Summary: BLC Principal John Landsberg writes a monthly column for Kansas City Small Business Monthly on a variety of media and marketing issues.
PERSONALIZE OR DIE!! By John Landsberg, September 2007 Clutter. It’s everywhere today. And I don’t mean just in my office. I’m really talking about the media clutter that bombards each of us every day of our lives. It has been said that we receive an average of 3,000 messages every day. That sounds like a lot. But, think about it. You are sitting at your computer and pop-ups and banner ads greet you with nearly ever click. You may think you ignore them all, but you don’t. You are sending an email and listening to the radio and/or TV station simultaneously as ads blare for some guy selling cars or a talk show host waxes philosophically about the greatest windows ever made. You try to skip past TV commercials, but then see products plugged throughout your favorite shows. You glance at some direct mail pieces while you wait for your computer message to be sent. You pick up a pen with the name of a business on it. Your coffee cup has the name of a coffee shop on it. You glance at your desk calendar and it features the name of your insurance agent. You jump in your car, turn on the radio and listen to mortgage ads, back out of your driveway and see the for sale signs in your area. You drive by a number of businesses with their names jumping out at you, get on the freeway and get bombarded with billboards, truck signage, bumper stickers, blah, blah, blah. On second thought, maybe 3,000 messages a day might be on the low side. In reality, we are all bombarded on a 24/7 basis with messages. And each one is desperately fighting for our attention. That’s particularly true with folks in the news media. A news editor told me that he receives at least 300 news releases daily. He can only use a handful of them and the rest are either deleted or filed for possible future use. It is not easy breaking through all the clutter he sees on a daily basis. Watch a 30-minute local TV newscast. Today about 15-17 minutes is actual news (okay, let’s not debate what is real “news” today). Take out the weather and sports and the news hole is miniscule. But a news article or a TV news story is far more valuable than any advertisement you could buy. News is credible to viewers/readers. That’s why it is so difficult to get. How do you get your story to the media? A “sprayed” message to all media folks won’t cut it in today’s environment. Your guiding motto should be “Personalize or die.” You have to direct your message to the right person, at the right time and realize that he/she is able to spend about as much time looking at your message as you do a pop-up banner. Your window of opportunity is very limited. If you know the editor/reporter you are sending your message to move to the head of the line. That’s where good PR practitioners have an edge over folks not in the field. A PR pro not only knows what is a newsworthy message, but also where to direct the message, the reporter’s background, previous stories, family, faith, etc. Send an email with a subject line of about six words, in an active voice and lively, but not cute (media folks hate “cute”). Your message should be bulleted with key points why the media person should be interested in your message. Make sure all your contact information is readily available. Breaking through the clutter is not easy and not always successful. But if you can get your message out to key media folks the dividends can be great for your business. John Landsberg operates Bottom Line Communications, a Leawood-based marketing communications firm (www.bottomlinecom.com). He also is an adjunct professor of marketing, consumer behavior and public relations at Baker University. You can reach him at jlandsberg@bottomlinecom.com or (913) 338-5760.
