First, you have to attract the press. Now, you can get the media’s
attention in two ways—the easy way, or the hard way. The easy way is to
write a concise, well-constructed release about your newsworthy event.
The hard way is to write a sloppy release on something that nobody
cares about. Here are the basic rules of thumb you’ll need to follow:
Media releases should be one page long—and one page only. You
need to tell your entire story in that single page.
Your release should be on A4 or US Letter size paper only, no
odd sizes.
The paper you write your media release on must be plain white,
not colored—no letterhead, no logo, nothing but white.
As you get a bit more confident, and become recognized by the media,
you might want to bend these rules—this will probably be OK once you’ve
established yourself a little. But to begin with, stick to these
guidelines. Now, let’s look at what you need to includein your release.
Contents
Of A Media Release:
Your media releases should always follow
this standard, accepted
format. It's what journalists and editors will expect, and it allows
you to communicate your message clearly. Your media release should
contain the following elements.
The timing of publication of a media
release can be extremely important
in some cases. To let the press know when they can use a release, it’s
common practice to include release timing details in the upper left
corner of the page. You have two options; choose the one that's more
appropriate for your purpose. You can either write "For immediate
release," to let the journalist know that he/she can report upon the
information at any time. Or you can write "For release on October 1st,
2005," which lets the journalist know if your story is urgent or
time-relevant.
The headline of the release is next. Your
headline has a big job: it
must grab the attention of your readers, and encourage them to keep
reading, so it has to be compelling. Make it as interesting as you can.
Body Copy:
The body copy is next. Split this into three parts.
1. In the first paragraph, tell the whole story: the who, what, when,
where and why. Tell the whole story in 2, or maybe three sentences.
It's sometimes a little tricky but it can be done.
2. The second part of the release should contain quotes that give
credibility to the story while fleshing out the most important details.
3. The third part of your media release should contain your call to
action. What do you want to have happen as a result of your media
release?
As you write, think about your release from the point of view of
someone who doesn't know you or your company. Who cares about the
information you’re discussing in the release? If you can't answer that,
then your release isn't newsworthy. If you can answer
that, make sure you write the release in a way that will be interesting
to them.
When the release is complete, write "ENDS"
on its own line. Below this
write: "For urther information, contact:” followed by your name and
phone number. And that’s it!
Top Ten Tips For Your
Media Release:
1.
Make sure the information is newsworthy.
2. Write a great headline.
3. Start with a brief description of the news: the who, what, when,
where, why and how.
4. Ask yourself, "Is this really newsworthy?"
5. Make sure the first ten words of your release are effective, as
they're the most important.
6. Avoid the excessive use of adjectives and fancy language.
7. Focus on the facts.
8. Provide contact details, and make sure you can be reached.
9. Send it to the right person! There’s not much use sending your IT
story to the
sports journalist.
10. Follow the structure I've outlined here—don't deviate from this
plan!
These are the standard rules you should keep in mind when you write a
media release.
Stick with these and you’ll have a professional-looking release, for
which you won't have
had to pay hundreds of dollars!
Send your release to the right person.
There’s not much use sending
your Internet-related story to the sports journalist! A quick call to
the reception desk at those newspapers or television studios you’re
targeting should get you the information you need.
How To Distribute Your
Release:
With the range of distribution outlets available these days, it’s a
simple matter to pay a media list to shoot your release off to 500
editors across the country. But is that best? Should you sit at your
fax machine and slowly send out release after release to the editors
you’ve targeted? Maybe you should send the release off to an
Internet-based service for rapid email distribution.
What's the best way to distribute your release? The answer to this
question will change with the type of release you’re sending. As usual,
I’d suggest you test various methods and closely monitor the results.
You might find that your Internet-related media releases have great
success when distributed via an Internet-based service.
But my big word here would be ‘targeted.’ In my company, we first
identify the specific publications or media we want to target, then
take a look at what they produce and the news angles they take. After
that, it's a simple matter of writing our release specifically for that
publication or show, that editor, or that particular journalist. Sure,
this might mean a little extra work, but the results that a
well-targeted media campaign can provide can be well worth it.
It’s all gone well so far. You've sent your
media release off to your
targeted media contacts and you sit back, imagining your face on the
nightly news… and then you get the call. Suddenly, you have a
journalist on the phone who wants more information on the story, and
perhaps a quote or 2! What do you do next? You have a couple of options:
1. Panic, start um-ing and ah-ing, blurt out a few long-winded answers,
and generally squander your opportunity to get your message across.
2. Calmly gather all the relevant material you have had sitting on your
desk ready for this call, and start the interview. If you want to take
the second option, you’ll need to be ready ahead of time. So, when you
prepare your release, prepare for what may happen. Prepare for the
interview. Try to think about what journalists would want to know. In
my experience, they want information: they want it concise, they want
it relevant, and they want it now. It’s your task to give them what
they need to do a good job.
Make it as easy as possible for the media
to do their jobs:
Most people seem to assume that journalists
are hunting around for the
dirt, that they'll grab any slip-up you make and turn you into a
laughing stock. In my experience, this has not been the case. The vast
majority of journalists I've dealt with have been professional,
accommodating, and have taken great pride in putting together a story
that’s interesting and top quality. If you don't have much experience
with the media, rest assured that they won’t make your life harder.
They’ll almost always guide you through the process and make it as easy
as possible. When you’re speaking with the media, try to relax. Imagine
the interview is a friendly conversation with someone who wants to
learn a bit more about what you have to say, because that is exactly
what it is. So, before you send off the release, make sure you have
handy as much information as might be required. Also, have a list of
the contact details of the people the journalist might like to
interview about your news item. That way, when the press calls, you’ll
be ready for action!
The
Release Has Been Run!
What Now?
The local television station has sent out a
journalist to cover your
media release and you find yourself featured on the evening news. It
makes a big impact for business and lifts the business profile a
mile! What’s next? Do you send the journalist a gift of a dozen
bottles of wine, send her out for dinner or just send money? Well, none
of the above actually! Look at this situation from the perspective that
we use to approach client care. Anyone who helps your business is doing
you a favour. If you reward the behavior, it will be repeated. And,
it’s just good manners. So, what should you do when the media runs your
story?Say “thanks.” It's common courtesy.
What Not To Do With
Your Media Release:
First, the confession: I've done this once
or twice. I'll never do it
again. Scout's honour. Imagine you've written your release, honed your
headline, penned a terrific opening, and presented all your information
on one page. Your contact details are all there, the release is
well-formatted, and it's newsworthy. You're off to a great start! Now,
you fax or email it to the editors at various media outlets. Terrific.
Then, you ring every single person that you faxed the release to, and
say those magic words: "Just checking to see if you got my media
release?" Don't do it. Don't ring. Why not?
1. Editors don't enjoy it. They have your release. If it's newsworthy
they'll follow up on it. Leave them alone!
2. I've done the math and here it is. Let's say you fax your media
release to 100 editors. Later, you start the follow-up telephone calls.
Each call costs an average of N euro's and takes three minutes to make.
The tricky part is in actually finding the person you want to speak to.
It takes an average of two phone calls to find the person you’re after.
That's 200 phone calls, 600 minutes and N00 euro's you will spend
following up that release. For that N00 euro's I could fax a
release to another 500 editors! 600 minutes is
ten hours. That's a full day's work. Your time could be better spent!
The media has enormous power and influence, and is always looking for
good stories to run. If you have a newsworthy story, it might well be
run—giving your business tremendous
exposure.
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