Press Release Death Greatly Exaggerated
August 7, 2009 by Mary Ellen
After weeks of immersion in social media, days of national Twitter and Facebook headlines, and ongoing news of yet more changes in print publications, no one was more surprised than me when a local newspaper requested a news release from a client. What a great reminder to stay in touch on all levels.
If you run a local, brick-and-mortar business consider keeping local media updated on your firm’s activities with a news release. Here’s a ‘baker’s dozen’ practical tips straight from handbook of “this just happened.”
- Keep an updated list of local publications, their contacts and their deadlines. Some weekly and monthly publications welcome your content and will simply reprint good information for their readers if it’s appropriate. Timeliness require pre-planning.
- Send an announcement to the local press when you have an event – a seminar, a new product release, an information product based on customer research, a change in business hours, a change in location.
- Submit calendar items to appropriate news organizations or online news sites.
- Look for online opportunities to extend media coverage. Some local papers offer online headlines and stories that expand on items in the print version. So, you might get a calendar-only mention in print and a full-blown story online.
- Include a graphic such as a new logo or a picture of your new product in online materials and offer high resolution versions to the media.
- Mesh print information with online opportunities. Add your news release to your website, for example. If an online service carries your story, comment on it, if possible. (NOTE: If the service is not interactive, at least thank the person responsible for publishing your story.)
- Include employees in your information downline. Make sure employees are aware of the news opportunity and provide them with core facts they can share on their individual networks.
- Appoint a contact. Put a specific person in charge of communication related to the event; let them be the point person rather than coordinating through a committee. (For example, in a situation with two partners, make one partner the chief communicator or contact person for media.) Put this person’s name, including cell number and email information, on news releases.
- Quote the highest ranking person in the company. Make that quote available to the person who answers the phone, the those who visit the website and include it in the news release.
- Develop a standard “About Our Company” paragraph and include it at the end of your news item.
- Send an email update to customers and include a link for more information.
- Ask customers to share with a simple ‘thumbs up’ (such as Facebook’s Like This).
- Keep social media current. Update blog posts and various profiles. By all means, if you have a Facebook Fan page for your company, put the information there.
The opportunity for any business becomes a blend of new media into the traditional press release. No choice has to be made. Instead of being completely immersed in urgent details, take a few minutes to think through your plan to generate visibility in your community.
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