If there's one universal statement we hear as public relations professionals, it's that editors seldom look through the stacks of news releases they receive. The electronic form
is just as bad because they can more rapidly hit the garbage can
simply by looking at the name/subject. When they do, they find that the majority are a waste of time, money of and effort. All too often, their disdain is well-founded.
Many editors receive 800 to 1,000 releases a month, a large
percentage of which don't even relate to the editorial direction
of their publications. Even if a release is pertinent to the
publication, many are written so poorly that they defy the editor
to find the news.
Nevertheless, the volume of press releases continues to
increase. With the Internet the volume has increased sharply because
it is extremely easy and very economic to send a release to hundreds if
not thousands of editors with the right spam mail software. Perhaps it's
because they take very little time to produce and require very little
creativity. Anyone who has ever written a book report or a memo
is certain that he or she can write a press release.
If the editor must wade through a stack of such profound
corporate pronouncements to find the few that are really
newsworthy, it's little wonder that your release wasn't printed.
After all, it was probably sandwiched between the latest
"corporate reorganization that will prepare the company for the
next generation of new products" and the "new product that is so
easy to use that your mother-in-law could balance the federal
budget with it."
Don't blame the harried editor for not finding the rose
among the brambles.
Expand Your Horizons
If you're truly interested in expanding your horizons and
doing a better job for your company or clients, you need to look
beyond the lowly news release. There are many other ways to
effectively get your message across to the media and your target
audiences.
Here are some proven concepts you can use to get your
message across:
* Media Alert. If your organization is going to be doing
something that's clearly newsworthy, don't bury the facts in a
drawn-out press release. Use a media alert--a short, punchy
announcement of who, what, when, where and why--designed to catch
the attention of the press.
A media alert is never larger than a one-page bulletin or
fact sheet. It quickly tells the editor or reporter the
essentials of the upcoming event and immediately shows them why
they should attend.
For example, we were once assigned the task of launching a
new video game product in two key cities (New York City and Los
Angeles) just prior to the holiday shopping season. We wanted
immediate local coverage, while limiting the exposure in other
areas of the country where the product wasn't available.
To do it, we scheduled a press conference in each city two
days prior to Thanksgiving.
Western Union Mailgram and email media alerts were sent to area
newspaper, radio and television news departments a week prior to
the event. Two days before the conferences, we sent a slightly
revised media alert over BusinessWire to key media in each city.
Despite the fact that a hurricane passed through the New
England area the evening before the event, we had television news
crews and reporters from the major press outlets in both cities.
The strategy succeeded. The media alerts got the attention
of assignment editors, who made certain they had crews and
reporters at the conference. Those who couldn't attend were had
all of the basic information on the product and knew exactly who
to call for phone interviews. The result was excellent
coverage--in spite of the poor weather.
* Captioned Photos. Regardless of the publication--
newspaper, consumer magazine, business/trade publication
or technical magazine--editors are always looking for
good graphics to enliven their pages.
A quality photograph that tells an interesting story and a
tight, well-written caption can get you broader coverage and
higher visibility than any product enhancement or contract
announcement.
For example, for one of our clients involved in the optical
mass storage industry, we prepared a variety of what might be
termed "artistic shots," showing the history of information
storage and including attractive shots of the storage media. We
also developed a portfolio of photos showing the products in
various applications--legal, medical, banking, finance,
government, general business and so forth.
When talking with editors about special issues and special
reports, we describe some of the photos to get a feeling for the
kind of art they want for that particular issue or article. When
we mutually agree on the type of photography that an editor wanted
to consider, we send him or her a selection of transparencies,
along with concise, descriptive captions.
This approach yielded a multitude of cover photography
and lead article photos, as well as standard product shots in a
broad range of consumer, trade and technical publications.
This coverage is worth the extra effort and expense. The
key is to understand and anticipate the editorial needs of the
publications you are targeting. Many trade magazines only use
static product shots, while others want major graphic photos that
go beyond the norm.
While business, user and news publications generally lean
toward informative user photos and unique graphics, other
publications prefer to discuss graphic concepts with you and
their art department. Once they've settled on a photographic
theme, you'll be asked to loan them products so they can shoot
their own photos.
The key is to determine the publication's needs so you can
give them useful materials that will be published.
* Pitch Letter. The news release is an excellent example
of all that can be wrong with mass production. Generally, the
two- or three-page release is carefully crafted word-by-word. It
is then sent to all of the editors and reporters on your
carefully developed mailing list.
The pitch letter represents an individualized approach of
hitting a specific editor or a group of non-competitive editors
with a specific story concept. The pitch letter isn't designed
to flush out a story; it is designed to plant the germ of an idea
in his or her mind. Then the editor can use his or her
creativity and investigative reporting capabilities to develop
the article.
In one instance, we used the pitch letter approach as a
part of a guerrilla and relationship marketing effort, briefly
explaining the difference between two product approaches (our
client's and a competitor's). We explained how two firms were
using the different approaches. Then, we encouraged the editors
to contact people at the two firms (we provided names/phone
numbers) to explore the differences in cost, performance and
results for their readers.
Once the seeds had been sown, we let them germinate and
grow. In this case, the results included a point/counterpoint
article and three user comparison articles. Our efforts for the
client's customer not only solidified vendor-customer relations,
but also made the customer's management ardent spokespersons for
our client and its products.
On another occasion, we met with the founder of one of our
clients to discuss her views of the changes taking place in the
industry and to measure the impact technology was having on
corporate managers and their staffs.
After summarizing her ideas and thoughts, we prepared three
versions of pitch letters. Over an eight-week period, we sent
the letters to specific editors of major industry business and
trade publications.
We followed up each letter with phone calls to discuss
story ideas and to provide additional information. The materials
we provided included product information as well as descriptions
of various customer applications and phone contacts at the users'
locations.
As a result of these efforts, several publications asked
the corporate founder for articles on her topic, which we
prepared. Three others assigned articles to editors and
reporters, which included interviews with our client.
The results far exceeded the coverage we would have
obtained had we prepared a speech summary news release or a white
paper.
* Editorial briefings. These can be conducted at the
publication's headquarters, regional editorial offices or at the
company's offices. They can even be done over breakfast or
lunch. But the objective should be more than simply "taking an
editor out to lunch." The goal should be to give the editor(s)
and reporter(s) a stronger idea of the company, its marketing and
product development activities, its products and general market
trends.
This is also an excellent time to give the editor or
reporter a look at what the company is planning for the future
and the time-frames involved so they can plan better coverage (if
the product deserves it). Most of the time, these are very
focused mini-press conferences where the news is used as the main
hook for the meeting.
Given sufficient scheduling time, these briefings generally
include a senior manager of the company, a PR representative and
one or more editors/reporters. You have the opportunity to
explain, in a controlled manner, the specific news you want to
present, as well as some of the background information
surrounding the announcement. In addition, the editors/reporters
have a direct line of communication with decision-makers and can
guide the discussion toward their readers' specific areas of
interest.
In short, you're putting an industry authority at the
editors' disposal to provide them with instant information on the
company, products, product plans, applications and the
competition.
Keep in mind that you must plan the editorial briefing well
in advance-- with a specific idea and objective in mind--so that
you don't waste the editors' time. The topic area must be
thoroughly discussed before the briefing so that your company
officer can easily handle even tough questions when they arise.
You'll do your corporate manager and yourself more harm
than good if the briefing looks unfocused and you aren't prepared
to answer the questions that inevitably arise.
* Fact sheets. Editors and reporters are as busy as you
are. They don't always have time to study releases and
backgrounders to ferret out potentially good story ideas. One of
the best vehicles to use in presenting a storyline or article
concept is a fact sheet that highlights concepts and ideas.
This allows editors to quickly scan the page and pick out
the highlights to determine if there is an idea they can develop
into a meaningful piece for their readers.
For one of our clients, we developed a series of fact
sheets we headlined "The Less Paper Office." The pitch was
designed to interest the editors in covering document and image
processing. The fact sheets cited the time, money and effort
savings that could be achieved using optical disk storage
systems.
To heighten editorial interest in specific areas, we had a
standard section discussing the general savings but also tailored
the data to specific application markets--medical/health care,
banking, legal, government and computer networking. Each of the
tailored fact sheets contained summaries of specific users and
their applications, customer contact names and phone numbers, as
well as client and agency contact information.
By constantly updating the fact sheets with new industry
data and user information, the fact sheets have been the primary
source of information for more than 30 major articles in both
horizontal and vertical market publications. Each new article
generates hundreds of reader inquiries--and a growing number of
sales in each market area.
For another client, our objective was to develop a large
number of user case study articles on a limited budget.
Rather than interview each customer and write the articles
for placement as we normally do (time equating to dollars), we
developed user profile fact sheets on their customer/support
activities before and after installing the client's system.
Although many magazines in the trade press accept completed
user case studies (if they aren't veiled ads for the company and
product), others want to prepare their own articles. By giving
them an overview of the situation and highlighting the benefits
firms are receiving, we give the editors an overview of the
potential article. At the end of the fact sheets, we list the
customer name and phone contact information.
Once we have convinced an editor of the worthiness of the
article, we also provide background information on the client's
system so it can be used to develop and enhance their own
article.
It takes considerable time to interview the customer and
prepare the materials to ensure that the information presented is
favorable to our client. However, the results are generally more
flattering than if we had done the articles ourselves.
In each of these examples, our job is to develop good
article concepts, present them to the appropriate editors or
reporters, nurture the article concepts, and make it as easy as
possible for editors to carry out their interviews and prepare
the articles. In addition, it's very important to follow up with
the editor to ensure that he or she has all of the information
and art necessary to support the article.
* Phone calls. When you're in their offices, you'll wonder
how editors ever get a chance to write anything. The phone rings
almost constantly--even when they are on deadline. But the phone
is still the fastest and most economical means of pitching a
story idea.
One of our people used a variation of the phone contact
with an editor who was particularly difficult to contact. After
two weeks of unsuccessful phone calls, he faxed the editor a
quick memo on what he wanted to discuss and gave him choices of
three different times when he could call to discuss the idea
further. The editor circled a time/date and faxed back the memo;
they had their phone conversation and the article appeared. Best
of all, everyone was happy with the results.
When you call an editor, the first thing you should ask is
if he or she is on deadline. Evening paper reporters don't have
time for anything but late breaking news until after 10 or 11
a.m.; Wednesdays and Thursdays are bad for editors and reporters
for weekly publications; and deadlines for monthly publications
range all over the calendar.
If your timing is wrong, tell them you'll call in two
days--if that is convenient. If it is, let them get back to
work. If it isn't, let ask him or her to suggest a better time.
Assuming the time is right, quickly tell the editor why
you're calling and how you think the story angle would be
interesting for the publication's readers. If the editor or
reporter doesn't like the first story idea, have a spare idea or
two ready to discuss
A WORD OF CAUTION: Nothing irritates an editor or reporter
more than a person who calls up and doesn't have the foggiest
idea of the publication's editorial direction, circulation or the
types of news/information they cover. No editor wants to take
his or her time to educate you about the publication. Don't
insult them with your ignorance.
• Email contacts. The major benefits of email is that people
able to read your communications at their convenience rather than have
it as an interruption to their work and you can be relatively certain they
received your message. But if you think you get a lot of email you haven’t
seen anything compared to what editors and reporters receive. They get
megabytes if not gigabytes of email every day.
As a result it is even more important to have a strong message to
lead with and a concise presentation of your idea or proposition. They have
neither the time nor the desire to wade through 2-3 screens just to find the
little gem of a great idea you have sent to them.
As you can see from the above list, there are some
excellent replacements for the overused and abused press release.
They require a lot more creative effort than a school term paper,
interoffice memo or standard two-page news release.
Go Beyond Releases
However, in each instance, these tools do a much better job
of positioning the company and its products/services. They
strengthen the company's relationships with its customers and the
editorial community. In addition, because the coverage is
generally greater than that garnered by a standard release, these
tools can also be used to enhance the the company's image and its
credibility in the marketplace.
Yes, there are times when product, personnel, earnings or
contract releases are sufficient. And, when that time is right,
by all means, use the release. But don't try to make a simple
announcement bigger than it is. Take a straightforward,
professional approach in developing the release and send it to
the appropriate editors and publications.
Whenever possible, try something different to reach the
harried editors. They'll thank you for it. Your boss will thank
you for it. And the people who take the trash out at night will
thank you.
#######
LET'S DO AWAY WITH PRESS RELEASES - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
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