Briana December 6, 2011 | 09:35:16
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Tuesday Tips: Make The Most Of PR Mailers

December is here, and tis the season of giving! But in PR, we like to “gift” media all year-long. Not your typical gift, but what we call “creative deliveries.” In short, your clients’ offerings artfully packaged to get maximum media attention. Yes, a pitch letter and a phone call will often be enough, but why not try to stand out in the plethora of packages and myriad missives receive everyday by getting as creative and thoughtful as you can.

Here are my tips for packaging mailers for media:

“Hook” us up! In PR, we are always looking timely and newsworthy events to use as an angle in our pitching. A seasonal hook goes a long way, or if the reporter has recently covered the topic (and gasp, your client was left out), send the package as a friendly reminder to keep in mind next time they write about it.

“Cleverage.” “Cleveraging” is the art of taking your client’s less than thrilling product or service and through some creative topspin, presenting a fabulous package to the press!  We can’t all represent luscious desserts and the latest must-have tech toys, but we can tap our inspirational reserves and come up with something that both represents the best of our clients and gives our press contacts something to work with! For example, we’ve packaged pretty flower seeds for a recycling company with a spring cleaning hook and gave contacts “everything but the mattress” for a sleep story. Be memorable.

Make a list…and check it twice! If you are going through the effort (and expense!) of sending out a delivery, make sure you are sending it to the editor/reporter/writer who is most likely to cover your client. While we hope it will make its way to the right recipient, you only have one opportunity, so do your homework first.

Conversation = Conversion. The items were packaged and delivered. Now what? Follow up and convert that delivery into a story for your client.

Any creative media mailer success stories out there? Please share!

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