A field trip through the 7 key elements of a great release
As a kid in grade school, the words “we’re watching a movie today” was music to my ears. Would it be another boring PBS documentary or something exciting like “Bill Nye the Science Guy?” No, even better — “The Magic School Bus.”
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We’ve all done it.
Dinner is simmering on the stove and, hey, I have a few minutes to kill. Let me just give social media a quick scan.
Then, before we know it we’ve watched three Tasty videos, an adorable (but worrisome) clip of dogs playing with a bear and received some life motivation from a pre-kindergartener. BAM.
Dinner burns and we find ourselves scraping burnt pasta from the bottom of our cast-iron pot, and eating Nutella out of the jar. Again.
Good content does that. It grabs ya and pulls ya in and makes ya want more.
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Recently, Reputation Ink has been distributing client press releases left and right, and it got us thinking: are newswires worth it? Like really worth it?
In the past, the answer was a resounding ‘yes’ for most public relations professionals, and still is scivolo gonfiabile for some. Newswires were a go-to resource for distribution and SEO purposes, especially for corporate entities that had the funds to use a wire service every time they had news to distribute.
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You take the time to write a compelling press release with a great email subject line to hook the journalist…and nothing happens. Journalists don’t respond to your emails or phone calls, and there’s no sign of a written piece when you search the internet. Sound familiar?
I want to take you inside the mind of a journalist. Outside of my duties at Reputation Ink, I’m a sports business reporter and analyst. As such, I receive dozens of press releases and pitches each day, much like any other journalist. Generally speaking, there’s a lot of noise and not a lot of quality pitches. I always try to keep that in mind when I’m on the other side and am the one drafting and distributing a press release for a client.
Unfortunately, there are times when clients want to send press releases even when we’ve warned them their story might not be newsworthy. It’s understandable – when you’ve worked hard on a transaction, lawsuit, product rollout or other major project, it’s the center of your universe. It can make it hard to understand why it’s not newsworthy to others.
That’s why I thought it would be helpful to let you into the minds of journalists for a moment. The most shocking fact I can tell you is the percentage of press releases and pitches I receive that I end up writing about: five percent.
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If you haven’t gotten your Shark Week fix, it’s time to act fast. Shark Week ends on Saturday, and plenty of savvy marketers have already capitalized on Discovery Channel’s most popular week of the year. However, while those marketers were cooking with gasoline, others seemed intent on only burning themselves and their clients with ill-conceived public relations pitches surrounding the death of comedic legend Robin Williams. Capitalizing on shark week? Great idea. Capitalizing on a tragic celebrity suicide? Terrible idea.
Here’s the best and worst from the world of public relations this week, along with some new research showing public relations is not only a growing field but also an industry full of women.
Cue the Jaws theme…it’s Shark Week! Along with Discovery Channel’s own Shark Week promotions, this week we’ve seen several marketers creatively piggyback on Shark Week. Our very own Heather Kingry tweeted about Shark Week and received a fun and unexpected response. Here was Heather’s tweet:
Love learning new things and getting scared! Addicted to #SharkWeek
— heather kingry (@yrgnik) August 14, 2014
Season Sardines decided to get in on the Shark Week action and respond to Heather:
@yrgnik Here’s something to learn about that is really good for you #SardineWeek pic.twitter.com/cMdeIXSygi
— Season Sardines (@SeasonSardines) August 14, 2014
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As wild weather bombards parts of the nation, it’s time for Reputation Ink’s round-up of the week’s wildest stories in PR, marketing and social media. Which companies and tactics weathered the storm? You be the judge:
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Don’t put all your marketing eggs in one basket
Remember when traditional marketing was dead?
It was only a couple of years ago that everyone from the Harvard Business Review to Forbes magazine was trumpeting the demise of traditional marketing and public relations strategies. In a world of social media and online marketing, they contended, old-school tactics for connecting with customers just wouldn’t cut it.
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Congratulations! You made it to Friday. As Germany and Argentina prepare to face each other once again in the World Cup finals, it’s time for INKsights’ look back at the week’s winners and losers in the world of PR, content marketing and social media.
First, the losers: “Insensitive” was the word of the week, as major retailers got raked over the media coals for using images of historic tragedies in their sales and marketing efforts.
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I recently participated as a panelist in a webinar by BusinessWire for public relations professionals who pitch to journalists covering sports. I was asked to be a panelist because of my experience as a sports business analyst and reporter for outlets such as ESPN, Forbes, and Comcast Sports Southeast. However, I also brought something to the table the other journalists on the panel did not: I’m also a public relations professional.
Before the webinar, each panelist was asked to think of three things public relations professionals should know before pitching to journalists. I think all three of us on the panel immediately went to some version of advising people to only pitch us content relevant to our reporting and our platform. I would conservatively estimate 60 percent of the pitches I receive are on topics or story angles I would never cover for any of the outlets where I report.
A larger problem I discussed, however, is that I miss pitches that are perfect for my reporting because I simply can’t read every email I receive. That’s why it’s imperative to hook journalists from the subject line of your email.
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Writing a press release doesn’t have to be hard. Some writers, intimidated by the thought of writing copy that eventually will be reviewed by professional reporters and editors, make the mistake of trying to “elevate” their writing. Long words replace short ones, sentences become more complex and the message gets lost amid a sea of technical terminology.
By keeping in mind a few simple guidelines, writers can produce shorter, more effective press releases that emphasize clear communication over impressing an editor. Employ these few simple tips, and you may just do both:
Your lead, or opening paragraph, doesn’t have to be fancy or long-winded to get results. It should, however, follow the “inverted pyramid” formula of placing the most important information up top, followed by less important and finally background information. Reporters and editors are busy; don’t make them hunt through your copy to find your news.
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