You know that getting publicity is vital to the health of your business. You probably also know that Email is the way most publicity seekers get in touch with reporters to score that precious coverage. Here's what you don't know: The vast majority of e-mails sent to journalists never get read.
Bottom line: if your Emails don't get read, you have no shot at getting the publicity you so desperately need.
Here's how to beat the odds:
Avoiding the Spam Trap
To a spam filter, your humble Email pitch may appear to contain
an array of trigger words and suspicious phrases. A server that
relayed your message may be on a blacklist - a "do not open"
list of known spammers. Or perhaps the filter's having a tough
day and has decided to start blocking things arbitrarily. You
can't prevent every instance of spam blocking, but you can take
some steps to help lessen the chances of your Email ending up in
a black hole.
The most important step is learning how spam filters think and creating Emails that avoid the usual pitfalls. Fortunately, you'll find that -- once you can do this -- many spam triggers are easily avoided.
Rather than taking up space here with all the how-to's, allow me to simply direct you to a terrific site on the subject.
Getting Your E-Mail Opened & Read
After beating the spam filter, next up is getting your Email
opened and read. The key: the subject line.
No matter how on- the-money your pitch, a subpar subject line will kill any chance of getting the reporter's attention. You've got one shot at getting your Email opened, make the most of it with a killer subject line.
Here's how to do it:
1) Place the word "News" or "Press Info" or "Story Idea" at the beginning of your e-mail subject line, in brackets e.g.:
[Story Idea]:
2) Try to incorporate the reporter's first name also at the beginning of the subject line.
3) If you know the name of the reporter's column, for instance "Cooking with Linda", also try to incorporate that. One more thing -- if the reporter doesn't write a regular column, try to at least include their beat (e.g. Joe, re: your future pieces on the wi-fi industry).
With these three tips in mind, a successful Email subject line might read:
[Story Idea]: Linda, Here's a Tip for Your "Cooking with Linda" Column
That's a heading that will stand head and shoulders above the rest.