Press Releases (PRs) enable you to get your company’s news straight to the target audience, creating awareness and momentum around your business. Cision’s State of the Media Report found press releases and news announcements are the types of content 78% of journalists say they want from brands.
However, in order to secure good quality coverage, your PR must meet certain factors desired by journalists, and avoid others. We’ve put together some of the key dos and don’ts of writing a PR to secure maximum coverage and create the biggest impact for your business.
Do: Make it Newsworthy
Journalists want PRs that are clear, readable and newsworthy. The best way to do this is by telling a compelling and timely story that defines and delivers the key messages in an engaging way, whilst all information that is not relevant to the PR’s topic is cut out. By telling a concise and well-structured story rather than providing an overload of information and irrelevant context, you will create a relatable PR that allows your audience to experience your business, not just read about it. In addition, if you are using a newswire service you will be charged more if the PR is lengthy, so keeping it tight and well-structured benefits everyone.
Don’t: Create a Sales Pitch
Press releases convey news to the audience, it is not a sales pitch. Whilst the press release should contain the positive impact of the news and context within the specific technology or telecoms sector, the language and tone used to describe these details should be objective, professional and lean into the storytelling mentioned previously. Journalists are unlikely to publish PRs that are written in this way unless you are paying for an advertisement.
Audiences can often easily identify when they are being sold to and may lose interest in your content, so ensure the language is informative and appropriate. Using quotes provides the opportunity to emphasise the benefits, as an executive at your company is expected to speak positively of the news.
Do: Find a Local Angle
Key questions journalists ask themselves when deciding whether to cover your news are these: Does this apply to my audience? Will they be interested? Finding a local angle within the story to focus on when targeting specific locations will appeal to journalists more as their audience can contextualise your news in their own lives. When readers are able to identify a relevant human interest in your story, they will likely be more interested and engaged with your business.
Don’t: Overcomplicate the Language
It’s important to remember that whilst you know your business’ products inside out, journalists and readers will likely not. It can be easy to include high-level jargon and industry acronyms when writing about intricate technologies or software, but journalists will simply not read your PR if they don’t understand it. Ensure you give detailed explanations if you are discussing complicated elements with language that is professional but easy to understand without expert knowledge.
Journalists want press releases, but with such a high volume of PRs being distributed every day, you must create and deliver a strong story to increase your chances of securing coverage. By following these simple but effective dos and don’ts, you will increase your chances of having your PR picked up by journalists and therefore reaching your target audience.
Contact us today to discuss how we can transform your PR strategy, including defining and delivering news to the global media and accelerating your organisation’s growth.
