You Got Mail! Is Direct Mail Good or Bad?
Direct mail has many uses other than to sell goods and services. Letters and accompanying material to large groups of people is also know as Direct Mail. The downside of that is that many consumers and the media refer to it as “junk mail”. Direct mail gives the opportunity to have complete control over the wording , format, and the timing of the message. Direct mail is used to reach a key public. As stated in Dennis L. Wilcox’s Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques, direct mail can be used to inform individuals about forthcoming events, product recall, an apology, and even an acquisition. There are three advantages according to Wilcox, of direct mail: 1.) targeting your communication to specific individuals, 2.) personalization and 3.) cost-effectiveness. To aid with targeting your communication to specific individuals, you can create a mailing list to better direct that communication. This will keep out unwanted participants. Direct mail is highly personalized, it comes in an addressed envelope to the recipient and consists of a greeting at the beginning of the letter. Direct mail is also very inexpensive compared to other media ads. An obvious disadvantage of direct mail is that it is considered to be junk mail by many people. Many people see these letters and automatically throw them in the garbage, sadly I am one of those many who do that from time to time. Also, even if read only but a few people actually respond to the direct mail so it’s not a great success for certain businesses. There is also the information overload factor that seems to bog recipients down. We receive multiple papers through the mail and the letters can be lost in the midst of it all. A key factor that PR professionals must keep in mind is how they write the letters and who they desire to send them to. The interest of the desired recipient should be held in high regard, so it’s important to present the mail in such a way that it can not be ignored.
A traditional communication tool that was used by PR practitioners was the Internet. The Internet now, is characterized by its widespread broadband, cheap/free easy to use online publishing, new distribution channels, mobile devices, and new advertising paradigms. The Internet was created in the 1960′s as a helpful tool for academic research according to Dennis L. Wilcox, author of Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques (6th ed.). The Internet as whole is great to use because the speedy update process, in-depth searches, and the ability for users to interact with one another. For PR professionals, the Internet is a distribution system in cyberspace (Wilcox,2009). As years have past the Internet has become more advanced which bring us to more modern communication tools within it. The rise of social media has created a major impact on the world today. Social media allows for the expression of opinions and experiences to the rest of the world. There are multiple aspects of social media such as blogs, social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, and the ever so popular YouTube. With social media there is no set organization, there is a free flow of ideas. Social media is very insightful and fun for those who use it. Public Relations practitioners have started to use these social media tools because it is a quick and easy way to reach there audiences. Today, you will notice that almost every organization or business has a Facebook and/or Twitter page. Overall, Public Relations still uses its traditional communication tools, but there is a constant rise in the usage of modern communication tools as technology advances.
Media Relations: PR Practitioners vs. Journalists
Throughout the years PR Practitioners and Journalists have slowly went their separate ways. Both areas consist of sore spots that they have against each other. In the eyes of a Journalist, in PR there is excessive hype, not doing enough of the necessary homework, and making a nuisance of themselves. In the eyes of a PR practitioner, in Journalism there is too much name calling, sloppy/biased reporting, and tabloid sensationalism. Both feel that the other is not doing the public total justice in disseminating the proper information. I see PR and Journalism kind of like an older couple that has divorced, they may not be together but they still care about each other and from time to time will help each other out. Whether both sides like or not, they depend majorly on each other. Journalism is helpful to PR because of the essence of investigatory skill they have, and their capability to send messages to multiple audiences. Public Relations is helpful to Journalism because most of the information that appears in mass media comes from PR sources, which provide many news releases and features. Many journalists don’t trust pr practitioners but often admit that they need them any way to accomplish certain goals in reporting. In Dennis L. Wilcox’s book ” Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques” (6th edition) , he gave a very helpful checklist for media relations. Some helpful tips were to know your media, limit your mailings, avoid gimmicks, be truthful, and answer your phone. These are just a few of the long checklist that could aid in creating effective media relations. While there still may be disagreements here and there between the two professions, Journalism and PR do work together to inform and motivate its audience.
We NEED Media! Why is Media Important to PR Professionals?
In PR, Public Relations Professionals are seen as the liaisons between their client and the public. To represent your client it is very necessary to use multiple modes of dispersing information. The media is the tool that makes this a success and/or possibly a failure (bad publicity). PR professionals reach out to the media so that in some form, the public can be informed. The media is a great tool that can be used to connect with your target audience. PR professionals use different types of media to spread the word for example: TV, newspaper, magazine, and the ever so popular social media sites. The key thing is to NOT create bad publicity through the media. Once your information is sent through to the different media channels, EVERYONE knows about it. I’ve recently searched for some helpful tips when dealing with the media and I came across an article by Kyle Potvin entitled “Successful Media Relations: Ten Things You Should Know”. The list of tips goes as follows in order to have successful media relations you should: 1. Have a good story 2. Know your audience 3. It’s all about relationships 4. Create the unexpected 5. Pitching is fun 6. Be creative 7. Good writing counts 8. Have a strategy 9. Clients love hits 10. If you get results, you’ll go far. I personally agree with Potvin in the idea that PR Professionals do think of these things when they are contacting the media for support. If it weren’t for the media it would be very complicated to reach audiences that aren’t local to your location, you are tied down to a minimal amount of viewers. In Public Relations, the media is another tool in the tool kit for “representation & relationships”.
Citation for Kyle Potvin’s Article:
http://aboutpublicrelations.net/ucpotvina.htm
PR’s Rapid Race to the Top
Public Relations is a growing field. PR has sparked the interests of a multitude of students all over the country. Being the fact that Public Relations has so many areas within itself, no wonder it’s a popular field. Different types of Public Relations are Crisis Management, International, Sports, and Event Management for example. Public Relations is a field for those who really enjoy connecting with the public and who love to find and solve the “issues”. Public Relations creates an opportunity for creativity. Through my almost four years in college I learned that PR is necessary pretty much EVERY WHERE! Small businesses, big businesses, hospitals, celebrities, non-profit organizations, almost everyone needs a PR practitioner of some sort. I believe that students are starting to realize that need and are gravitating over to the “Communications Arena”. You don’t always have to be a doctor to work in a hospital, PR specialists are more than likely needed there at some point. Many aspiring PR Specialists probably enjoy the challenge of gaining and maintaining relationships between the person/organization they are representing and the public. Honestly, the show Sex and the City was the first thing that caught my attention as far as PR. The character Samantha Jones was portrayed as a PR Practitioner, representing the top names in the business. I soon learned that PR was not always the “glitz and glamor”. To say the least I do enjoy the variety of opportunities that public relations offers. Public Relations is racing to the #1 spot because there is a need for a connection between the producer and its potential consumer. Within the next few years I personally believe that public relations alongside the whole communications field will be a thriving job market.
“Communication is Power”
Communication plays a MAJOR role in our daily lives. It would be very hard to function if there wasn’t any proper communication. In order to have better understanding about the world around us and the concepts and ideas of people we need communication. If there was a new discovery or development it would be necessary to spread the word whether it be communicated through press, television, radio, or “word of mouth”. Both verbal and non-verbal communication hold such power within themselves. What not a lot people know is that you can learn as much from the unsaid as you can from the already spoken. Communication is the thread that holds us all together. It is the binding rope that keeps all together and “in the know”. It is important to make your communication effective, we must try to reach beyond our small circle and expand to a larger audience. When using effective communication techniques it is important to understand that not everyone is going to understand certain things the same way as you do so it is important to communicate in terms where everyone would understand. With effective communication you are given the chance to learn from one another and possibly have a new outlook on different situations.Good communication gives a better opportunity to form professional and/ or personal relationships. As stated by Lee Iacocca: “We can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.” This quote explains the importance of communication in the most simplistic way. We may have millions of brilliant ideas but without the communication aspect your ideas may never be implemented. Overall Communication definitely holds great power in our lives.
PR Practitioners and the Media…”Hand in Hand”
PR Practitioners play a tremendous role in connections with the media. A PR Practitioner can be seen as a liaison between the company/organization and its target audience. The public often receives much of its information about organizations, events, and products through the media. Practitioners connect with the media because they’re the ones that are producing the Media Kits which include items such as: Fact Sheets, News features, background information, photos etc. This Media Kit helps whatever company present itself to the public as well as other organizations. The main symbolic connection is that the media is the central source for which the PR Practitioner sends its messages to. Without the media it would be very complicated to disperse important information. Most of the public receives its information via web, television, blog, newspaper, or magazine and these are sources that practitioners can utilize to represent their clients. In a sense both PR Practitioners and the media “use” each other. PR Practitioners use the media to give out information and represent their clients. The media can simply use the practitioners information for airtime or space within a magazine or newspaper. Both work together as a team. The team may be broken up when a certain PR practitioner puts out “bad publicity” and the media airs it. Then the question would be whose fault is for the misinformation? Overall there are strengths and weaknesses in the bond between PR Practitioners and the media.
