PR and marketing

So you’ve sent out a pitch or a media release to journalists and have received no reply. What now? What should you do to find out if the journalist received your email or if they are interested? An essential skill for all PR professionals is to learn how to follow up with the media over the phone.

The best way to follow up with a journalist is by calling them. An appropriate time to follow-up is usually two to three days after the email pitch or release has been sent.

Never wait more than a week to follow up as waiting too long may result in the journalist deleting your email, the story being covered by another person or the story becoming (quite literally) yesterday’s news.

When it comes to following-up journalists the best advice would be to go with your gut instinct – listen to their tone of voice and the way they phrase their answers and make decisions based on that.

However, sometimes that can be a bit hard to do, so here are a few tips you should always take into account when following-up with a journalist.

Be very specific about the media pitch or release you sent them. Don’t just say “I sent you a release and wanted to know if you were interested”.

• Be polite and speak clearly
  When calling a journalist speak clearly and be very direct and to the point. Try to sound interested and enthusiastic to make the call interesting for the journalist.
• Don’t be afraid of journalists
  Don’t be intimidated by journalists, they are people too. If you contact them at a bad time apologise once and move on, apologising more than that can become annoying.
• Choose your questions wisely
  When calling a journalist don’t ask them if they are going to publish the media release. Instead, tell them the date you sent the media release on and what it was regarding. Simply ask if they received the release and if they would like further information or high resolution images.
• Be ready to respond to their requests
  You should be ready to supply the journalist with relevant images, additional information, event details or the contact details of your spokesperson. You can also line up interviews for the journalist to make it easier for them to cover your story/client.

Now that you have the journalist on the phone, how do you react to their responses? One way to calm your nerves and sound more confident on the phone would be to plan out what you want to get across – your pitch or key points.

However, any phone conversation can be unpredictable especially when dealing with a journalist. The best way to tackle any response from a journalist is to be flexible and prepared for anything. You may need to resend the release or answer detailed questions on the spot. More than likely you will need to leave a voice message, so be prepared for that.

Remember after every follow-up to make a note of the outcome to ensure you remember who you have called and who was interested.

The most important thing to remember when conducting a media follow-up is to remain confident and try to provide the most appropriate and interesting information for the journalist. With a little bit of preparation beforehand, you can then hang up the phone feeling like you’ve achieved your goal and maintained a good relationship with the journalist.

As the Carbon Tax has been passed through the lower house, regional Australians voice their opinions and concerns about what it may bring for the future of their businesses and everyday lives.

The 2011 FatCow.com.au Industry Survey has revealed that 78 percent of regional Australian business and non-business owners do not support the carbon tax, with 65 per cent stating that they do not believe the Carbon Tax will reduce carbon emissions. Considerable doubt seems to exist even amongst the minority group of Carbon Tax supporters (22 percent) of which 46 percent reported uncertainty about whether the Carbon Tax could reduce carbon emissions.

The survey of 1030 rural and regional Australians, conducted by FatCow.com.au, an online business directory servicing the Australian farming, agricultural and horticultural sectors, investigated the trends and issues surrounding rural and regional Australians.

The survey showed that when the attitudes of rural business owners and non business owners were compared, business owners were the most cynical towards the Carbon Tax. Over 80 percent of rural business owners stated that they would not support the Carbon Tax and 87 per cent showed they were concerned about the implications for their business.

Group Sales Manager for FatCow.com.au, Paul Ryan said, “Many regional and rural Australians have placed a negative connotation upon the Carbon Tax, stating that it won’t encourage them to reduce their carbon emissions – yet most are concerned about environmental issues for the future.”

Some comparisons of business and non-business owners included:
· 82 per cent of business owners stated they did not support the Carbon Tax as opposed to 72 percent of non-business owners.
· Almost 70 per cent of business owners do not think the Carbon Tax will reduce carbon emissions as opposed to 58 percent of non-business owners.
· 58 percent of business owners would not switch to alternate energy sources due to the Carbon tax as opposed to the 45 percent of non-business owners.

Regional Australians are also showing some confusion around what effect the tax will have - with many having contradictory thoughts about the use of alternative energy sources.

As a contradiction to these negative Carbon Tax responses, rural business owners are the most willing to reduce pollution and emissions and make an effort to switch to alternative energy sources.

“We can see that most of regional and rural Australians are concerned about climate change and are doing what they can to support environmental sustainability,” Mr Ryan said. “The Carbon Tax is just another way Australians can support the effort to reduce global warming.”

While majority of those surveyed would not use alternative energy sources due to the Carbon Tax, over 92 per cent state they are already making an effort to reduce pollution and carbon emissions.

Rural and regional Australians were surveyed about the effects of major issues on their town including the economy, environmental issues and cost of resources.

-ends-

For further information or interviews please contact:
Lauren Milne
CP Communications
Phone: 02 9922 1063

About FatCow.com.au and the survey
FatCow.com.au is an online business directory servicing the Australian farming, agricultural and horticultural sectors. Owned and operated by Catch, an online division of Reed Business Information Australia, FatCow.com.au provides a comprehensive central online source containing the latest product, company and industry news updates.

The survey of 1030 rural and regional Australians over the age of 18 years was carried out over the months of August, September and beginning of October, covering all states and territories of Australia and representing all demographics.
 www.fatcow.com.au

Journalists work in a fast-pace, high-pressure environment everyday and are only looking for stories which capture their attention right away. They constantly receive media releases, phone calls from PR agents and emails about the latest and greatest product or business. So to make sure you are noticed there are a few things to keep in mind when contacting the media.

Make them want to know more
Whether you are sending them a media release or pitching an article over the phone, make sure to present the most interesting information first. The information may have to be tailored for different types of media, eg: community newspapers are generally only interested on something to do with its immediate area. Most media releases won’t even be read all the way through if the journalist isn’t interested from the beginning.

Personalise your attempt
Whether emailing or calling, do a bit of research first and find out which journalist you may wish to speak to. Simply using someone’s name can get their attention and makes them feel like you have put in a bit of effort and aren’t just calling every media outlet in the country. If sending out a mass email make sure to BCC all email addresses so journalists don’t know you are sending it to every media outlet in the country, they will be less inclined to use information they know everyone else has.

Pick your time wisely
A bit of research and common sense can tell you when a media outlets deadline is. Daily papers will obviously have a deadline each day so getting your information to a journalist earlier in the day may be an advantage for you as you’ll be contacting them when the stress is a bit less. Monthly publications such as some magazines have long lead times and can be looking for articles months in advance, there is no point contacting a magazine at the end of the month trying to get into the next month’s issue.

Don’t be afraid of journalists
They are people too. They have good days and bad days and there are ones who will be nicer than others. But don’t be intimidated by them if they are less than sugar and spice, they will respect you more for not sounding nervous. If you contact them at a bad time apologise once and move on, apologising more than that can become annoying. If you have all your information at hand, know what you are talking about and are polite at all times you should be received well.