Why PR Firms and “Viral Marketing” Don’t Mix
I’m not saying always. There are some good, even great PR people out there, who understand marketing and act responsibly. (For example, Susan Getgood.)
Unfortunately, thanks (no thanks) to technology these days, the pros are vastly outnumbered by goofballs and sleazebags, who can bombard us with the push of a button. And, the balls and bags all seem to think we bloggers are anxiously awaiting email from them. Even here in the Z-list blog backwaters, I typically get emails pitching something several times a week, which usually start by telling me how brilliant, funny, and/or amazing I am. Nice ego stroke effort there, but it’d have a lot more meaning if the emailers showed they’d actually read my blog. Plus, I’m an Aries only child - self-esteem ain’t a problem.
Maureen Rogers of Opinionated Marketers gives a great clueless emailer point-by-point example, in Viral Marketing From La-La Land. Maybe the PR goofball is aiming for clickthroughs only (as Maureen surmises) since the actual email isn’t relevant to Maureen and the links re a “Strike Survival Guide” (a semi-catchy title) don’t match the title claims. And, “J” (the emailer) doesn’t have a web site. (Right, and she’s telling her client she’s an expert in emarketing.)
So, if you’ve been pitched by a PR firm on a “Viral Marketing” campaign, ask:
1. Do the people you’re going to contact have an interest in me and my product?
2. Do you have permission to send them emails? If not, how are you going to approach them?
3. Show me examples of other campaigns that have worked. Why have those worked?
4. (Duh) Do you have a web site? (You’d be surprised how many “marketing experts” either don’t have sites or the sites are bad and broken.)
5. How are you going to measure results? (Clicks don’t mean business.)
And - ask yourself:
1. Does this make sense for my company and my culture? Will it seem phony and artificial? (Example: A bank - outta the blue - sending out emails calling people by their first names and saying things like, “We gotta tell ya, recession is a beetch!” Okay, this may never have happened, but I’d be willing to bet that somewhere somebody pitched something like it to a bank.)
2. How does this fit with my other marketing programs? Could I better spend the dollars the PR firm wants on customer service or employee benefits?
It’s really, really hard to artificially induce spread of “viral” marketing messages. As with real viruses, they can’t be controlled in the real world and can turn into disasters. (Bloggers writing about your cluless PR person, for example.)
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Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, PR firms, public relations, viral marketing
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July 14th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
While I wouldn’t make the statement that PR firms and viral marketing don’t mix, I would definitely point out that an e-mail campaign is but a portion of viral marketing. Most importantly though, it is important for business owners and management to understand the concept of utilizing an Integrated Marketing Plan rather than this type of advertising here or there just because someone made it sound “good”, or “it’s a great deal”, etc, etc . . . blah, blah, blah.
Having at minimum an annual Integrated Marketing Plan that 1)fits the business’ advertising budget, 2) fits the business’ (or product(s)’ image and 3) reaches the business’ target audience are where the focus should be when owners and managers are considering a new marketing campaign. And with a full plan, management and staff can execute the advertising tasks according to the implementation schedule included in the plan. Or, they can outsource Marketing Management so they can focus on running the business and making those sales.
Just my two cents though. Thanks for the read. I appreciate the questions you posed for business owners to ask regarding e-mail/viral marketing campaigning. Hopefully, your piece will reach a lot of small and mid-size companies.
Take care,
Lisa Cutter, Director
Vertical Insight
www.verticalinsight.net
July 14th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Thanks, Lisa.
And, I’d like to clarify that advertising is NOT the be-all, end-all “marketing” - it’s one element of an integrated plan. Further, I caution any start-up or small biz to think very carefully before spending on any kind of advertising. It gets very expensive very fast and many people ignore it, no matter how great the ad may be.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Thanks for the kind words Mary.
The key of course is to think like the customer. Customers don’t buy products, they buy the *result* of the product — whatever it lets them do, how it makes them feel, etc. Pitches based on products and their features are bound to fall flat.
But try telling that to a product manager
The more germane questions: Is the pitch relevant? Is there enough value? Would *I* want to get this pitch in my email box?
If more PR and marketing people asked themselves those questions, we’d have fewer bad pitches.
Although then my blog wouldn’t be nearly as funny
July 16th, 2008 at 9:29 am
I have to say I completely disagree with you, Mary. PR and marketing (particularly) viral marketing do mix and, in fact, they feed each other. What is viral marketing besides consumers, bloggers, and media reporting on a campaign?
I blogged about this subject here: http://www.speakmediablog.com/2008/04/line-between-pr-marketing-is-merely.html
And, I also wrote an op-ed in PRWeek on the subject. Take a look.
But, in the meantime, a great example of the two mixing is Stride Gum’s sponsorship of Matt Harding’s viral video. Stride took a hands-off approach to the sponsorship (only 1 logo at the end) because they knew PR and marketing mix. They knew media would report on the viral video campaign and in turn, report on their involvement.
Viral Marketing feeds PR, which feeds viral marketing. The two not only do mix, but they must mix for it to work.
Jennifer A. Jones
www.speakmediablog.com
July 16th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Jennifer,
If you read my post I do qualify it with “not always” It’s the PR flacks, not the pros, who have no business trying to do “viral marketing” - as shown in Maureen’s post and many that Susan writes (and she’s a PR maven.)
The mix can and should work - but it’s not easy and it’s not as simple as flooding people’s mail boxes (or blog comment sections) with things that are poorly designed and written and in which they have little or no interest.
P.S. PR is part of the marketing mix - not a separate thing. It needs to be integrated along with other elements if a marketing plan is to work.