernon PR & Communications (MVPR) provides a full range of public relations and marketing communications services to companies and associations on the move, in a hurry, and determined to stay on top. We specialize in creating and enhancing your visibility and credibility in the marketplace, using your unique capabilities and expertise as the building blocks. For more information about Mt. Vernon PR & Communications, please visit our web site at www.mtvernonpr.com
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