Distributing you news releases to the right people

Before I start today, if you have been reading my blog over the last week or so you will detect a definite trend forming! I’ve been talking about news releases, what they should say, how they should look etc. Can I just point out here that The Ideal Marketing Company is not JUST a PR company. We do all sort of marketing including direct mail.

If anything we specialise in LOW COST marketing. That is, we aim to help companies make the most of the budget they already have. Now in some cases this can be through PR. If you have a company that is ‘media friendly’ we would recommend that PR becomes one of the methods you use to promote it because quite simply if you company does get into the media spotlight, it can generate £10,000 worth of media coverage or more from a single day’s work – which is a good return on anybody’s investment in marketing. In fact I once generated £600,000 worth of sales for a client from about 3 hours work (in PR) one morning.

Anyway, as we have been concentrating on PR in the blog lately, I thought it would make sense to carry on the theme.

Once your press release is ready, you now need to send it out. You will need to invest in some form of database which contains the contact details of all sections of the media. I use PR Planner which provides a comprehensive package: names, contact details and useful background information such as circulation figures and target audience.

1. The use of a database makes it quick and easy to send out large numbers of press releases, but this in itself has its pitfalls. Do not succumb to the desire to send out huge quantities of releases which do not have a clear focus audience. You must edit your recipient list carefully by reading through the background information and deciding if this particular publication, radio or TV station would find your release newsworthy- remember that this will be different for different areas of the media.

2. Plan the optimum time for sending out your release- if it is a current hot topic; send it out as soon as possible. As a general rule, the best time to send a press release is between 9am and 2pm; having tried a combination of times, I have found that these work best. Friday afternoon is best avoided unless you have a specific reason for sending your release out at this time.

3. Having sent the release, make sure that all your contacts are available and that their mobile phones are switched on- if a journalist tries once or twice to get through to you and can’t, they may well not try again. A good rule of thumb is to treat a journalist as you would a business prospect i.e. make it as easy as possible for them to reach you.

4. As a general rule, don’t follow up your press releases with a phone call. Journalists are very busy and hate being swamped with calls about every release they receive. If they find your story newsworthy, they will come back to you for more information if they need it. The only time you should routinely call the newsroom is if you wish to offer a story as an exclusive, or if the story has changed significantly since sending the original release.

5. If a journalist phones you for more information, what should you say? Basically listen to their questions and answer them as fully as you can. They may want more background, or to know how an idea originated. Prepare for this by discussing these elements with the other named contacts to ensure consistency, and also that you have the information at your fingertips. You are selling the idea to them, but not the product.

6. One good way to prepare for a possible interview is for a colleague or friend to ask you relevant practice questions – this way you are conversant with the information and fully prepared, enabling you to make the most of the opportunity offered by a one to one contact.

7. A newspaper journalist will ask questions and write down a summary of your answers, so if there is a particularly significant point that you wish to make, slow down and repeat your point for emphasis. This is particularly important when it comes to statistics or price, as it is so easy to make mistakes with figures. Try to equate price to something tangible e.g. this system costs £8000 the equivalent of VW Polo- this way a journalist can’t get it wrong.

8. However, when carrying out a radio or TV interview, the opposite is true. Whilst it may be edited, you can’t be misquoted. This means that all your hesitations and repetitions may be broadcast, so it is important to think carefully about what you intend to say and which points you wish to make before going into an interview situation. If you make a mess of an important point ask if you can say it again.

9. Journalists very busy people and will normally have to visit and write up several stories in a day. Please respect this and don’t expect them to make your story the focus of their day! If they give you a time that they will be with you, show them the courtesy of being there, prepared and ready for them when they arrive. I waited around outside a client’s building in the cold once with a reporter who was supposed to run a live piece during the breakfast show at 8.20. Nobody turned up at the building until after 8.30. The live piece had to go out late, the producer of the breakfast show was not pleased and this act of rudeness will not have done the company any favours for future news releases.

10. It is worth remembering that the vast majority of releases you send to publications will disappear and you will never hear about them again. Even if a story is a hit, you may only hear from a handful of reporters. Of the rest, many will be binned, although a lot of magazines will either run your release as it is, or in an edited version. They won’t bother to contact you about it; they will just run the story.

The Ideal Marketing Company supports Leicestershire and Northamptonshire companies as well as companies from across the UK with marketing, PR and direct mail. The Ideal Marketing Company helps support companies with marketing consultancy in order to generate new business wins as well as making the most of existing customers.