Top 5 Secrets To Making An Eye Catching PR
The press release offers your company an opportunity to showcase a new service, or draw attention to a new brand, promote a new appointment in the Board of Directors, launch a new product, and more. Everyone who has written a press release before or read a press release knows that it contains basic contact information and company information as well as some text in between promoting the event or product.
When writing a press release, you need to ensure that it catches the attention of publishing houses and journalists. If it is bland, it will go overlooked and your company will miss out on the opportunity to increase media coverage. That is not to say that it must contain a lot of bells and whistles. Even following a basic template and using all of the media available to you can craft something that is newsworthy and eye catching for your company. That being said you can greatly benefit by incorporating the top 5 secrets to making an eye catching press release.
Tip number 1: Make the most out of your quotes
Quotes can do a lot for your PR. They can send a strong message and offer a great angle. Do not use a quote if it only repeats what you included in the body of the press release. This is redundant and not a proper use of the quote. Use a quote which will sell your company and its positive image.
Tip number 2: Limit the exclamation mark and CAPS!
You don’t want to include over-hyped copy in your writing. Avoid overuse of exclamation marks because it will get your PR marked as spam. Limit unnecessary adjectives as well because these cause the PR to read like an advertisement.
Do not use CAPS unless it is absolutely necessary within the body of your text. Don’t use it to highly your company name; your company name will already be obvious and the overuse of CAPS is really annoying for a journalist. It will not emphasize words like you think it will.
Tip number 3: Leave your ego at home
When writing a press release it will be challenging to remove your ego. Ask whether the information is really newsworthy and really conveys only facts. It may be best to consider yourself as a busy reporter and consider whether you would read your press release were you in their position. Just because the event is important to you, doesn’t mean it is important to a journalist.
Tip number 4: Research beforehand
Research prior to writing. You should review multiple PRs online and in print to get a feel for the format and the writing styles that get published. As communication becomes faster and social networking becomes the main method of exchange, doing your homework can only benefit you. Look for the name of a journalist who might be covering your PR and look them up on Facebook or Twitter. Get to know them. They are always looking to expand professionally the same as you, so build a meaningful relationship with them. Follow them on Twitter and engage with them. Have a real conversation before you flood their inbox with PRs. They will be drawn to your PR much more if they recognize the name.
Tip number 5: Avoid being too promotional
Don’t let your press release become an advertisement. Read it back once or twice after you write it to make sure that it offers a well rounded view of the new event or product. It should be promotional but it isn’t an advertisement. It should be objective and factual at all times.
