Question: How did we ever live without e-mail?
Better Question: How can we live more successfully with e-mail?
Anyone can use e-mail as part of their daily PR activities, but there is a big difference between doing something and doing something correctly. To help improve the PR
functions (and perhaps to spare our friends in the media from drowning in digital missives), here are five quick tips to absorb when it comes to spreading the word across the e-
mail universe.
1. Keep your lists updated. The idea for sending an e-mail is that it will be received and read. This can be difficult if you are working from an out-of-date mailing
list. Turnover in the media is fairly high, so it makes sense to frequently update a mailing list. Plus, with the plethora of new online media outlets, keep an eye out for new
e-mail contacts - you don't want to miss anyone.
2. Have a reason to communicate by e-mail. Everyone can send e-mail, and that's the problem: Everyone is doing it. Journalists are routinely bombarded with e-mails
and, not surprisingly, it is easy to get lost in the digital shuffle. If there is a truly important inquiry to be made, such as an exclusive interview opportunity or input for a
major story that is being planned, work the phones first. Yes, call with the pitch and then e-mail the information. This way, the e-mail will be expected (if the pitch is
welcomed) and it will not be just another blip in the queue. But if it is not needed, then you are not wasting the journalists' time. And that segues to the next point:
3. Yes, they got the e-mail. If you are going to follow-up on whether your correspondence was received, time and phrase the inquiry properly. Calling up a day or two
later and asking "Hey, did you get the e-mail I sent you?" is rarely (if ever) appreciated. But giving the contact person a week's breathing space and calling to ask "I wanted to
see if you needed additional information or if the material I sent was enough" is easier on the nerves.
4. Personalize your e-mails appropriately. When communicating by e-mail, don't go the route of generic salutations. If you are communicating with someone for the first
time, address them as "Mr. X" or "Ms. X" - you don't know the person you are contacting, so don't be too collegial. Once you know the contact better, then it is appropriate to go
by first names. And unless you are writing to a nameless hermaphrodite, never use "Dear Sir or Madam" - if you are contacting someone with a seemingly unisex name, do a bit of
detective work to determine if that person is a Mr. or Ms. And this also applies to the e-mail subject line, too. Using a subject line such as "For Mr. X, as requested" will get
catch the eye (provided that the Spam filter doesn't catch it first). Which, in turn, takes us to:
5. Don't overload the e-mail. If you are familiar with the expression "too much of a good thing," remember it when sending e-mails. Attachments, embedded photos, an
excess of active links and even certain words can easily result in having the e-mail redirected to the Spam filter. Send attachments only when requested and list active links
sparingly. As for embedded photographs, don't use them - keep the high-res photos available for download via your online newsroom.
But how do you create an online newsroom? Well, that's another column...