I would like to start off this column with a little exercise, as you sit in your office and read this newsletter. All together now.
Put your hands up to each side of your head, over your ears. Now, apply gentle but consistent pressure and squeeze your head. Press, press, press... Now release.
There you go, a press release. And your head aches. Now you know how many editors feel when they receive the vast majority of releases distributed. If practitioners are to
succeed, they must master the art of how and when to use it, what to say, and what to expect.
Otherwise, you will fail and waste valuable time and money in the process of - failing.
Professionals need to start working to move the needle based on your core objectives, and the proper use of press releases can be a valuable tool in the overall arsenal when
used correctly.
Forget everything you have learned about a press release and look at it differently. Press releases are not designed to secure publicity. As a former newspaper reporter and
editor, I found that releases were most effective as scratch paper. We didn't have a lot of extra money to spend on notepads, so we just used press releases.
Why? Because most practitioners do not understand the strategy behind the tool. A quick exercise: First, pick up the newspaper and read it. Second, log on to http://www.prnewswire.com and search today's releases. Now, read one and compare it to the newspaper article you just read. See? Scratch
paper.
That is not to say there aren't some good releases available, but the majority do not understand what they are doing and why. Stop writing, and start crafting. A press release
is a branding tool designed to convey who and what you are, while also relaying some type of controlled information to the target audience. A release is fantastic for "pitching"
to the target, and is designed to do one thing - buy something.
Now that you know what you are doing, you will realize how important crafting the words are. It is your brand. It is how you wish to be perceived. It is for that which you wish
to be known. To get there, here are six significant steps in getting there.
1. Never use the words "today announced."
It is redundant and an easy way out for lazy practitioners who have little to say and are not interested in advancing the brand or key messages. If you are issuing a release,
by definition you are "today announcing" something. Whatever it is you are interested in "announcing," take a brief moment to think about the strategy of letting the target know
what you are announcing and why I, a current or prospective client for whom you are hoping to affect change, gives a damn.
2. Stop using the term "leading."
In your very first sentence, do not tell me you are the "leading" something or another. If you are legitimately "the leading," or "a leading" you do not need to say it, because
it is obvious you are "the leading." If you are not "the leading," then you are simply lying. In fact, what are you basing that phrase on? Sales? Number of employees? Number of
widgets moved? Put it out to pasture.
3. Write a compelling lead.
In the first couple sentences, explain to the target what the buzz means to them, i.e.: Acme, the world's leading producer of bad press releases, today announced the hiring of
Joe Smith. I found about 10,000 press releases in the past week that started out exactly like this. I either never heard of the company, and if I had, I had no idea who Joe Smith
was. Unless I, the target, know Joe Smith personally, I have no idea what his hiring means to me.
4. Stop using banal quotes.
Again, a string of words never to be used together in a press release: "I am pleased," "I am happy," or "We are looking forward to." Well, of course you are. Instead, find
quotes that are meaningful to the target and will advance the core goals of the company, brand the organization, and give a sound bite the media may actually find intriguing. The
quote is a golden opportunity to make a statement in a controlled fashion that will affect change.
5. Write a solid headline.
Take a moment to read the headlines in the newspaper or blog. Listen to headlines in broadcast. In one brief complete sentence, knowing that nearly 75% of all people who read
the newspaper only read the headline and the first paragraph, make me understand why the target audience should care, whether you earn publicity for the release or not, i.e.:
Commitment To Customer Service Continues to Drive Acme Growth. It brands Acme as committed to customer service (or whatever) and shows that it continues to succeed and grow
because of it. It reinforces a key message and is designed to affect change in a non-customer, and I want them to do it for me.
6. One page, please.
If you can't get your point across in one page on a press release, it's too long. Use bullet points, if necessary. Send a media alert with opportunities for photos, video or
audio. Make me, the target, understand the basics. It doesn't need to go into detail ad nauseum. That's a white paper or a bylined article. Understand the difference and keep it
under 400 words.
Practitioners must develop key messages based on the overall strategy, all designed to advance the core goals and affect the desired change. Find the news value. And,
ultimately, try and pass the litmus test: "If I did not work for this entity, would this interest me?" Relate to the target and make the release relevant to them.
Contact: Rodger Roeser, APR is VP at Cincinnati-based PR agency Justice & Young PR. He can be reached at 513.388.4706; [email protected]