Creating A Powerful Press Release That Demands Attention
By Patrick Tan
Part 1
A successful press campaign can give your business a great deal of free publicity without burning a hole in your pocket. There is no other more cost-effective way to generate publicity and credibility for your business.
But getting the press interested in your story is an uphill task as editors everywhere are bombarded with hundreds of press releases every day. To increase the chance of having your story published, you must make the editors' job easier by presenting your press release in a format and style that appeals to them. As a former journalist, I would like to share some writing tips with you:
1) COLLATE AND ORGANIZE YOUR FACTS.
Contrary to what most people think, a journalist actually spends the bulk of his time in collating information and facts. When everything is ready, it is not uncommon for journalists to finish writing the story in just half an hour.
How should we go about collating all the information and facts surrounding a particular event? A simple rule of thumb is to find answers to questions pertaining to the who, what, when, where, why or 5 Ws of the event. And we do not stop at just the absolute facts and figures. These must be presented in the right perspective relative to some industry norms, trends and statistics. You may have to undertake some research by going through past industry and newspaper's reports.
2) IDENTIFY YOUR STORY'S ANGLE.
Now that you have collated all the relevant facts and figures, the next step is to identify the "angle" or headline of your story. A good story angle must have the following three attributes:
- It must be the most important fact in your story.
- It must be timely.
- It must be unique, newsworthy or contrary to industry norms and
trends.
This story angle must be presented in the first paragraph as well as the headline of your press release. Most newspapers employ an "inverted pyramid" format that presents the most important information in the opening paragraph, followed by other information that supports or develops the key points raised in the first paragraph.
3) CREATE A CATCHY HEADLINE.
By all means, keep your headline short and simple using less than ten words. It should convey the key point raised in your opening paragraph in a light-hearted manner that catches people's attention and imagination.
For example:
HEADLINE: Goodbye broker, hello computer.
OPENING PARAGRAPH:
Say goodbye to your broker and let your computer take your trading orders instead. The ubiquitous home personal computer is poised to play a big role in your share trading, if the explosion in electronic share trading in the United States is anything to go by.
.... followed by statistics that put the story in the right perspective: Brokerage houses in the US give investors who trade online a 20-25 per cent discount on the usual commissions, and the significant saving in transaction costs has led to an explosion in online trading there.
Charles Schwab & Co, the largest discount brokerage firm in the US, for example, reported a hefty 134 per cent jump in online trading commissions from $268 million to $628 million last year. ... More statistics..
.. While electronic share trading is still at its nascent stage in Singapore, two existing share trading and information programmes point towards the development of technology-based brokering in Singapore.
.... followed by details of your story.
4) WRITE IN THIRD-PERSON VOICE.
Unlike an emailed newsletter that is written in a personal voice, a press release must be presented objectively from a third person point of view. The reason is obvious. Every journalist has a duty to provide his readers with impartial facts and figures. He must not be seen as endorsing a company's products or services. Some of the guidelines are listed below: - refrain from using any sales pitch in your press release.
- remove "you", "I", "we" and "us" and replace them with "he" and "they".
- provide references to any statistics, facts and figures raised in the press release.
- refrain from expressing personal opinions, unless they are done in quotes.
- draw conclusions from facts and statistics only - not general opinion.
5) PROVIDE "QUOTES" FROM THE NEWSMAKERS.
As a newsmaker, put your most important message down into a quote. Reporters alway use quotes from the newsmakers to add an authorative voice to their reports. If your press release contains quotes that are important and relevant to the story, chances are high that they will be replicated in full in the published article.
6) PROVIDE ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
You should end your press release with an appendix that provides brief background information on your company, newsmakers, as well as who to contact for further information.
The above writing tips are not meant to be an exhaustive guide to writing a good press release. But, it should help you get started on writing a press release yourself. Remember that practice makes perfect and the best way to learn how to write an effective press release is to observe how business news is reported in the business section of your newspapers.
Part 2
My first article, "Creating A Powerful Press Release" showed how to write a good press release in a format and style that appeals to editors. It received favorable response from many readers and a number requested more in-depth information. If you missed this article, you can read it at: www.jaydenews.com/archives/022500.html
In this part 2 of the article, you will learn how to identify the angle or headline of a story. This is the most important step in writing a press release. The correct choice of a story's angle will greatly increase the chance of having your story published by the media.
1) IDENTIFY YOUR READERS
Do you understand your consumers well? As marketers, it is important for you to recognize the profile and buying behavior of your consumers. Information such as their age groups, interests and preferred media would come in handy when you want to reach out to them effectively.
The key to an effective communication, whether verbal or written, lies in presenting your message to an interested audience or readers. Whenever possible, you should only send your press releases to those media whose readers' profile matches that of your target consumers.
To increase the chance of having your story published, you must send your press release to the right persons. Look through the chosen newspapers and identify those reporters who cover events or activities that share the same theme as your products or services. You can identify the reporters by the articles' byline.
2) PRIORITIZE YOUR MESSAGES
Before you start writing a press release, you should list down all the relevant facts and details on a piece of paper. This is a good writing practice. It helps you to organize your story better. I encourage every writer to make it a habit to do so.
How should you go about collating all the information and facts surrounding a particular event? A simple rule of thumb is to find answers to questions pertaining to the who, what, when, where, why or 5 Ws of the event. And don't stop at just the absolute facts and figures. These must be presented in the right perspective relative to some industry norms, trends and statistics. You may have to undertake some research by going through past industry and newspaper reports.
The next step is to evaluate and prioritize the facts according to their relative importance in conveying your intended message to the media. The most important fact will form the basis for your story's angle.
3) RELATE MESSAGE TO READERS
What you want to say about your product or service may not be the same as what your readers want to know. What this means is that you and your readers may look at the same event from totally different perspectives.
To kindle your readers' interest, you must present your intended message from their perspective. If you have done a good job in understanding your readers, you should have no problem in empathizing with their view and interest. This is widely known in journalism as having "a nose for news". It all boils down to having a sharp sensitivity to factors that make a person tick!
For example:
A non-profit organization may want to rally the community to support its vision of increasing the number of foster care homes for homeless cats and dogs in the neighborhood.
This message might go down well with pet lovers whose love for pets would be sufficient motivation for them to provide a home for the homeless cats and dogs. But, it may not necessarily touch the heart of the majority.
The organization could, however, increase its chances of getting community support by focusing on how a greater number of foster care homes could help alleviate the problems associated with having too many stray cats and dogs in the neighborhood.
In other words, the organization is providing a solution to a problem, which, if left unchecked, could become a menace to the community. For example, stray cats and dogs running loose on busy streets could result in traffic accidents. To highlight the severity of the problem, a statement of this kind should be supported with statistics.
The above example illustrates how we can present the same event - provide foster care homes for cats and dogs - from two different perspectives - a love for pets (organization) and a concern that stray cats and dogs could become a menace (community).
4) PRESENT STORY IN RIGHT CONTEXT
The above example also demonstrates the importance of presenting your story in the right context. It is a fact that there are many homeless cats and dogs in the neighborhood. But can you establish the claim that stray cats and dogs could become a menace to the community. You may have to undertake some research by going through past community and and newspaper reports. If necessary, consider conducting an opinion poll at your website, or in your neighborhood, to gauge public response.
You are now ready to present the headline or angle of your story. Using the above example, the headline could go like this: ---
Say "NO" to stray cats and dogs!
Sub-headline: [Name of organization] offers solution to clear up the streets.
Opening paragraph: Giving stray cats and dogs a home may be the answer to a long- standing problem, which if left unchecked, could grow to become a menace to our community.
Followed by statistics: . . . . . to illustrate the severity of the problem.
Followed by details and merits of increasing the number of foster care homes for homeless cats and dogs in the neighborhood.
---
The above tips should help you get started on writing a press release yourself. Remember that practice makes perfect and the best way to learn how to write an effective press release is to observe how business news is reported in the business section of your newspapers.
About this page: Learn how to write an effective press release
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