Who markets to the marketers?
October 18th, 2007 by Doug
It struck me this week that in my time in PR, I have spent a lot of time pitching marketing publications. In other words, I have been marketing to marketers. I simply love the symmetry of it. It’s really not that unusual, as the first Internet bubble featured a ton of ecommerce, etail, and other Internet marketing sites.
The new dimension added has been the proliferation of marketing blogs. What makes this so different is not that it is a new medium, but because many of us are actually participating in it. As a result, if we have a marketing story to pitch, many of our “media targets” are people we consider friends.
I suppose that could make some people feel uncomfortable; ask a friend to write about a client? But in reality, it underscores the value of, and need for, relationships with all media you pitch. You don’t have to be best buddies, but some sort of relationship builds trust, and creates receptivity to pitches.
A small point, but one that I have thought about this week. Media relations is not transactional, it is part of a relationship stream.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 10:28 pm and is filed under Blogging, Marketing, Media Relations, PR. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
October 19th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Very insightful. As a strategist in a direct marketing firm, I found myself doing somewhat the same thing. Now that I’m freelancing, I’ve found I’ve had an easier time building a network of great references and professionals to share my thoughts with (case in point) than I have getting actual clients.
I’m still pretty new out here on my own though.
The part I find tricky is in building my “marketing blogosphere” when given the choice between paying the bills and blogging.
October 22nd, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Admittedly, I’m in the other camp– This blurring of friends and professional contacts makes me nervous. I don’t want to be one of those people that runs my whole life according to a “it’s just business” mantra. However, I don’t want burn any potentially useful bridges through some awkward personal interaction I had in college or elsewhere.
Bottom line: This blurring of contacts makes me feel like I have to be “on” all the time.