Sending pitches electronically is an efficient way to deliver a message to your media targets. But if that’s the last step in your efforts to gain press coverage for clients, you are forgetting a vital step in the process – the phone call. Relationships matter, and the best ones are built by using your voice, not your keyboard.

The topic of “How Do Journalists View Follow Up Phone Calls?” has been addressed by Jeremy Porter on his Journalistics blog – after surveying comments from more than 50 journalists, he found that 88% of journalists still say they welcome follow-up phone calls.

A direct approach via phone will help you to:

• Stand out from the crowd: Since e-mails outnumber phone calls, this step alone will help your pitch to stand apart from the rest and receive individual attention.

• Confirm the best contact: If you are pitching a particular editorial calendar topic, a call is the quickest way to find out who’s working on that article. This can save you time by ensuring that you are going after the right contact and avoiding follow-up with the wrong person on staff.

• Go beyond a press release: A conversation offers an opportunity to maneuver your pitch in the direction of the listener’s interest. By listening closely, you can pick up on cues about the type of article the writer or editor may be interested in. If you are following up on a press release, a future article may not have anything to do with the announcement. In this case, the release becomes a conversation starter and you’ll likely be sending follow up information.

• Build a relationship: This is an opportunity to engage the editor or writer in more than a conversation about your client. You are also building a relationship and establishing your credibility as a resource for information.

So you’ve decided to contact the editor of a target publication by phone. What now? You’ll need to prepare a clear, concise pitch that draws interest – you may want to prepare a written draft of your pitch in advance to refer to.

• Introduce yourself and the client that you are representing. Confirm that this is a good time to talk. If not, schedule a future day and time to call them back.

• In no more than 2-3 sentences, discuss your story idea and what makes it interesting or informative for the publication’s readers.

• If you know of a future editorial calendar topic that’s a fit for your idea, refer to the issue date and topic and explain that you are hoping to serve as a resource for that article.

• The editor will likely do one of the following: ask you for more information, tell you when she will contact you, refer you to another writer, or tell you that she’s not interested and why.

• Thank her for her time. If there’s interest, follow up with an e-mail that further elaborates on the details about the story idea and your client.

With these benefits in mind, a phone call is great investment of your time and effort. In best case scenarios, the press will be contacting you proactively when researching a future story.

At the American Marketing Association’s New England New England Xpo for Business yesterday, I chaired a panel on “PR In A Crisis”. On the panel was Donna Morrissey (who handled PR for the Boston Archdiocese during the priest scandal), Tom Lee (who worked at the MWRA when some workers were killed on the job in an outfall drain pipe), and Captain Vic Beck, US Navy (who served as a spokesperson in Iraq).  My own crisis PR experience has run the gamut (healthcare, housing, energy, finance) but I made my bones in campaign politics.

The panel was a 45-minute PhD level discussion of what to do (and not to do) when things turn bad.  Among the highlights (with some commentary of my own):

1.  Be prepared: Always have a detailed crisis plan ready before trouble strikes.  Crisis usually happens without notice, so there will be no time to make a plan.

2.  Tell the truth: Be accurate and factual.  But you don’t have to spill all the beans; some things may be better left unsaid, or at least saved until later when the heat dies down.

3.  Choose a spokesperson: Select someone to speak to the press, to be a single source of public information.  Best if this person has some experience.  A press conference is no place for on-the-job training.

4.  Act fast: The 24/7 news cycle demands a timely response to crisis.  Better to fill the gap with your own spin than to let it spin out of control, or be spun by someone else.

5.  Who, what, when, where, why: Be ready to answer these questions clearly, at the very least.

6.  I’ll get back to you: Don’t be afraid to say this when you don’t know the answer to a press inquiry.  Just be sure you actually do get back as soon as possible.

7.  Be cool:  No matter what the tenor or content of the question, stay calm, don’t react.  There is power in being steady.

8.  Heads up:  Let your own people (employees, members, constituents) know first about big news.  Even if its only by a few minutes, they’ll appreciate hearing it before everyone else does.

9.  Take action:  Action can speak louder than words.  Sometimes, the manager of the ball team has to be fired.  It may not fix things, but at least you are trying.

10.  Did I say be prepared?  This was the first point by each panelist, so it’s the most important advice of the day.

Great panel.  Lots of wisdom and practical guidance.  Thanks to the Boston Chapter of the American Marketing Association for organizing the Xpo.  Look for it again next year.

As marketers, we appreciate the need for conducting accurate research whether it’s for an opinion poll about a product or to gauge the mood of voters for a candidate or issue during local and national elections.

A recent U.S. government survey throws a wrench into the usual telephone survey methodology. The study estimates that up to 17 percent of adults have ditched their landline phones, nearly doubling the trend of cell-only users since 2003. Another recent survey by The Pew Research Center reports 23 percent of landline users say they are “very or somewhat likely” to go cell-only.

Both of these studies present considerable challenges for researchers conducting public opinion polls – whether it’s a news organization striving to obtain an accurate snapshot of how people are going to vote, or for thousands of corporations that depend heavily on market research for product development.

With cell-only users significantly less accessible than landline respondents, many in the public opinion research community wonder if the polls conducted this election season are reflecting true voting trends, especially among the 18 to 29 age group, which represents the largest portion of cell-only users.

To address this issue, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press conducted three major election surveys using cell phone, landline, and “dual user” samples. Each survey resulted in small but not statistically significant differences compared to the polls by major news and research organizations. However, the younger age group – the largest proportion of cell-only users – showed a consistent pattern of more support for Obama. This raises an important question for pollsters about whether or not the difficulty in reaching the younger demographic group will impact their expected results on Election Day.

“Even though the omission of cell phones from election polls does not currently make a large difference in the substantive results, Pew’s surveys this year suggest at least the possibility of a small bias in landline surveys. Such a bias could be consequential in an election that appears to be very competitive right now, especially if significant numbers of young people turn out to vote.” ( http://pewresearch.org/pubs/964/).

The challenge in obtaining information from cell-only users will only increase as more households become wireless. The biggest obstacles facing researchers right now are associated with costs, as federal law prohibits automated dialing to cell phones. Another costly factor is the time involved reaching eligible respondents since many children carry cell phones and random calls will frequently reach those under voting age. Polling organizations may also have to prepare to reimburse respondents to answer questions, as cell phone users pay for airtime and may be reluctant to stay on the line.

Political and market researchers are anticipating how the outcome on Nov. 4 will reflect the polling data and what changes will have to be made in reaching a balanced proportion of Americans for future surveys. We in marketing should all keep a careful eye on the election results tomorrow as they are measured against the polling data, which could very well influence how we move forward with our own market research projects.