SHARING YOUR STORIES WITH THE MEDIA
Public relations (PR) is a highly effective and powerful promotion tool, a must for any well-stocked marketing tool kit. As shared in last week’s post, by investing time, creativity, and imagination, it is relatively easy to generate and share real news about your company or organization, garnering higher share of voice and positioning your organization or firm in a positive light in the marketplace of ideas.
Defined as free communications about your company, organization, or industry, generated from your actions, PR can include articles carried by newspapers, newsletters magazines and web sites; reports on radio, TV, web logs, or podcasts; or information shared in formal or informal social networks by word-of-mouth or word-of-mouse.
Key to PR success is knowledge of appropriate ways – informally and formally – to share your stories with the media.
Generating Favorable Publicity Can Be As Simple As Picking Up The Phone
Regardless of company size, public relations can help take the business of any Concrete Promoter to a higher level.
Often … you do not need a PR specialist on your payroll or the services of an business communications consultant (like the Phill Domask Consultancy) to support your company’s PR efforts … though there may be times – when your goal is to significantly change public opinion, for example – when outsourcing your public relations efforts make solid sense.
PR can be as simple and informal as a ready-mix producer or concrete contractor picking up the telephone, calling the editor of the local newspaper, and saying: “I think we’re involved in something your readers would be interested in.” (Remember: Most editors believe media consumers are “sidewalk superintendents.”)
Explain to the editor what your company has done that is newsworthy (see last week’s post to learn 10 ways to generate real news about your company) and ask the editor two additional questions:
- “Is this something your publication (or station) would be interested in covering?”
- “What can our company (or organization) do to help make covering the story easier?”
Newspapers, magazines and trade publications, online media, and television and radio stations (over-the-air, cable, and satellite) need stories to fill in the gaps around ads and commercials (no stories … no content for publications, web sites, blogs, eBulletin boards, or broadcasts) and rely on stories from businesses and organizations to support the news-gathering efforts of staff reporters and free-lance contributors.
When your company’s stories share real news, news outlets and trade media will welcome the opportunity to share your success with their audiences … often based on a simple phone call from a local, marketing-savvy Concrete Promoter.
Formal Story Sharing
Most publications (print and online) and radio and television stations are short-staffed and first priority is given to breaking news and editorial calendar articles. This leaves very little time for staff to do the necessary legwork to follow up on story suggestions businesses or organizations share by on the telephone, no matter how compelling or newsworthy the story is.
Because of these time constraints, first priority is often given to well-written story submittals able to fit into the publication, or transferred to the news copy and teleprompter, with little or no editing.
The formal way to communicate a story submittal to the media is to contact them – by email, fax, or snail mail – through a press release formatted on your letterhead.
Writing a Press Release: Who … What … When … Where … Why or How
1. Start by providing the date and contact and release information in the upper left hand corner of the letterhead. Example:
June 1, 2006
Contact: Cherish Schwenn
Phone: 800.242.6298
Email: cschwenn@wrmca.com
For Immediate Release
2. Always provide a headline suggestion. Example:
Call for Entries: Construction Projects Sought for Annual Concrete Design Award Competition
3. Always provide a dateline, words at the beginning of a news story or press release giving the story's place of origin. Example:
Madison, Wis. - The Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete …
4. Always provide a solid lead paragraph, sharing the who, what, when, where, and why or how of your story. Example:
Madison, Wis. – The Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association has issued a call for entries for the Annual Concrete Design Awards competition. The awards are a part of a prestigious program showcasing best uses of ready-mixed concrete in Wisconsin and MichiganÅfs Upper Peninsula.
5. Always provide supporting information in the body of your press release …
Expand on the information provided in your lead paragraph, especially the “what” and “why or how” parts. Include quotes (with permission) from key employees, customers, or outside experts.
The body of your press release will normally be longer than one paragraph, with the final body paragraph summarizing the key, newsworthy points of the press release.
6. End the release with a short, backgrounder-paragraph about your company or organization – based on its value proposition(s) – followed by the letters xxx (media code for end of story). Example:
To see the entire release, click HERE.Based in Madison, the Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association (WRMCA) represents the ready-mixed concrete industry in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula and advances industry interests through legislative action, promotion, and education.
– XXX –
Master Press Release Principles
Even if you decide picking up the phone (informal story sharing) will be your primary PR practice, it can be beneficial to master the six press release principles listed above. Following the six steps helps companies and organizations to structure their stories to best fit into a publication, or to be easily transferred to news copy or a teleprompter.
The Competition for Free Publicity is Intense
Because PR helps establish and support trust and credibility and provides higher return on investment than any other marketing communications vehicle, the competition for free publicity is intense. To maximize return on your PR investment, be sure to share your stories with the media only when they represent real news, and use structured formal or informal methods for sharing your story with publishers, editors, and reporters.
To comment on this post, click HERE. Please include the phrase “sharing stories” in your subject line.
Next Week: Building brands through public relations.