Member Article

Top tips to get your press release noticed

The inbox of a journalist is constantly overflowing with emails containing press release after press release on product /service launches, deals, investments and new initiatives. With the odds stacked against you, how can you make your press release stand out from the crowd?

Here’s 10 top tips to get your press release noticed:

1. Is it newsworthy? When a journalist writes an article about your brand it’s a great endorsement of your products or services, but how do you attract their attention with your release? The main aim is to make it newsworthy and to do this, you really need to know your audience. Your story has to add value to other businesses rather than be a means of self-promotion so when writing your press release, consider the news you’re sharing.
2. Write a compelling headline: The headline and the opening paragraph of your release are the most important elements for grabbing the attention of your audience, so you need to get to the point quickly and effectively. The headline, in particular, can be the difference between a journalist reading or deleting your email or the click of a button on the internet for the full article to be viewed by your target audience.
3. Don’t forget your message: The opening paragraph of a release should focus on the announcement you’re making. Use this as an opportunity to summarise the overall point of your release, i.e. product launch, acquisition, disposal etc. Then include the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How over the next couple of paragraphs.
4. Get to the point: To you the story you’re telling is very interesting as its one close to your heart. To the journalist and their readers it needs to be more …. It needs to hook them in, engage with them, interest them and tell them everything they need to know in a maximum of 500 words. This is quite a task for one press release but is achievable. Think of the main points of your story and build your release around them. Don’t go into too much detail but also don’t leave anything important out and avoid using industry jargon unless industry publications are your target. There is a fine balance between too much and too little so it may take you a little while to get your release just right.
5. Include data. Journalists love data. If you have some of your own to include, great. If not, do a Google search to find some related research you can refer to. If you do include data from online make sure you provide links to the full information so journalists don’t have to do their own research to find out more.
6. Use a quote from interested parties: The most successful press releases use quotes from involved parties. So if your release is about the opening of a new branch in a new region for your business, the manager of the branch or the business owner would be the perfect person to share a quote.
7. Get it out there: Whilst the main aim of your release is to attract the attention of journalists, make sure you distribute your release far and wide, as your story could be of interest to bloggers or other online publications. Once your release has been distributed, wait a couple of days to gauge responses from journalists – if you don’t receive any then don’t be afraid to call them and follow up!
8. Include your contact information. Yes, it’s true that some press releases leave this out. Or worse, they include contact information with an email address that no one ever checks. Include a phone number and an email that is being actively monitored so that if a journalist does contact you, you can get right back to her or him.
9. Don’t forget the boilerplate. The boilerplate is a paragraph at the end of the press release that describes your company. It should be consistent and at the end of every release you issue.
10. Spelling matters. You’d be surprised at the number of releases that end up being ignored because they’re full of typos. Make sure you read and re-read your release then pass it onto someone else to double check if possible.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by KD Communications .