Marketing:

Impelling Press Releases

Press releases are the heart of public relations for most companies. They put you out there in local and national news and make you a part of the community by informing the people who live there about your business. Press releases are usually used when your company does something new and exciting. Like hiring a big time CEO from another competitor or when you are making strategic partnerships. Press releases should be used from time to time to keep your company’s name circulating in the media. It’s never a good idea to stay quiet for too long especially in today’s business world where new companies are popping up every day. You need to stand out from your competitors, and press releases can be a very instrumental tool in doing just that.

• Write concise and accurate press releases. Any typos and grammatical mistakes are unforgivable to an editor or a journalist in the news media. You also shouldn’t write any press releases longer than one page. Newspapers and magazines have limited space and if your press release doesn’t fit the bill then it’s going in the trash.
• Try to make your press releases available before certain deadlines that newspaper and magazines have. Even news shows on TV have deadlines that you must follow, especially if they are doing a piece on a certain portion of the market and you happen to fall into it. You should send them a press release. But be careful to follow their deadline because if your press release arrives after they have stopped working on the piece, they won’t include it. So try to send in the press releases in advance.
• Try to search for news media outlets that are looking to do stories on companies like yours instead of waiting for a newspaper or magazine to call you.
• Make your press release interesting to read. Delete all the corporate jargon that most people don’t want to read about. Try to make them sensational without deviating from the truth.
• Always have a certain paragraph in each press release that talks about your company and background. Try to keep it the same for every press release, be it your mission statement or a few sentences about the present and the future of the company.
• A CEO or an owner should always be available for interviews. Journalists like to check up on stories. So if it’s relevant, have outside advisors or critics listed in your press release with their quotes. If nothing else, they will back you when the press release comes out.

Journalists are easily persuaded away from a story. They are looking for something that will benefit their careers and increase the subscription of the magazine. Try to keep their interests in mind as you write your press releases. Also become friends with your local papers and national trade magazines. Try to do them favors so when it comes time for a press release, you are in the headlines.