If a marketing manager buys a media list is that enough to reach the right bloggers and journalists? Some marketing managers may ask: "Why do I need a PR agency when my team and I can write a perfectly good press release, article, blog post or more?"
Well, let me tell you about a company that came to us after writing their own material and sending it out via a newswire. They didn't get the promised results, so they decided to buy a media list. They also didn't get the results they expected.
The list was given to us to provide feedback, and this is what we found:
1. Many of the media, over a third were totally irrelevant to the client
2. Some of the journalists specialised, so only write reviews or news and the material the company sent would have been irrelevant
3. Some journalists had moved on
4. A few publications had closed!
This media list covered technology, but as we all know, not all technology is equal. A datacentre technology company, for example, may be looking at targeting networking or datacentre press or vertical sector contacts. The IT security contacts on a technology media list probably would have been annoyed to get an approach from this company.
So that's where PR agencies come in. PR agencies work with media and bloggers every day and get to know them, their likes and dislikes and what approach they prefer.
For marketing managers who do decide to buy media lists, useful tips are:
1. Be brutal and remove irrelevant contacts - don't send them material on the off chance they may change their beat
2. Qualify every contact - establish why would they be interested in your company
3. Tier your media list - some criteria include relevance to your industry, readership, quality of content
4. Keep your list updated - add new contacts as you find them.
