Unlike marketing where you need to pay for the audience to notice your business, Lakeland public relations are much more complicated. It demands that you earn the right to be noticed by your target market. One of the most popular ways to earn the attention of your target audience is to write a press release and distribute that to the journalists who cover the particular industry you are trying to target.
Easy, right? Not exactly. Journalists have beats, which means the issues that they cover. Some of them will write political news. Some will talk about economic issues. Others will talk about security. And then some journalists will discuss lifestyle, sports, and many other issues.
You want to target those who cover the particular issue that you discussed in your press release. But how do you get noticed? How can a simple press release have so much impact on a journalist’s perception of whether the material is newsworthy or not? Do you simply chalk it up to luck? Do you just hope that a journalist will take notice of the message you are selling?
Write a Solid Headline
Can you summarize the content of your press release in seven words or less? That’s going to be an art, but a necessary one. if your headline is too long, the journalists won’t even think twice about sending your press release to trash. You have to capture their attention with a concise headline that can give them a glimpse of what to expect from the content of the news release.
Get to the Point
Cut to the chase. Don’t write a long-winding introduction of your company. That’s not a priority. What you should do is tell the journalists why it’s important for them to write about your press release. Do you have a new revolutionary product? Did you donate to a worthy cause? How much is it?
Make It Short
No one wants to read lengthy press releases. Journalists don’t spend all day reading emails and news releases. What they need is to figure out the gist of the story in a short amount of time as possible. They have to decide quickly if your story is worth writing about.
Provide the 5Ws and 1H
These are the basics. Make it easy for journalists to understand why your news release matter. These are the things that a journalist will be looking for in a press release.
Send Only When Important
You don’t need a Lakeland public relations strategy every day. It’s a continuous process. Don’t bombard journalists with three to five press releases every week. What that does is make them get into the habit of ignoring your emails. They won’t give your press releases the time of the day if you send one three times a week or more. Send a news release only when you have something really important to say.
