Getting Ink for Your Business

A press release is a company’s formal opportunity to tell the world about all of the great things it has been doing.  Beyond that, it is a tool to help journalists write a better story and increase a company’s chances of getting exposure.

Editors and reporters are often faced with tight deadlines, and they are continually looking for fresh information they can use to get the job done.  At the same time, they are bombarded with hundreds of calls and emails daily.  To get noticed, a company needs to cut through the clutter.  A good press release and the tips below can help you do that.

Headlines that pull them in. Before you decide to read a book, you read the title and description to see if it is a good fit.  Similarly, a good press release will have a clear, concise title and factual, to-the-point subhead to provide the media with more information on what your release is about.  Titles and subheads filled with exaggerations, multiple acronyms, industry buzzwords or generalizations should be avoided since they often confuse journalists and turn them off to the news.

Answer the main questions. A strong leading paragraph anticipates what the media needs to know and answers all of the main questions- who, what, when, where, why and how. These are the basic facts about your announcement that journalists need to know in order to write a good story.

Focus on the facts. Avoid puffery and exaggeration, not only in your title, but throughout the entire press release. Keep in mind that releases are factual tools to help a writer accurately convey your information to the public. Exaggerations are easily picked up by the media and will often discredit your release from further consideration.

Use quotes. Quotes from your CEO and other executives add flavor to your release and provide an opportunity to emphasize your key points and opinions. Supporting quotes from analysts and customers add further credibility to your announcement and let the media know there are others available to interview for a story.

After you have written the release, have a few people in your company look it over, to make sure the points are clearly communicated and easy to read.  Triple check for the correct spelling of names and places, and look for mistakes that your computer’s “spell check” might not pick up.  It is also important to have someone in your organization prepared to respond to media inquiries once your release has gone out.

What should you write about? Here are just a few of the reasons for a business to write a press release:

–Opening a new store
–Having a special event
–Launching a new product
–Securing a large customer
–Hiring a new executive or the re-locating of an office

Communicating to the public and the media can be intimidating, but with the right research and planning, it can be an invaluable tool to generate heightened awareness, recognition and profitable results.

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