Make Your Press Release Journalist Approved
To put press releases to work for you and your company, you need make your press releases journalist approved. Press releases can be a powerful tool in your marketing plan. They provide credibility in a crowded industry. They can raise your authority within the media and with consumers. They can also help you to connect with new and unexpected customers or clients.
Press releases only work if the journalists and media professionals that receive them choose to put them to work.
Seven Secrets to Journalist Approved Press Releases
1. Create clear and concise content. Keep it simple and to the point. Avoid flamboyant or existential prose. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
2. Speak in 3rd person. Write about a person not as the person (even if that person is you). Utilize pronouns or the last names of people in the article.
3. Ensure correct spelling. Check (and then re-check) the spelling of names and locations. Read through the article several times to search for spelling errors. Request the assistance of at least one more reader to be certain that the words you have written are spelled correctly.
4. Check for correct grammar. Clean up the article. Look for incorrect usage of homophones (like to, two, or too). Let a second or third set of eyes read over the content. Reading the content aloud can also be a benefit to correcting any grammar issues.
5. Develop timely content. You need to be the first to release a press release on the topic. If you can’t be first, then you should engage the content in a new direction or new light. A press release based on news topics from last month or last year will not be the timely content that most journalists are seeking.
6. Master the art of engaging content. Draw the readers into the story. Use connections to the event, support from other leaders or celebrities, or other elements of the story to help the reader connect to the content.
7. Follow the industry format for press releases. Although you need to be engaging and unique when creating press releases, you still must remain within the industry format. Not only will the journalists be more likely to read through your press release, but industry standard format is required for most press release submission services.
Creating a press release is only the beginning of the process. You have to find a way to get the attention of journalists and editors with the content in your press release. An engaging story can go a long ways towards garnering the attention you desire. Clear and concise writing will also be a benefit. Following the industry format for press releases is also a valuable tool for getting journalists to read through your content.
Media professionals are inundated with press releases and story ideas on a daily basis. You want to be certain that your press release rises to the top of the crowd. Understanding what journalists are seeking will help you develop a press release that is journalist approved.
