Relationship Building, Brands & Emails: What We Found Interesting This Week!

People often ask… how do you create a relationship with someone in the media or how do you send an effective cold email? We answer those questions in our favourite communications and PR stories of the week. Plus, Telus’ new campaign wants you to ditch your tech devices! You can read all about them here.

Relationship Building:

Having connections in the media can help you get a story out to a wide range of audiences, as well as help your brand gain exposure. Glenn Gillen (senior account manager at S&A Cherokee) shares some of his thoughts on what works when developing contacts in the news/media industry.

• Be respectful – make sure you are kind when dealing with them.
• Be responsive – be reachable at all times and know their deadlines.
• Be reliable – do what you say or apologize when you cannot do something; important to stay consistent.
• Be realistic – not every phone call or interaction will lead to a story.
• Be a resource – become someone they can count on for reliable information.

“5 Tips for Building Relationships with the Media” (PR News)

Brands:

Telus has launched a new campaign this winter that encourages consumers to turn off their devices, which includes their Telus phones, so they can spend more time with family this holiday season. Telus knows that they are a telecommunications company, but fundamentally believe people should put away any form of technology and enjoy some time with their families and friends or play with their children. For those who haven’t heard or seen the campaign yet, it revolves around a 30-second TV and digital video spot.

You can view the commercial in the article link provided below.

“Telus Campaign Tells Families to Unplug For the Holidays” (Marketing Magazine)

Emails:

Cold emails can be very successful in building business opportunities, but only if it’s done the right way. Below are some tips and tricks that Kevin Gould, founder and CEO of Kombo Ventures, has found works well for making cold emails effective.

1. Only bring people good stuff – bring forth something interesting.

2. Get to the point quickly – grab their attention within the first sentence or two.

3. Keep it informal – kind opening, such as “Hi Sam” or “Hello Sam.”

4. Be confident – bring them something worthwhile and show you deserve to be working with them.

5. Make it personal – always add the person’s name; don’t make it generic with “Hi Sir” or “To whom it may concern.”

6. Know who you are emailing – go over email to make sure you are sending it to the right person.

7. Follow-up – almost 75% of people don’t respond or didn’t have a chance to write back. Follow-up a few times before giving up.

*Note that due to the anti-spam law in Canada its best to call first and get their permission to send over an email.

“7 tricks to write an effective cold email” (PR Daily)

Thought of the week:

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” -Vincent van Gogh