“Read” receipts and other items that rile reporters

PR people are being advised to forego asking for “Read” receipts for the email pitches they send to journalists as the recipients resent them, reports MediaPost.

“For them, your pitch can make them feel like you’re their boss, peeking over their shoulder to make sure they are doing work at your request,” writes Allison Carter in PR Daily.

In addition, adds MediaPost, receipts are not the only annoyances that “arouse journalists, especially in B2B.

“Incomprehensible verbiage and constant use of the word “leading” when describing companies are two more.

“Then there is the demand that reporters fill out forms to access documents being pitched, often requiring that they pass CAPTCHA tests.

“Still, read receipts are guaranteed to take “an already-crotchety journalist from 0 to 60” in irritation.

“Carter urges PR people to push back when their bosses insist that they get receipts—the “lowest common denominator” of measurement.”

A read receipt is sent to you as an email with the time and date of when your message was opened.

A survey of reporters would produce a much longer list of things that rile them, states Phil Rabin, editor of Capitol Communicator.  He says one of the items on his list are people who send multiple emails asking if he has received their earlier email – or emails.  In some cases, he says, those sending follow-up emails state they just want to get to the top of his incoming emails.  The problem, adds Rabin, is that it’s time consuming and distracting to have to deal with literally hundreds of emails of no interest to him or Capitol Communicator readers.