Press Relations (PR)

By Nigel Temple

Here are some of the secrets of the PR trade.  In this context, 'PR' means 'Press Relations'. PR is five times more effective, on a space comparison basis, than advertising *gasp*.  When you stop to think about it, this isn’t really that surprising, is it?  After all, do you buy a newspaper or magazine just to look at the adverts?

Any form of advertising is clearly produced by a particular organisation. They have paid to get their message across. The reader knows that they are being 'sold to’.  They will therefore put the requisite 'filters' in place.

On the other hand, press editorial has presumably been independently  researched and written by journalists.  Er, hasn't it?

The answer is that, by and large, it has.  This is especially the case in the national press and for the broadcast media. However, it is quite common to see articles in the trade and professional press which have been written and contributed by companies. Furthermore, the new products and people sections are usually 90%+ the results of the efforts of the PR industry. Beyond this, you might be quite surprised just what an influence companies, charities, the government, special interest groups and others have on the 'independent' media.

News value
Whenever a journalist reads your PR material, they will be wondering whether their readers / listeners / viewers are going to be interested in this story. This is the acid test of PR success. If you send out boring, self-centred copy with zero news value, guess what? It will never appear in the media. So whatever you communicate to the media must be relevant and interesting to their audiences.

Larger organisations have more things going on. They are launching more products / services; winning more clients and appointing more people, etc. In other words – they are generating more news value. So, if you are a small business – you just have to be that bit more creative, right?

Press Releases
Press releases are the staple diet of many PR professionals. I’m going to teach you the elements of how to put a great press release together. Depending on the size of your business and your resources – I recommend that you try and get at least one and preferably two press releases out of the door every month.

• Press release headlines should be informative. In other words - they should tell the recipient what this release is all about.
  
  
• Ensure that the opening sentence and the first paragraph tells the reader what the story is about (i.e. don't leave them gasping until page three - because they won't bother to read that far).
  
  
• Use short words, sentences and paragraphs.
  
  
• One or two page press releases are fine (all mine are one page)

Tip: Consider using a professional copywriter to do this for you. They are not that expensive!

Your reasons for sending out a press release could include:

• New or enhanced product/ service
• New contracts/ orders
• Personnel Changes
• Picture Story
• Events
• New Venture

Building your media list
Decide where you would like to see yourself / your products and services appearing. Start building up a database on your PC of the names and addresses of these media – including the Editors’ name, telephone number etc. You are now building a media list. A good place to start would be any relevant trade, professional, or national press which you receive.

The next step is to go to your local library and check out the reference section. You will most likely find a selection of Media Information guides. These will contain all the of contact details for the newspapers, magazines and broadcast stations which may well be interested your business and your story. If they’re not there – ask the librarian and / or go to a bigger library. If you’re lucky – there may be business library that you can get to (usually found in big cities).

Don’t forget to add a standard 'boiler plate' paragraph, right at the end of the press release. This gives a thumbnail sketch of your organisation. Sometimes, this is marked 'For Editors information'. It'll tell them what you do; when you were founded; how big you are (turnover, number of staff); where you operate; recent developments, and anything else of this nature that you feel is relevant. You can then use this paragraph at the end of each of your press releases.

If you are in the UK, check this website out:  www.mediauk.com
...it is a free resource for building your media list.

Building relationships with the media
On balance, it is more important to have a good story to tell, than lots of well established media contacts to tell it to. However, time spent cultivating a select group of key contacts will pay handsome dividends.

Good luck with your PR campaign! Keep trying different approaches and ideas - but above all, keep communicating!

Written by Nigel Temple, the UK based business-to-business marketing consultant, trainer, speaker and author. Visit: www.nigeltemple.com