Many businesses fall into the trap of thinking that advertising is the only way of promoting their business. This simply is not true. Well-written press releases, published in the right publications, can be a very cost effective method of promoting your company to your target audience.
Steps to success- Start by examining your business to see if you have any newsworthy PR opportunities that would interest current and target customers. The opening of new premises or the launches of a new product or service are typical examples.
- Next, consider which publications are most likely to be interested in your news and which publications your target audience read. It is often easier to get coverage in your local press and it is good way of reaching a local audience, although specialist or trade publications might be equally interested in your news.
- Read through possible publications to see what kind of articles they publish and the style in which they are written. Call the publication and find out who you should send your press releases to and what the deadline for copy is.
- Writing your press release might seem daunting, but by following a few simple rules you should not go far wrong.
- Keep your story short with concise paragraphs that stick to the point.
- Give the piece a headline that tells the story and summarise your story in the first paragraph.
- Keep your language simple and avoid jargon.
- Use subsequent paragraphs to fill the story out.
- If possible, include a relevant picture and caption with your story. Pictures help tell your story and can help make it stand out from the crowd. Quotes can also help by adding a human voice.
- Add your contact details to make it easy for the journalist to contact you.
- Check the release for errors before submitting it and follow it up with a phone call to make sure your piece has arrived.
If you do not like the thought of writing the piece yourself, consider inviting the journalist to your event, launch or opening. The journalist can then write the story up. It is a good way of building your relationship with the journalist and improves the chances of future events or articles being publicised.
If your first press release is not published, do not lose heart. A sustained stream of releases over time increases your chances of having a story published and has a good cumulative PR effect over the long term.