Senior Account Executive

There is no escaping it. If you work in a public relations and marketing agency like I do, media relations is a big part of the job. Whether it is drafting and distributing releases, crafting thought leadership pieces or bylined columns, or pitching the next “big” story, reporters and journalists come with the territory.

And since it’s your job to secure as much positive media coverage for your clients as possible, take the time to learn about the person to whom you are pitching.  Do some research. Try to understand what works for them and what doesn’t. What they want to hear and what they don’t.  How much is too much and what isn’t enough.  And…even what words irk them.

I asked around at our Cincinnati marketing agency, and found co-workers were all-too-eager to share some phrases or words commonly used in media relations that drive them (and reporters) nuts. Here are some of those “pet peeve” words identified by the Rasor Marketing staff:

·       Innovative/innovation

·       State-of-the-art

·       Unique

·       Utilize (vs. simply “use”)

·       Align/Alignment (vs. simply “agree”)

Tell us – what are some words that are your pet peeves?