Every successful marketer or Lakeland public relations specialist has one arsenal: his/her ability to write an effective press release. Sure, this is not the primary job of a PR expert but anyone worth his salt should be able to create a press release that will appeal to the media.
Remember that a press release is not primarily intended for your target market. This is not being written for the consumers. A press release is written for the journalists, who should be attracted and whose interest your write-up should pique.
Journalists are extremely busy and only respond to the best pitches aka press releases. If your press release is sub-par or doesn’t really give them anything important, you’ll find it in their trash folder.
Think like a journalist
You are writing for a journalist to notice you. They don’t need any fluff pieces from you. They need to know what the point of your press release is. Are you introducing a new product?
Did you open a new facility that created hundreds of jobs? Don’t bury the important matters into the middle of the press release. Make the important details stand out.
Make sure your story has value to the publication’s audience
If you are writing a Lakeland public relations press release about the latest trends in vacuum cleaners or other household items, where do you think that should go?
Will CNN care about your environment-friendly vacuum cleaner? Maybe your press release will be better sent to media companies like Good Housekeeping. You need to cater to the publication’s audience, too. Otherwise, they will skip to the next press release that gets sent to their email.
Follow the inverted pyramid
Here’s a formula that every journalist follows; the inverted pyramid. Basically, it just means putting the most important details about the copy in the first paragraph followed by secondary details and then finally, end the article with additional information such as background stories, trends, etc.
The top paragraph should include the 5 Ws and 1 H although that’s more of a general rule than a cardinal one. The secondary details can include quotes and other details in descending order of importance. Finally, the last paragraphs should be dedicated to additional information that can be eliminated if need be.
Most Lakeland public relations press releases put their contact information in the last paragraph so journalists know who to contact if they need more details about the article.
