What is a press release good for? Press releases still have relevance if you follow these four best practices.
Ah, the classic press release. Once the keystone of the PR campaign – does it still have a role in today’s marketing? YES. You see, while the ways we connect and communicate may have changed – the rules of engagement have not. Even back in the day, there were bad press releases and awful press releases. And for every newsworthy release there are 100 terrible ones today. Add to that many in the media scan their emails because of the proliferation of crappy releases – so how do you break through?
Reputation
Don’t send poorly written and non-news stuff out. If it ain’t news, don’t send it to the media – or anyone. Build a reputation for respect and a sense for news, the media will work with you.
Content
It does not always have to be about you. It can be about a trend, or a news story. How do you fit into the news cycle, what do you have to say? Is it timely? News is NEW, and it does not happen in a vacuum.
Writing
Short, sweet and to the point. If they have to read down 3 paragraphs to get the news, well… they won’t. Good writing is not creative writing. Good writing is short, to the point and has all the facts up front. Have it written in a direct journalistic way – no overloading on adjectives or “!!s” and other fluff. Just get to the point – and tell us the Who, What, Where, When and the Why.
Delivery
Email is not a sure fire way to get the news out. A follow-up all is still a great deal for important news. But be sure to update your lists. So don’t send the sports editor business news, and so on… Try posting all you news to a news-blog- and then tweet it to media. Many reporters spend more time on Twitter than they do email.