Every online business is competing for press coverage. There are only so many physical inches of print media published every day and only so many online news or industry-related websites, therefore it’s essential that your press release gets to the right editor, is noticed, and the content gets transformed into a feature or article.
Good PR is all about putting yourself in the position of the journalist or editor. If you received over 100 press releases a week, but you only have seven articles to write, what’s going to help you choose which stories to run?
Target your audience – you’re wasting your time and the editor’s time if your business or the angle is completely unrelated to the publication’s usual fare. This may sound obvious, but new businesses sometimes try the scattergun approach in the hope that something, anything sticks. Your ‘new maternity wear range’ press release is more likely to be picked up by a lifestyle/female orientated/baby-related publisher than a financial products publisher
Do your research – find out the name of the editor or writer and address the Press Release to them
Check and double check – make sure any facts are indeed correct, especially when it comes to numbers, as these are the easiest to check
Spelling and grammar – have someone else proofread your text; mistakes reflect badly on you and your business and it’s another excuse for your release to be ignored
Timing – consider publishing deadlines; magazines are written well in advance of their publication date. i.e. the June edition is usually in the shops in late May and being written in March and April. So if you want a magazine to feature aspects from your ‘100 hot bikinis’ release, you need to be talking to them in February.
Angle – So, you’ve added an additional luxury product range to your website, or you’ve branched into Conveyance to complement your existing Family Law services… So what? Who cares? Why is that news, and why should an editor use their valuable space to promote you? You need to give the publication an angle, something unique, quirky or interesting that can make your press release relevant, interesting and exciting for their audience.
1 note