In PR you will no doubt go through phases when you feel like you are just spinning your wheels when it comes to media pitching. You’ve done your homework, carefully crafted pitches to each specific reporter, but you get nothing. This of course is frustrating, especially when the only updates you have for client reports include, “follow-up email sent. Pending response.”
A good practitioner knows media cannot possibly respond to every pitch they receive, but there is always a chance they have been busy or simply overlooked your email. So, the question is… what is appropriate protocol for following up, and at what point do you consider a pitch dead?
The answer to this question has evolved over time. In the beginning of my career it was encouraged to conduct follow-up calls to reporters. Over the years however, reporters have expressed their disdain for receiving follow-up calls, complaining that they are a waste of their time. The only acceptable method these days is email. Soon will even that be considered too persistent? For a quick refresher on proper follow-up etiquette, I found a great article that includes some helpful insight from media.
Read what these guys had to say on the topic here.
Post contributed by Shelby Menczer.
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