Do Emails to General "Info@" Addresses Get Read?

A reader asks ...

I understand that it's important to target journalists with relevant material, but I'm having a hard time figuring out HOW to identify/find/get in touch with those journalists. Many journals have a general email address on their site if you dig enough (eg, "Send all press releases to pr@journal.com"). However I have a feeling my PR will get lost in a heap of spam. Any advice? (BTW, we run a home furnishings business & want to promote some of our products that are unique.) -LJ

You are correct -- emails sent to general "PR@" and "Info@" publication addresses are frequently buried in a pile of PR spam (and seldom responded to). Your chances of a response are always *much* better if you correspond with an individual at the publication. People are often overly timid about corresponding with publications. The one time they caught a journalist on a bad day and got a gruff response sticks out in their mind, and there's this sort of fear of confrontation that they can't get past.

But if all anyone ever did was abide by emailing the general "contact@" email address at their target publications, they'd never get anywhere. So how to do you go about identifying / finding / getting in touch (without appearing discourteous or wasting folks' time)?

First of all, you should build a target list of the publications that you think would likely cover your subject matter. In your case ("home furnishings"), you have a pretty huge known universe of journalists to go after. There are tons of trade publications covering home furnishings. Then you have the many newspapers with "home" and "lifestyle" sections. You might consider investing in the "Newspaper / Magazine" media directory from Cision (formerly Bacon's). It's essentially a giant print directory of journalists across all subject matter domains -- it will allow you to find quite a few targets (and their contact info). Btw: there is an online version of this directory called "MediaMap," but I suspect that for your budget / needs, the annual subscription cost is out of whack (and you can get what you need from the print version anyway).

Consider using an Excel doc or similar to build your target list. List targets out by publication / contact name / email / phone number. Write a note to yourself in another column about what made you think each person was a suitable target (then when you reach out to them you can remember what you wanted to reference in the correspondence). Most importantly -- take it a step further and actually read some of their articles to get a sense of what they gravitate towards. It seems like common sense. But the vast majority of PR folks do NOT read or reference the journalists' stories before contacting them. That sort of half-ass approach where people carpet-bomb journalists with a generic pitch and no context re. their previous coverage doesn't get you very far. But if you have actually read some of their articles and demonstrate that when you contact them ... you will experience a much higher response rate. Put yourself in their shoes. Who would YOU respond to?

Once you've evolved your target list, the right protocol is always to email the individuals first. The email pitch itself warrants further discussion -- but briefly, it's important to remember that the goal isn't to sound like a commercial. Your goal with the journalist is to sound interesting / newsworthy (in your case, presumably best demonstrated by virtue of some unique merchandise you have or plan to announce). So don't beat them over the head with 5 paragraphs copied / pasted from your web site.

Here's the basic formula I'd recommend to you in your pitches to your targets:

1. Intro sentence something to the effect that you've read their recent articles on x, y and z
2. Second paragraph stating that you think your company has some interesting / relevant [insert whatever is interesting about your company] that you would like to discuss with them at some point, if they'd be receptive to meeting you
3. Provide a link (never attachments) to any pictures or more info that you think makes your story more compelling
4. Give your contact info

After you've sent out your emails, allow at least 2-3 days before following up with anyone. When you call people to follow-up, you will invariably get at least one person who is annoyed that you had the audacity to bother him / her over the phone. But the fact is that you will also encounter people who (1) never got your email because it got caught in their spam filter; (2) never read your email but actually ARE interested in what you have to offer; (3) aren't interested now, but would like you to follow up with them for a related story at some point in time; (4) tell you that they're no longer writing about that subject matter (which is good info, so you can take them off your list).

The vast majority of journalists are very courteous to inbound phone callers, provided that you respect their time, have followed the protocol of trying them first by email, and that if they DO give you the chance to talk to them you actually have something interesting to say. In the first moments of the call, state who you are and who you are with, and ask them if they have a second to talk. Nothing is more annoying than someone calling you and just talking at you for 30 seconds without interruption before they even say who they are. If they tell you it's a really bad time, you should apologize, reference the fact that you emailed them without response, and ask if there is a better time that you can call.

Some people have a very tough time with the prospect of rejection on follow up calls to journalists ... but the truth is that the majority of PR person-initiated publicity opportunities are generated via phone (and not email). If you get beaten up by someone having a bad day, try to have a sense of humor about it and just move on.

The last thing that I'd point out to you here is that most publications have an editorial assistant on staff. This person is typically an office manager type who has a great pulse on who to contact for what, who's writing what, etc. It is perfectly reasonable if you get stymied in your efforts to email / call the editorial assistant and seek more info.

Let me know if you run into any problems or have any related questions, LJ. Good luck.

Bullseye photo from mfshadow on flickr creative commons.