Press Releases - Tips for Ensuring Your Topic Is Newsworthy

Press Releases – Tips for Ensuring Your Topic Is Newsworthy

One of the best methods for getting the word out about your business is to send a press release. However, it’s important to know how, when, why and to whom you should send a press release if you want them to help your business. One way is to ensure that your press release topic is newsworthy.

To ensure that your topic is newsworthy, consider the following:

1. Which Audience to Target

To make your press release newsworthy you have to know what is news to your audience, and who distributes that news to your audience. Obviously, if your business is about technology you would not target the story to people who don’t pay attention to technology. You’d target the story toward your audience using terms and jargon that they would use.

2. When to Send Your Press Release

When you send it is just about as important as what you write about and to whom – if you send it at the wrong time, your press release will end up in the circular file. Get to know when your contacts like to receive press releases. Different topics have priority at various times. They say that Monday and Friday are bad days to send press releases due to the volume.

3. Who to Send Your Release To

If you’re using a service, ensure that they don’t send them out willy-nilly but are more targeted. If you are sending them out yourself, ensure that you know the exact name and email address or fax number to use to send the press release to in order to ensure it is read. Many services just blanket everywhere with the release and this is not the best use of your time or money. If you know the people personally that you’re sending the press release to, you can worry less about the day and more about the person.

4. How to Craft a Compelling Headline

Editors don’t have time to read an entire press release most of the time, and aren’t going to spend time editing them either. So, take the time to craft your headline so that it tells the story in one line that is going to be told in the press release to come.

5. How to Properly Compose the Body of Your Press Release

Learn how to compose a press release correctly so that the formatting is right. Press releases have a standard that is designed by the Associated Press. Use the AP Stylebook to help you compose your press release correctly and professionally.

6. Tie Your Release to Recent Headlines

If you can somehow tie your release to headlines that are current then your release will get more attention. The press likes to saturate everything with the same news, so if you can tie your release with what’s happening right now you’re more likely to get it published.

7. Make Your News Coincide with a Holiday

Even holidays that are very little known are good ways to tie your release to something newsworthy. The press, especially during slow news times, love giving their readers information about little-known holidays and facts. If your press release can connect to and coincide with any holiday, you’re more likely to get noticed.

8. Connect Your Release with Recent Research Results

If you can somehow connect your release with recently published research, your release will be more newsworthy. For example, if you have a food blog and just released a new cookbook full of low carb menu items and you can connect that to and mention the research that suggests low carb diets are healthy, you’re going to be more likely to get your press release published.

9. Don’t Spam Editors

Only send releases when you really have something to report such as a grand opening, re-opening, product release or event announcement. Don’t send one for every new blog post that you write. Have a good reason to send the release and your audience will have a good reason to read it, which means the press will have a good reason to publish it.

When you follow the rules and treat press connections as human beings, while crafting newsworthy press releases, you’ll get excellent results from your efforts.


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