Ten stupid mistakes to avoid in PR

There is so much for a PRO to do these days that it is impossible to get everything right, every time. However, there are some howlers that are easy to make, but simple to avoid if you watch out for them. Below we list ten common mistakes.

1. Sending out wrong information. No matter how urgent the deadline is, it is better to pause and double check names, facts and dates, before sending out an email you have to retract half an hour later.

Cath Shuttlewood, former divisional director at agency Grayling in London and director of SYI consulting, lists five more PRO actions that can give the industry a bad name:

2. Failing to research the media before pitching to them. It boils down to common courtesy and respect to know the media before you blindly go in with a pitch that is wrong.

3. Not being on top of the news agenda. If you don’t check the news issues surrounding your story before you pick up the phone and start to pitch, you could be pitching a story that is irrelevant.

4. Thinking a press release is ALWAYS the answer. It’s not! Clients will often say they need/want a press release – one of the biggest mistakes a PRO can make is to automatically say yes to such a request.

5. Failing to meet deadlines. You’ve pitched a story, the journalist is interested but wants more information. Don’t lose that opportunity by failing to respond with the necessary extra info – if you’re not going to be able to make a deadline, it’s better to be honest about it than to string a busy journalist along.

6. Assuming your story is the MOST important story a journalist will hear today. Yes, on occasion you will genuinely have a fabulous story that is uber-time sensitive and which you can almost guarantee journalists will be falling over themselves to get hold of. But be honest with yourself, if a story doesn’t convert to coverage on the day that you and the client have deemed to be the launch day, is it the end of the world?

Sharmee Mavadia, PR Manager at GS1 UK, agrees that it is vital to research a publication before pitching, adding that it is a big mistake for PROs to pitch without reading the publication or without finding out what the reporter is interested in. Mavadia adds, “unfortunately, not having enough time to do this doesn’t quite cut it! PR is all about media relations, so read, read, read.” Mavadia suggests three other avoidable mistakes:

7. Sending unsolicited email attachments. There is enough junk in inboxes without this.

8. Forgetting to follow up. There is so much emphasis on not calling after a press release, but you should still contact those who want to know more or want a briefing .

9. Sending out a mass mailer and forgetting to CC – we’ve all done this at some point in our PR career. The easiest solution is to mail merge.

Last, but not least, please watch out for number ten!

10. Pressing “reply to all”. Freelance communications consultant Sam Howard illustrates why: “If you can tell me how to make sure I never cc the client by mistake that would be very, very useful. A colleague of mine many years ago meant to forward a particularly unreasonable email from the client to his team with the witty covering one liner ‘clueless bastard’. Except he hit reply instead of forward … he was fired. There for the grace of God go I, is all I can say.”

Next week we provide a simple checklist to help prevent you making avoidable blunders in you PR job.