Archive for March 23, 2010

Is it Time to Introduce Analytics to E-mail Pitching?

Businessman with graphI don’t usually write about the more tactical, day-to-day issues of PR and marketing, choosing instead to focus on the delicate work-life balance, thinking like an entrepreneur and why I think it’s OK to not have a traditional PR background. But today, bear with me for a bit, as I’m going to get pretty tactical on something every PR and marketing professional uses probably every single day of their jobs: the e-mail pitch.

Ahh, yes, the infamous “pitch.” Loathed by many, MANY, but in today’s smart phone-obsessed world, about as important as ever in terms of driving successful media outreach for brands and organizations. I won’t get into the whole debate about whether e-mail pitches should or should not be used, but there were a couple of interesting points I wanted to hit from Cone’s main points in the article on about how we can all make our e-mail pitches a bit more refined and increase the rate that our e-mails to bloggers and reporters will A) get opened; and B) actually get us some type of response. Read the rest of this entry »

The BCC…Not Cool

Shopping bag with 'At' email symbol, close-upE-mail has become a big part of our lives, when e-mail goes down, our lives shut down. There are so many things you can do with e-mail from e-mailing 300 people in a matter of seconds to just talking it up with friends in China. There is one thing e-mail related that should not be abused. The BCC function. Oh the BCC, the Blind Carbon Copy, also known as the Blind Courtesy Copy and the Big Chicken Coworker.

To all of you who are unfamiliar, the BCC function basically lets people see an e-mail that is sent, but people who are addressed in the TO: or CC: line of an e-mail don’t know this person has received the e-mail. There are many times I’ve used the BCC function whether it be to keep my supervisors in the loop as to what is going on while interacting with a client, or to joke around with one of my friends who doesnt know, and even playing Mr. Matchmaker and clueing my friend into knowing what is being said about them to a potential love interest. The BCC function can be great to be secretive, but when used in deceptive ways, not cool. Read the rest of this entry »