If yoga, spin and strength training isn’t challenging enough, try finding an editor or blogger that hasn’t encountered a rogue publicist. The kind that emails pitches by the thousands and insists Groupon is the best growth platform for any luxury brand.

Most publicists strive to maintain pristine reputations and strong relationships. However, even those in the spin business would have to agree that not even a “bad press is good press” mantra can fix a publicist gone wild. When it’s done right, PR can help grow awareness and drive sales, but if your brand is in the wrong hands, your PR efforts may be hurting you.

It seems fairly obvious that you wouldn’t pitch electronics to a beauty blogger, but it happens. “It’s an email epidemic,” says Lara Eurdolian, blogger and founder of Pretty Connected. “My inbox is regularly flooded with worthless content I'd never feature and it feels like my name is on every press list. Even worse is the lack of research and poor email etiquette—text in all caps, careless misspellings and unprofessional, mass distribution.”

Skilled community managers are strategic in their engagement efforts and target specific bloggers and editors that align well with the brand they are representing. These are often long-term efforts and cannot risk being harmed by an aggressive or vagrant publicist. On the other hand, if your social media team isn’t strategic with their outreach and habitually spams editors, bloggers and even publicists, they’ll be harming your brand’s image faster than your PR team can run damage control.

Your brand is your most valuable asset, so it’s important to be aware of how it is represented in the media and ensure a strategic, unified presentation throughout all channels. Engagement truly is king, especially among collaborative marketing teams where traditional communication lines have clearly blurred.

Photo by Spaightwood Galleries, Inc