You’ve got a headline-worthy story supported with a press release, visuals and a curated media list with the right contacts. It’s time to hit send on your perfect PR email, right?
Not so fast. Between spam filters, overstuffed inboxes, and email whitelists, even the most newsworthy message can get overlooked — or worse, blocked! How can you make sure your email not only hits inboxes, but makes an impact?
Here a few vital dos and don’ts for ensuring your next PR email achieves results:
Avoid an “Attachment Ambush”
- DON’T Include attachments! Emails with attached documents are more likely to get flagged and blocked by spam filters. Plus, reporters are often on-the-go and may not have the bandwidth (both literal and emotional) to download and open documents.
- DO include your press release in the body of your email or use Google Drive, Dropbox or another file sharing service to link to your release and any multimedia elements provided. (Be sure to check sharing permissions with any links you share!) This also allows the recipient to more easily search for keywords in their email to revisit your message later.
TIP: If you’re including tracked links (such as those from Bit.ly) in emails to reporters, ensure you’re using a reputable service and understand how the technology works — redirects and tracking parameters can be flagged as spyware.
Eliminate the Guesswork
- DON’T forget to provide photo captions and/or the names of all people included in any photos or videos you provide. Many publications require some kind of identification of people in photos before they can publish them.
- DO rename files so they are easy to organize and understand. For example, include the name of your organization and the event name or some information about the news you are sharing. If it is a product photo, include the name of the product for easy finding on the reporter’s end.
Focus on Form and Function
- DON’T just copy and paste content into an email without making sure the formatting is clean and easy to read.
- DO make sure bullet points are uniform, hyperlinks are working properly and no comments or editing notations from a Word document have been carried over.
TIP: If you’re encountering issues when copy and pasting, utilize the “Clear Formatting” feature on Word or a free online tool like StripHTML to clean up your text first.
It’s important to remember that the perfect PR email isn’t just about what you say — it’s about how you deliver it. A clear, thoughtful, media-friendly email saves time, builds trust and drives results. Take the extra minute to review before hitting send. Your media friends will thank you!
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