Beware: Don't Over-estimate E-mail

In today's day and age, many of us have become heavily reliant on--and perhaps overly-comfortable with-- text-messaging, social media, e-mail and other forms of "flat" communication. These modes of communication also make it easy to contact someone outside of regular business hours, a feature that makes them particularly convenient.

These modes of communication also have their downfalls. For some, they have made the idea of picking up the phone feel unusual and even uncomfortable. The folks at PR Fuel recently released a post reminding us that some circumstances call for more personal forms of communication--especially in the PR industry.

PR Fuel's post pointed out several problems that can occur when communicating with reporters via e-mail. I found all four of the issues they identified to be very important. However, I think the second issue they identified-- the fact that it is more difficult to build relationships through e-mail-- to be the most dangerous.

In the world of PR, it is very important to maintain relationships with reporters in order to keep the lines of communication and information open with them. When relying solely on e-mail to communicate with reporters, conversations are more brief, superficial and impersonal; these types of conversations can make it very difficult to establish any sort of relationship with a journalist, let alone a mutually-beneficial one. This can harm your objectives in the long run.

The lesson here? Remember that the telephone still has its place in today's communication environment. Don't underestimate its power! Face-to-face meetings are also ideal when time allows.

Be sure to read the post to get PR Fuel's other tips and to help streamline your communication practices!