“Hi this is Janey from AcmePR. I was just wondering if you received the press release on our new product.”
This type of phone call is the bane of every journalist, editor, reporter and producer working in the media.
“I really hate the follow up call,” said a leading Australian magazine editor.
“Ninety-nine times out of one hundred it is from a poor PR lackey that has been told to ring you and ask you this banal question and whether you are going to do a story on it.”
The follow up call that has no value, does nothing except interrupt someone and ask him or her if they have received something they are likely to have received.
Not all media releases go out to the media never to be heard of again. They can be a valid source of news ideas. “If I see something in a media release that I think has value, then I will ring,” said one Fairfax reporter. “In fact, I have rung several people today on the back of media releases.” [Read more…] about The Dreaded Follow Up Call