11 minute read
Press Releases: Make ‘em Count!
By Daris Gibbons
The press release is a long-standing method of getting information out to the public through traditional and now social media channels. But what do we really know about this much-used tool with which we often share a love/ hate relationship?
The first recorded press release is credited to Mr. Ivy Ledbetter Lee in 1906. His public relations agency was working with the Pennsylvania Railroad when one of its trains derailed. Mr. Lee made the decision to be proactive. Instead of waiting to see what the press would write, he wrote and distributed the story from the railroad’s perspective. The New York Times published that release verbatim, and the press release was born! An interesting little side note about Mr. Lee is that he was a former journalist who had decided to “switch sides” to work in the public relations field because it paid better!
As news began to travel faster with the onslaught of technology, public relations firms worked tirelessly to get their messages in front of journalists. To that end, in 1952, the PR Newswire company began putting teleprinter machines into newsrooms across the country. These machines enabled PR agencies to get their messages out in their own words over phone wires quickly and accurately. Some PR firms would furnish the teleprinters to newsrooms for free. They then charged their PR clients a service fee to put press releases out on the machines.
Here I offer a bit of my personal history to help you, my reader, understand my background with the topic. When I officially became an employee of my mother’s advertising and PR firm some 81 years after Mr. Lee’s press release, 5” floppy discs were the height of technology. We used daisy wheel printers, a Xerox machine, envelopes, stamps, wet sponges in a dish, and the US mail service to get our client’s message out. I think this is where the roots of my “hate” part of my relationship with the press release began. It is also where the concept of “lead time” was genuinely instilled within me.
Mom was the college graduate in the family. Her degree was in radio, television & film production. She was also a creative writer and had a knack for coming up with amazingly effective advertising campaigns for clients. She was also an avid researcher. All this added up to media contact lists that few small public relations agencies had at the time and a mailing routine that took no more than two days. The process went something like this: Once she had written the press release, my job was to print all the mailing labels (usually between 50 and 500), make copies of the release, fold, stuff, seal, address, stamp, and mail all of them. Then, we waited, sometimes up to 2 weeks depending on how far the press releases needed to travel.
We maintained lists of which media received what information for which client without the aid of Excel! After the appropriate waiting period came the time to work through our list for the follow-up calls. This step, I was taught, was the most critical part of the PR game. This step was the opportunity to build relationships with the media. I learned a lot about the different types of media and what they look for before they look at the information covered in a release. I realized I could easily establish a great rapport with many national and trade editors while local media could be a bit more stand-offish and reluctant to cover our client’s news.
I was excited that at the ripe old age of 19, I convinced newspaper and magazine editors across the country to write about our clients with no college education. The day one of our local TV news stations came out to our client’s location to do a story about their innovative van conversions for paraplegic drivers was a huge feather in my professional cap. I was even permitted to “take point” as the contact person during the interview and helped coach the client through the interview. Up until that day, I was always in the background as the company “gofer.”
After that, I was deemed ready to learn to write the document that was the backbone of our little company, the press release! My education in high school beyond general studies was business and administrative assistance. I knew how to take dictation, write a letter, and file but, press releases terrified me! The internet was a way off yet, and my mom’s standards for writing were incredibly high.
She started by teaching me the essentials: the 5 W’s - Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Then, as applicable, the How. I made my first attempts; they were epic failures. Mom was more of a doer than a teacher, so I mainly learned through being corrected rather than directed.
She used to tell me that a press release was written like an inverted pyramid. The most important information goes at the top, and the details and “fluff” go at the bottom. The release was not the whole story. Their purpose was to generate enough interest in the subject that a reporter is assigned to start asking questions. That reporter then writes the article or broadcasts the story. She explained the value of public relations over advertising. A story written or covered by a reporter has more credibility in the public eye than even the best-placed ad.
While media has exploded into a genre that few can keep up with, the press release remains a marketing staple. It is surprising that many marketing people still don’t understand how to write an effective press release or even IF one should be written. Perhaps the single-minded focus on “getting the message out” causes many to use the press release as a routine means to that end.
However, before we take the proverbial pen to paper for our next event press release, we need to ask ourselves some key questions. The first question we should ALWAYS ask is, “What makes this newsworthy?” The media is looking for real news. The fact that an event is happening is considered “fluff” by most media. That won’t sell papers or grab ratings. What amazing new thing is happening with your event? Do you have new systems in place? Did you land a colossal headliner? What information about your upcoming event is “WOW”?
Once you’ve figured out where the actual interest-grabbing news is, you want a headline that will stand out in an email box that could get over 500 emails a day! Use your teams for this. I’ve even used my kids for this! Get creative, brainstorm, and use words that evoke an emotional response — a modern example, “ABC Festival Says, Sanitation is the New Sexy!” then go into the new ways the event is working to keep attendees safe in a post-pandemic world.
Sub headlines are a great way to draw your journalists in to investigate the release further. They serve as a “trailer” that allows them to glimpse what information they will find when they read. Sub headlines are also a great place to begin to include keywords that help clarify the event, its purpose, geographical area, etc. Keywords also help grab the attention of those little search engine bots that can bring your information to the top of the press release distribution services (the modern equivalent to those teleprinters I mentioned) that journalists pour over in search of exciting stories. Our good friend, Google, also used these little bots and spiders to help get our message in front of potential attendees to help create the buzz we are looking to achieve.
Well, now that you’ve got their attention, introduce yourself! Place your contact information where they can’t miss it! Also, let them know when it’s safe to “let the cat out of the bag” and the city and state where the news is taking place.
Mostly, it looks something like this:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: (Person in the know) (Phone #) (email address) Anywhere, AZ -
Next is your “meat and potatoes” section. Here is where you want to think not just about presenting your 5 Ws but in what ORDER you can best give them! Remember that inverted pyramid? Here is where it comes into play. The most important information should go at the top and take up the most space or sentences. Sometimes, more and more often these days, that information is NOT the who but the WHY of the 5Ws. The next most important item comes next and takes up fewer sentences. Of course, the most appropriate “W” here would be the WHO. From there, each of the remaining Ws (and any possible HOWs) gets listed according to importance. With each taking fewer and fewer words. When you have included two or more Ws in a sentence, you’re on a roll! Remember that your goal is not to write the story; it’s to grab attention and pull in the reader as quickly as possible. Think of it as the written version of your thirty-second elevator speech. You end it with an invitation to your reader to get off the elevator on your floor.
Need to include comparative statistics, figures, or quotes from key personnel? While it may seem counterintuitive, this information only plays a “supporting role” for the “meat and potatoes” section. Consequently, place it toward the bottom (the tip) of the inverted pyramid.
The name of this next section always invokes visions of Jack Torrance tending the s in the Stanley Hotel. It is called the boilerplate. The term initially did refer to the rolled steel “manufacture’s label” used on boilers that heated water. In printing, metal printing plates were created for advertisements and syndicated columns then distributed to small, local newspapers. These plates standardized the information printed and, by analogy, became known as the “boilerplate.” This section tells journalists who your company is and what it does. Traditionally, it has been a brief description. Today, most press release writers direct the reader via a website link to their “About Us” or “Media” page that takes them straight to this information.
Now you want to remind them exactly where this unique story is coming from! So, repeat the company or event contact information for good measure. In this space, the company or event is the star, not the individual bringing the news to their attention. You can think of it as the place where you open the front door of your company/event and invite them to take a look around. The simplest way to do that is to extend a digital invitation for them to check out your website. Think about your landing page for this link. Do you want media to land in the same place as the general public? Is it ok if the general public lands on the page from a Google search? At the very least, link them to either your home page or the about us page.
Now, show off!! Attach at least one phenomenal photo. It can be more of a challenge than it seems. “A picture’s worth a thousand words.” Choose those words carefully. Pick three to five pictures that convey the message you want about your event. Circulate them among your people and get feedback. You can even survey departments and friends to determine the top one or two photos.
It took years to get the “close to perfect” picture of knights fighting at our Renaissance Faire fundraiser. And while one of the knights in the photo likes to take credit for being the star of the image, it was the background that was the true star! The audience, the tents, the straw bales, and the lack of glaring power wires in the background conveyed more information than the knights in the foreground. The photo as a whole says, “Come as you are and experience genuine historically accurate knights doing battle in a historical setting...up close and personal!” The best part? The spectators are smiling! That is my go-to photo.
In closing, how to close! Traditionally, the document ends with -30- or the more modern # # #. No one knows exactly where the tradition originates. One theory comes from telegraph days when X marked the end of a sentence, XX marked the end of a paragraph, and XXX (Roman numeral for 30) marked the end of a story. The mark should appear either above the boilerplate or at the bottom of the document. In either case, it needs to be centered. It tells the reader that the document is complete.
Daris Gibbons is the Executive Producer at Village EVENTures Productions. Daris produces events in rural Northeastern Az to promote tourism and raise funds for a scholarship foundation she co-founded in 2016. Event production is her fourth career and the one that allows her to best incorporate her passion for lifelong learning, team leadership, love of entertaining. Experienced in production through associations with her parents’ careers in the radio and public relations industries, Daris started doing events independently in 2008. The majority of the events she produces are historical in theme: a Renaissance Faire, Steampunk festival, and a Charles Dickens experience.
Tips & Tricks:
• Try to keep the release to 400-500 words. If not, try to keep it to one page.
• According to Prowly.com, the best day to send your release is Thursday, and the best time to send it is between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the recipient’s time zone.
• Think about attaching a short video in place of or in addition to photos. The best video length to maximize engagement these days is right about 3 minutes.
In closing, learn to be concise with information, creative with headlines, and above all else….SHOW THEM YOUR PASSION!
WWW.KALIFF.COM
