5 Methods To Make Your Press Release More Successful

Its a well known fact that one of the most effective ways a company receives free publicity and builds its expertise by gaining media attention. Although it takes time and work to get noticed by reporters, the basis of a great public relations campaign is the media release. If you are seeking to develop a positive relationship with media professionals, many times a media release is the easiest way in.

However, not all media releases are created equal. Most of them wind up in the trash. If you want members of the media to call you regarding stories you pitch, or for stories they are already working on, you must send the right message in your media releases. The following five elements should help you communicate your message effectively:

1. The Basics of Journalism Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
Facts are the basis of every news story, and when reporters need basic, facts they often turn to media releases. This is the why who, what, when, where, why, and how of the story are so important. When creating your media release, take a few minutes to organize the facts about the news you want to communicate. This information sets the groundwork for the entire document, and you should reinforce it in the opening paragraph of your release so news editors dont need to read very far to get the gist of your message.

2. A Catchy, but Brief Headline
Press Release Headlines should communicate what the story is about, capture the attention of the reader, and so in as few words as possible. Your headline present the news in in a catch, but informative manner, such as Teen Smoking is On The Rise Despite Improves in Technology, Productivity is Down.

3. You Need to Entice the Reader.
Once youve gotten your readers attention, you need to hook them. It should be something to compel the reader to continue reading, such as a startling fact or statistic, a compelling question, or a common problem. This hook often communicates a common problem and a startling statistic, such as This year 40 percent of high school students will try tobacco or At least 30% of adult males have an undiagnosed learning disability.

4. A Couple of Quotes
As you diver deeper into the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your story, providing as much detail as you can in as few words as possible, you will start to craft the body of your media release. In doing so, you should also include quotes that the reporter can pull right from your release. The media loves getting quotes directly from the source of the news and by providing them with a quote or two, you make the their job that much easier, greatly improving your chances of getting mentioned in the paper. If possible you should use quotes that really highlight the impact of your news.

5. The Call to Action
Even though you got your main points in, you still have to close your media release with a call to action. If you want reporters to call you for an interview, you should say so. If you want them to cover your event, make that your call to action. Dont forget to include your contact information.

Remember the goal of your press release should be to get media mentions for your business. Its like free advertising and it establishes you as the expert in your field. Remember, even if you dont get written up in a full length story, media professionals may keep your information on file for when the do need your expertise. So the better your press release is, the greater your chances of getting that free publicity, you are seeking.