A press release is
an important and often overlooked tool of creative selling;
and a more cost-effective way of reaching your target audience
than advertising. With the inherent third-party endorsement of
the media implied in every editorial story, a news or feature
article in a newspaper, magazine, or on television or radio,
is an infinitely more credibly-perceived communications
message than an ad or commercial. Publicists less frequently
are favored with hard news stories. They are more often tasked
with getting softer news and feature stories on-air or in
print. Here are some techniques involving creative
conceptualization and application what I call CREATIVE
FORMATTING and they work very effectively when carefully
thought-through and constructed in a press release.
1. Use News to Make
News.
When you prepare a press release or pitch letter,
keep the following editorial criteria in mind:
Relevance
(how valid and appropriate is this story?)
Impact (does
this story affect a large number of people?)
Timeliness
(is the story current?)
Novelty (does the story have an
unusual or unique twist to it?)
Your topic should tie
in with current news issues and/or subjects that concern the
public. Show how one product could be used to the
advantage of a specific news item of the day.
You can
attract a significant amount of publicity by telling editors
that a publishing company or some other entity had come up
with a partial solution to the problem of some important issue
of the time. The story could be picked up by the wire services
and nationally syndicated TV newscasts.
2. Seasonal
Tie-ins
News editors are always looking for feature stories
that tie in with holiday or seasonal happenings.
Example: A Holiday Consumer Affairs Specialist who could talk
about "everything you wanted to know about mailing gifts for
the holidays."
Between Thanksgiving and
Christmas, arrange dozens of phone interviews with
reporters at large radio stations in major markets. Plug
your company in every interview and the entire campaign
tied-in with a major catalogue or website. Sometimes, a
creative p.r. idea can pave the way for a strategic marketing
campaign through a press release.
Another successful
press release campaign could be a tie
in with the advent of winter and escalating fuel prices due to
an international oil crisis.
3. Products Are
Newsworthy when They Are Evolutionary or
Revolutionary
4.
Anniversaries
If the product is vital to the American way
of life, the media might click with a suggestion for a story
on a major anniversary of the product. This includes biggies
like television, radio, refrigerators and cars all the way to
such mundane indispensables as zippers and toothpaste. Other
kinds of anniversaries work too.
5.
Controlled Messages
A controlled message is a message that
you prepare in advance and place with various media as a
finished product.
A video
news feature is simply a 90-second to two-minute news piece
that gets scripted, shot and distributed to newscasts around
the country. The local newscast incorporates the piece as part
of its news coverage, and the average viewer has no idea these
stories are supplied by outside sources.
A matted
column is simply a one-column or two-column story that is sent
to suburban news weeklies as camera-ready copy. They don't
have to edit it or prepare it for print. The column usually
offers some kind of consumer advice, with a discreet yet
effective plug within the story.
Vertical trade
publications are magazines that are published for a specific
audience or industry. Hundreds of them are published each
month. These articles were placed with dozens of
magazines that catered to a variety of industries.
6.
Trends
Example: Demonstrate the most current camera
technology to millions of viewers.
POSITIVE
PUBLICITY SELLS.
A creative press release publicity program can be a
powerful tool for selling your product or service. Publicity
efforts can be more cost-effective than traditional
advertising. Plus, they pack more power because the publicity
comes from recognized media sources instead of from your
company. This increases consumer confidence and promotes a
positive public image. The end result of creative publicity is
an increased awareness that attracts potential customers.
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