Are you ready to write your media release but you just don’t know what to include or where to begin? Let us help you, with six simple steps!
1. Identify your PR Objectives
The first step to consider when writing your media release is to correctly identify your PR objectives. To help with this step, you can ask yourself, is your goal to build your profile as an expert and/or thought leader in your industry? Is your goal to create brand awareness of your business? Is your goal to increase lead conversions and sales? Keep in mind, you may have more than one objective, and that’s okay… but, ensuring they are clearly identifiable is key in a successful media pitch!
2. Identify your Key Message
Once you have identified your key PR objective/s, you must identify your key message/s. Ensure your key message/s are consistent with others used in this campaign, relevant to the current campaign, and concise and easy to remember.
3. Know your Call to Action
Figuring out your Call to Action (CTA) will help get your message across to your target audience and urge them to act accordingly. Just think, what do you want the media to know and what action do you want the audience to take? This may be leads, such as clicks, enquiries and visits; sales, including ticket sales, and app downloads; behavioural change; and brand awareness and credibility.
4. Determine your Target Audience & Target Media
Now that you have your key objective/s, key message/s, and call to action in place, you must determine your target audience and target media. This is a crucial step in successfully pitching to the media. Decide who you are targeting with this release, what media they are consuming – is it Local, State, National, Niche, etc; and determine optimal lead times required for your target media. Remember – a tailored pitch to the target media is much more effective than a scattergun approach!
5. Ensure your Story is ‘Newsworthy’
You have gotten this far, but is your story newsworthy or advertorial? A newsworthy story’s purpose is to inform and educate; provide value to the media outlet’s target audience; and is timely, current, and relevant. Some examples of newsworthy stories include inspirational or educational customer success stories; collaborations; events; new products, services or premise; any industry trends you may jump on; and any new research or statistics you have found interesting and relevant to you and your message. Journalists see value in sharing this story with their target audience, we use a term for this, called ‘earned media’. On the other hand, advertorial stories are more promotional in nature and sales driven. Journalists are trained to spot an advertorial pitch, and some media outlets have strict rules about promoting commercial products. So, think carefully when creating your newsworthy story!
6. Choose your supporting Talent
Choosing the right support talent for your media release is ideal to showcase your story/message to its best potential. When determining your talent, you should consider whether your talent supports key message/s and adds credibility and newsworthiness to your story. Your chosen talent should also have the right brand alignment. Finding someone that genuinely fits with your brand will help effectively portray your message. The talent must also be reliable and available for media interviews – a journo’s worst nightmare is when talent is unreachable and unreliable, as we all know, they work to TIGHT deadlines and do not have time to be chasing talent back and forth!
Depending on your target media, you will also need to consider strong, engaging visuals and/or audio, (check out our recent blog ‘The Importance of creating your own Content’ for help) and ensure you know their timeframes BEFORE sending your media release. By ensuring you consider these six simple steps the next time you are pitching to the media, you are sure to be well-prepared, and confident in your pitch!
