Blogger Outreach: Katherine Hannaford

Posted by on August 30, 2010 · 4 Comments 

Not all bloggers hate PRs, right?

Katherine Hannaford is the UK Contributing Editor of Gizmodo. Having cut her teeth as Editor of Tech Digest she then went on to work as News Editor at T3.com before landing a job with one of the world’s leading technology sites. Consequently Kat has experienced many a Tech PR’s first fumblings in outreach – is she a blogger? journalist? professional writer?

Over the years Kat and I have debated and taken different sides over PR/Blogger frictions. She’s recently emerged though as a vocal supporter that the Twitter name-and-shame culture is tired & unbalanced.

Katherine Hannaford

1. Do PRs contact you regarding your site?

Yes, either by email, phone, or snail-mail.

2.       Should they?

I’d rather receive all press releases, however irrelevant they may be, rather than receive less and run the risk of missing out on a story. It takes a millisecond to delete a release, but admittedly I do get frustrated with some agencies who just spam me several times a week with clients’ releases that we’d never even dream of writing up. I do wish they’d bother checking our site for the type of content we cover.

3.       How do you prefer to be contacted?

Email is preferred, and I absolutely cannot stand being contacted on my mobile, which is happening more and more often.

It’s fine if it’s an agency I deal with regularly, or even if there’s some urgency behind the call. What I cannot abide is unsolicited cold-calling to check whether they can send me a release–or worse, cold-calling to check I actually received their release. If the story was of interest, I would’ve written it up by now. However, I do appreciate the demands some clients place on their agencies.

4.       What’s the worst “outreach” you’ve ever received?

A few situations spring to mind, and funnily enough they’re mostly at the hand of so-called “social media experts” or “digital PRs,” hired to do blogger outreach. Bloggers may moan all they want about traditional PRs, but most of the unsavoury dealings I’ve had have come from people who should know better–social agencies.

From not checking whether I’ve already been contacted/invited to an event by the company’s other agency, to being completely patronising and treating me like it’s a major honour to be invited to a press event, usually I steer clear of social media outreach agents.

5.       3 things you HATE about being contacted by PRs

  • I find it frustrating that often, they can’t take no for an answer. Either I’m not interested in a story, or not interested in reviewing a product, and no matter how hard I try to explain that they shouldn’t bother sending me a product to review, they inevitably do. I get a surprising amount of unsolicited review samples turning up at my door – never mind that I barely do reviews, and that our site only reviews the odd mobile phone! – but to then get chased day after day for coverage…well, it’s enough to drive me ’round the bend
  • It makes the mind boggle that PRs quite often don’t check whether we’ve already covered a story. Fair enough, I know that the site has a high output of content, but it doesn’t take long to Google whether we’ve written something up. Phoning or emailing to ask whether I’d be interested in writing a story based on their release (which in itself is irritating), when we’ve already done so, just smacks of unprofessionalism.
  • This is minor, but seems to happen with alarming regularity. A press release will be sent out minus some crucial information (such as hi-res images, or a link to find said images), and when I’ve shot off an email to them asking for further help, I receive an out-of-office reply. Judging by the number of tweets I’ve seen from other journalists, this happens quite often

6.       3 bits of advice if a PR is going to contact a blogger generally

  • It’s common sense and really shouldn’t be said, but do your research
  • Find out whether we’ve written up similar products/news before (even from that client), and whether we’ve already written that particular story up before
  • Actually proof-read your email before sending. The number of times people have got my extremely short first-name incorrect…

7.       Complete this sentence: PR/Blogger relations could be improved by…

Greater understanding and empathy from each side. Bloggers (and journalists) should be aware that PRs are quite often under massive deadlines forced upon them by clients who sometimes ask for unachievable returns. A little bit of courtesy and politeness wouldn’t go astray either–neither would taking the time to explain to the PR why that story/product is unsuitable for the site. It will only help both sides.

8.       Anything else you’re dying to get off your chest about PR? Good or Bad [We like good things too!]

The trendiness of slagging off bad PR practice on Twitter is tiresome, and even though I’ve occasionally partaken in it, it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. PRs barely ever react with the same public outing of journalists/bloggers, so why do they think it’s acceptable to name and shame? I’m not innocent by any means, but when simple errors such as forgetting to BCC media contacts occurs, it really isn’t necessary to take to Twitter with a pitchfork. Just be thankful you were included on that mailing list in the first place.

Crib notes:

  • PRs need to get a handle on individuals writers – do they take press releases? prefer email? need access to events? Get it right and maybe you’ll get the coverage. Also, get it right the first time, don’t keep approaching over and over again via different mediums
  • Before pitching, check if a site has already covered your client or client’s news – it’s a no brainer
  • Not all online writers publicly “out” bad PR practice, but do yourself a favour and double or triple check you’re getting it right to avoid leaving a bad impression at a personal level

Can’t get enough? Read the full set of Blogger Outreach interviews.

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About Darika

  • Anonymous

    Great post D.

  • http://www.domesticsluttery.com Siany

    The thing about PRs trying to convince you about a pitch is bang on. You spend all day working on your website. You know what your readers want and what they’ll respond to. Being told otherwise, by someone who doesn’t is annoying. And I’ve always found that if you need to shoehorn something, it’s because it doesn’t work.

  • http://prbreakfastclub.com/ Keith Trivitt

    Thank you so much for this wonderful and very thoughtful post. As a PR professional myself, I always enjoy reading what the other side (reporters/bloggers) has to say about our profession and about how we engage in terms of media and blogger relations. While PR pros certainly don’t always get it right, I greatly appreciate you pointing out that it’s high time the constant finger pointing from reporters and bloggers on Twitter about what are usually innocent mistakes from PRs. And you’re right: For the most part, we (PRs) would NEVER take to Twitter to point out times when, say, a reporter forgot to call a client for a scheduled interview, or completely botched a clear point we discussed with the reporter/blogger over phone or e-mail.

    We’re all human and we all make mistakes at times. But that doesn’t necessarily mean those mistakes should be raked across the coals and then taken on in a mob scene by others via Twitter and Facebook.

    Thank you again for this excellent post and some great insight for PR pros like myself.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Keith, all the credit goes to Kat though. It’s sad we’re so surprised to see someone from editorial go out to bat for PR. (Although all my interviewees are incredibly helpful, receptive, and fair to PR)