business press

Press Releases – How to land your story

November 14, 2019/Rachel Hargrave
In past blogs we have discussed exactly what a Press Release might look like – including what its purpose is, what it should cover and how it should be written.

Obtaining positive press

 

Often when we are networking, attending business events, presenting at Expos and the like, we hear people saying that they’re not too sure about the value in Press Releases.  By this they mean that they doubt that they will ever be taken up and published (either in print or on-line) and, therefore, believe that they could be a waste of time.

It has to be said that we don’t agree with this sentiment at all.  Yes, there is never a guarantee that your words will appear anywhere that will get you the recognition or exposure you seek but, in our humble opinion, few things are guaranteed and in the case of writing a Press Release, the power is mostly in your own hands.

What do we mean by this?  Well, there are so many outlets for content these days that quality pieces are in high demand.  Printed space may be on the decline but on-line space is plentiful and everyone is keen to present new ideas, new opinions and genuinely interesting business news.  The onus is, therefore, upon the writer to ensure that the publisher’s criteria are met, namely that the story should;

    1. Have a point
    2. Be interesting
    3. Have a relatively wide appeal
    4. Be well written
    5. Be more than just an obvious sales pitch
    6. Be concise (and stick to the desired word count)

 

In the same way that you would research any target audience, you should look into the publications or specific people you hope will publish your Press Release. Consider what they normally cover, the style of the pieces they like and the kind of topics which appeal to their audience.  Whilst you want to offer them something different from the standard blurb they see every day, roughly matching the style and tone or previously-approved releases will give you a bit of a head start.

Remember also that whilst a Press Release is not War & Peace, it will demand a little bit of time to put together and to maximise this effort you should send it to as many potential and relevant publishers – be they journalists, editors or bloggers – as possible.  It is worthwhile to compile a list of potential ‘targets’ rather than just one or two.  Think of it as a numbers game (but with the addition of increasing your chances through the piece being of a high standard!).

Press Releases may be a stand-alone activity or be part of your wider strategy; whichever it may be, remember that there are specialists – RDZ PR being just one such provider who instantly springs to mind – who can help you get started and increase your chances of getting your story landed, attracting valuable attention towards your business.

If you’d like to have a no-obligation chat with us to discuss ideas (about Press Releases or any other aspects of a successful PR strategy) then simply contact us via www. rdz-pr.co.uk/contact

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Rachel Hargrave

Rachel has over 30 years of local, regional, national and international communications experience and expertise across a wide variety of clients including FTSE 100 companies, SMEs, micro businesses and start-ups. She also has extensive charity, Not-For-Profit and Community Interest Company experience and happily offers clients working in these areas a 50% discount on all RDZ PR rates.

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