When I started my career in media relations we didn’t have e-mail and our primary way to communicate with the media was via the phone or through personal contact. However, as new technology — e-mail and now Twitter — has emerged I find our profession relying more on these new technologies to communicate with the media.

While these new technologies have made communicating with the media more efficient, have we lost the art of building a true relationship with one another?

Building a lasting and strong relationship through e-mail or a series of tweets can be difficult, because we don’t have the opportunity to personally get to know the editor.

As media relations professionals we are being asked to do more with less every year. Naturally, we have turned to e-mail as an efficient communication tool and by the same token the media has readily accepted this form of communication.

However, we need to examine our use of e-mail in our communication efforts with the media. Sometimes picking up the phone and having an actual conversation with an editor can have a lasting and positive impact. It shows you care more about the person on the other end of the line, and in my experience those conversations have resulted in some of our best ideas and work.

Not every editor has the time for a phone call, so we need to adjust our approach to the preference of the editor and respect their time. It’s also important not to abuse the relationship. In other words, you don’t need to call an editor to find out if they received your latest press release that was sent out 15 minutes ago. Respect their time and follow up in a few days or the following week depending on the significance of the news release topic.

Media relations is a still a relationship business and we need to re-examine how we are building these relationships. Personal contact takes time, but in the long run it may be the best investment you can make for your client this year.