It’s happened to every journalist I know. You need to talk to a PR person to get some piece of critical information and they don’t respond to email or messages promptly. How do you get PR to communicate with you and respond in a timely manner? Here are two tips. One was passed on by a colleague and the other was one I resorted to recently.
1. Check your email for when PR usually sends their messages
This tip was passed on by my friend Zara, the Editor of PC World New Zealand. When you need to send an email to a PR person and want them to respond, search back through your email and look at what time the PR person usually sends their mail to you. This will give you an insight into their work habits and help you find a time they’re more likely to respond to you.
2. Go public
I used this tip just this week. I called a PR agency who had promised me a review unit for a product round up I’m currently writing. As I’d not heard back, I made a call to their office and was told someone would bet back to me within half an hour.
Well over an hour passed and there was no call. So I sent a message over Twitter – in the public tweetstream – making mention of the slow response. Within a few minutes I received a direct message telling me someone was going to call me within the next 15 minutes – a promise that was met.
So – what are your tips for getting PR folks to respond to your requests? Is there a trick that works for you. Please share your tips through the comments below.