Ask a media relations pro to summarize a lifetime of pitching tips into a few well-chosen words and she might say, “Know the publication and reporter you’re pitching to and tailor your approach accordingly.”
Based on an unscientific survey (also known as the hundreds of pitches PR News editors receive), most pitchers are ignoring such advice.
A new survey of 585 marketers in 19 industries across 181 countries sheds light on why this might be so.
In short, media relations pros lack the technical skills to tailor emails in a time-efficient way [see charts below].
Additionally experience with automated marketing is lacking, the survey says.
One Size Fits All: Not
From there you can surmise pitches to media and messages to customers, respectively, lack tailoring or personalization, a major issue when seeking media coverage from journalists and attempting to curate personalized experiences for consumers ( PRN, May 8).
In a finding that will result in countless journalists and consumers muttering, “I told you so” under their breath, more than half (53%) of marketers told the survey they send the same email to all recipients.
Again it could be a skills issue with email marketing and marketing automation. Just 14% of marketers, the survey reports, go beyond basic segmentation and use automation to personalize their messages.
Most marketers lack the confidence and experience with automation and email they need to sell more effectively. For example, 28% of marketers rate their skills with automated email as intermediate, while nearly one-third (29%) rate their skillset as basic. The issue here, of course, is email arguably is the dominant medium used to pitch reporters.
Marketing Automation a Mystery
Just 8% of marketers rate the effectiveness of their marketing automation efforts as high (use all features and optimize for best results). Almost 20% of marketers surveyed say their skills with automated marketing are nonexistent and consequently they’re using no automation.
Certainly automated email lists save time when PR pros pitch media and automated marketing tactics can help marketers seek customers, yet time saved may be only half the battle. Countless surveys show when it comes to pitching media and sending the correct message to customers, tailoring is critical. Obtaining tech skills to facilitate shaped pitches and customer messages likely will prove beneficial.
