Category: Top » Marketing » Public-relations »

Fifteen Additional Media Release Writing Rules to Improve Your Organization's Public Relations

In a previous article, I gave you fifteen ways you can improve your news release. But because I know that, developing a news release can be overwhelming at first, so I've created another fifteen rules for the small business owner.

With some education and experience you will be able to write an excellent story. To begin, just follow the rules below for writing and distributing your news release.

1. Place News First Because readers want news, you should always include the news before the source. So before you state who made the announcement, you should actually write the announcement. For example, a news story about a new tobacco study should describe the results of the study, before describing who conducted it.

2. Interest Your Audience Keep your audience and the publications readers in mind. Before writing your press release you should consider why the news matters to them. Ask yourself if you'd want to read the press release, if you were in their shoes.

3. Compelling Headlines Just like the rest of your marketing, you need a headline that will catch the attention of your intended audience (in this case the news editor). It will likely be the first thing the editor reads. If it doesn't catch his attention, it will also be the last.

4. Target Your Media You should always write for the media type your targeting, but the same goes for submitting your news release. For a reporter, there is nothing more annoying than getting flooded with articles that aren't at all related to your publication. So get your release into the right hands.

5. Stay Relevant Journalists want news that is relevant to their audience. Writing to meet the needs of the publication your submitting to greatly improves your odds of inclusion.

6. Remain Objective Press releases are not the place for being biased. Journalists are seeking news. It may be ok to use later paragraphs for dispelling or confirming rumors, but it's best to cover your bases with a little objectivity.

7. Condense The News You should try to tell the entire story in the first paragraph. The rest of the release can contain more details. But it's nice to know that if everything else is cut, you still got your main points across. Being top heavy" is a good thing.

8. Positive Perception If the local community could perceive your news in a negative manner, you should take extra care to highlight the potential positives of the announcement.

9. Deal With Facts News articles should include factual information. Leave the opinions for the editorial column. It is ok, however, to include quotes that feature opinions.

10. Appropriate Demographics If you have an executive that better matches the demographics of your target audience, it is a good idea to use their quotes in the story. For example, a magazine on women's business is much more likely to run a story, with a female spokesperson.

11. Get Permission When including individual's quotes in your press release it's always a good idea to get permission. Verbal permission is always that is usually required, but this can prevent future problems as well as clarify any misunderstandings.

12. Make Yourself Reachable Provide a specific contact person with a phone number where they can be reached. Don't make contacting you a challenge. In fact it's a good idea to include an email address, web address, and fax number as well.

13. Relate to Popular Topics One method that can earn you coverage is link your news, organization, or business to popular news. Many news stories do nothing more than explain how a particular industry is affected by something else that happened.

14. Clean Layout For press releases submitted by mail, you should always double space them, number your pages, type News Release" at the top, and include a release date.

15. Avoid Jargon Industry jargon isn't appropriate for all publications. You need to keep your readers in mind when writing your release. Using common language makes your release easier to understand.

By following these guidelines for writing better news releases, you substantially increase the likelihood of your news release being used. If you'd like more ways to improve your media release writing you should look at the amazing list of tips to write better news releases.

Seed Newsvine

Rating: Not yet rated --Choose-- 0 1 2 3 4 5

Comments

No comments posted.

Add Comment

Your Name:


Your Email:


Comment

Enter the code shown

Popular Articles in this cathegory

1: 10 Tips on How You Can Be a Terrific Television Guest
2: 10 Steps to Positive Crisis Management.
3: 6 Reasons to Avoid the Social Media News Release Part I
4: Finding the Right Media for Your Marketing Campaign
5: Press Release Writing Tips for Improving Your Business's Public Relations