PR, E-Mail, Social Media: FAIL
The Wrong Way to Jump Start Social Media
What's worse than being spammed by Brody PR with a pitch for a social-media book that likely didn't need to be written? Being spammed by a PR firm that didn't use the BCC field. What's worse than that? That a good 90% of people on the list feel some weird need to reply-to-all when asking to be removed from the list, thus continuing the foolishness ALL DAY LONG.
I don't know what's more surprising, the number of people who are replying to all or the names of some of those people who should damn well know better. Is it that hard to determine the original source of an e-mail and just yell at that person?
Then again, some of them are "social-media experts" and we all know that's a pretty low bar.
Full disclosure: I replied to all to threaten the next people to reply to all that I'd mention them by name. But since I'm left wondering if there's a time delay or a bot involved, I'm not going to make good on that threat.
I'm not going to pound Brody PR as there's already a bit of Twitter wildfire about this topic and I've already been e-mailed by a number of journalists on the list. So damage done.
THOSE WHO DID THE RIGHT THING
Instead of adding further shame and outrage here, let me just point out a few of the people who DIDN'T reply to all and who have e-mailed me separately, expressing anger and shame and apologizing for all involved: David Spark of Spark Media Solutions; Maria Aspan, a reporter for American Banker; Allison Mooney of Mobile Behavior; Amanda Gravel; Joseph Jaffe of Crayon; Michael Driehorst; Chris Abraham; Niala Boodhoo of The Miami Herald; Peter Shankman; Ann Handley of Marketing Profs; and Barbara Kiviat of Time magazine.
I salute you all.
And thanks to all the many others who remained silent throughout this ordeal.
UPDATE: Someone from Brody PR posted the following in the comment section yesterday:
An apology from Brody PR - I created a list of social media experts who might be interested in reviewing a new guide to social media for small biz. I inadvertently put the list name in the cc: box, rather than the bcc: box. A few folks must have hit the "reply all" button, rather than clicking on the "unsubscribe link" at the bottom, which started a stream of spam. Please accept my personal apology, albeit a little late in the day, since I was trying to remove everyone who wanted to be unsubscribed from the list immediately.
Beth Brody also e-mailed a personal apology. Also, to be clear, I understand that accidents happen on e-mail. What I DON'T understand, though, were all the people who should have known better hitting the reply-to-all button.
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I have to get after you about taking time to write this; who cares? Look, people do this every day. Complaining about it is a waste of time. You should complain about racism on the Internet and Cyberstalking too. That's a better use of this space.
Thanks for the props. It's much appreciated. (Though, to tell the truth, I did reply all twice -- once to apologize on behalf of the PR industry; and second to remind those who are replying to all that I'm sure their emails were being harvested -- and not for good.)
One good thing about the PR and media relations business is the relatively low barrier to entry -- so solid, smart pros can get a start without a huge investment. That's also a bad thing as any one can do it -- regardless of skill.
I don't even get while people were replying to all when, as far as I know, it's not a default option.
Anyway, again, I'm sorry on behalf of the PR industry and do know that most of the pros out there do good work.
Take care,
-Mike
And, technology makes it so much easier to stick our virtual feet in our own mouth -- broadly, instantaneously, and publicly. As the old adage says, "measure twice, 'send' once."
- Corinne
(President, SocialSmarts )
How do I know? As you know, Richard Laermer and I started Bad Pitch blog three years ago to take our own industry to task...from the inside. There were people "who did the right thing." I think your reference can be expanded to include the scores of PR people that do not use bcc, or email marketing software. Not to mention those PR people that have never been put onto editorial black lists.
PR people hate seeing these things as much as editors do. But unlike some folks above, I will not apologize on behalf of my industry. I will point out the industry is a heck of a lot bigger than the Brody's of the world. And some of us are even trying to help prevent these train wrecks.
http://badpitch.blogspot.com
- A PR professional who does just that #saveemail
I did not receive the offending email, not my line of work, but c'mon, how many mentions will the offending (not named) party get for this flub both on and offline, and in social media and... and...
Everyone all know there is no such thing as bad... well like I said.
This may just be the epitome of the meaning of the lines spoken by Chris Guest as David St. Hubbins in Spinal Tap when he said, "It's such a fine line between stupid, and clever."
Just saying,
http://www.scoutbrand.com/scout-blog/
Next time if they were using Gmail they have a 5 second undo option for any emails sent accidently.
When I worked in sales, people would spam me without using the BCC field and I would take all their clients email addresses. I figured it was the least I could do.
If I were asking a group of experts to contribute to my book, I would likely approach them individually in an effort to make it more personal. I don't know much but I think that is pretty basic.
Our agency believes firmly that individualized communication is superior to anything. While it may be a bit slower to reach everyone, it's the personalized attention and direct communication that best develops relationships; both with clients as well as the media and general public.
Don't forget about the details. Hastiness means sloppiness, and in an age where almost anyone can consider themselves an "expert", one foul-up like this can be to the detriment of the company.
http://www.crosby-wright.com/
Maybe we should make it more modern... "To" "Copy" "For press releases when you send out a giant mass email"
But, I'm totally in the dark about how and why they would use a BCC rather than a CC to send spam so that it wouldn't look like spam. Is this some kind of eclectic industry trick, or is there a web article (like for homegrown terrorists wanting to make a bomb) that can tell me how it works.
http://www.media-proinc.com
Wow. Way to throw away your moral high ground.
Thanks for taking the high road on this pointless debacle. We see this happen at least once a year, but still people feel compelled to act rude online. They all could have hit Reply, but they consciously hit Reply to all just to flex their social media muscle. Read my take on it.
Social media "gurus" and bloggers are egotistical jerks
http://bit.ly/cIroD
Your posts and the posts of others gave me some valuable feedback. I never seemed to have time to start a blog but I thought this mishap inspired me. I have summarized some of the things I learned here, http://brodypr.blogspot.com/
Any feedback you have would be appreciated.
Beth Brody
Sorry. The formatting got screwed up between the apology in the update and my "last word." The not understanding the Reply-to-All bit was actually written by me, not someone at Brody PR.
--Ken