The goal of every news release is to become accessible by its target audience through a selected medium. In current times, many articles may be published online via media websites and/or printed for distribution inside magazines, newspapers, newsletters, etc.
For those who have the responsibility of producing media awareness about a brand, product or client there are definite protocols to making sure that your news is read, heard and distributed successfully. As a new professional, it is important to safeguard your reputation as a PR professional and that of your company and/or business by keeping in mind these helpful tips when drafting and distributing your news release.
- Don’t blindly email journalists and bloggers
- Do use your own social media networks to distribute
- Do make your headline catchy and interesting
- Do take time to make the intro/opening engaging.
- Do write your news release to your audience. If its not relevant, no journalist or media source will pick up your release
- Do research for your pitch and have all your facts and information organized
- Don’t email journalists attachments! This may lead to an instant delete or even block from their inbox.
- Do spell check, then read your news release aloud. Any typos or grammatical errors will ultimately lead to your news being discarded and ruins your reputation as a PR professional.
- Do optimize your news release for SEO. Use necessary tags and relevant vocabulary for your news release to become searchable online.
- Don’t send any news releases that do not contain news!
- Don’t use fancy fonts, colors, font styles and other text attributes in your news release. Keep it simple.
- Don’t make your news release too long! Keep it under 650 words maximum
- Do include relevant links for background information. Make it easy for your journalist to conduct further research.
In summary, simply because a PR pro has submitted a news release to a journalist or editor does not mean that it will be printed or read! To help alleviate the pressure of playing the waiting game with media outlets and obsessively checking your Google Alerts or media monitoring service, the above tips will help you get your news to its desired audience.
Zaneta Chuniq Inpower is owner and president of Chuniq PR, an independent media and marketing management firm. Additionally, she is the digital communications coordinator for Douglas J Aveda Institutes and Salons, editor for Supreme Design Publishing and social media manager for COIN Handlers Management. Her personal interests include reading, international travel and culture and community revitalization. Inpower received her B.A. in advertising from Michigan State University. Zaneta Chuniq Inpower is a member of the Central Michigan PRSA chapter and is the PRSA New Professionals Section Executive Committee Blog Co-Chair.