To get your press release picked up by journalists you need to write for them and speak their language. No outrageous headline claims, using the 5Ws principle, avoiding spelling errors, targeting a list of selected journalists, and writing your press release in the proper format would definitely help you get your press release picked up.
With over 80,000 press releases published each day, you need to learn how to stand out from the crowd and get your news noticed by those who matter.
Learn How To Get Your Press Release Picked Up In 5 Steps
- Write to Inform Not to Impress: Journalists are not circus players, while they can sometimes impress or flatter, their main job is to inform. You should write your press release in a way that it tells the world something unknown before about your business, service, or product.
- Punchy and Captivating Headline: Your headline is the first impression seen about your press release and it definitely determine if it should be read further. Avoid self-praise or use of exclamation marks or quoting figures to impress, rather state facts that informs.
- Press Release Distribution Still Matters: You can choose to send your release to a few journalists, but you can use a press release distribution services as well to help you gain online visibility and target local/industry journalists as well.
- Polish Your Writing Style: The way you write and format your press release is very important. You should have your 5Ws (Who, What, Why, When, and Where) embedded in the first paragraph or between the first and second. The reader can quickly understand the essence of your release and would want to read further.
- Use Bullet Points In Your Release: Using bullet points makes it easy to read and this means more people can get to read it. You will have higher chances of seeing your press release picked up if you write it in a way that makes it easy for people to read.
- Choose Your Release Time Wisely: Most PR professionals do not issue a release on Mondays and Fridays. The simple reason is most people would be tired out on Fridays and would have too much to read from Friday-Sunday overload of press releases. Let your PR go out between Tuesdays-Thursdays, you stand a better chance of someone getting to pick up your press release.
- Issue Press Releases Frequently: Most people would expect a single press release to do the magic. While anything is possible, this looks more like a gamble. When you issue out more press releases, you increase your footprints and stand a better chance of having one of your releases gaining traction.
- Keep Innovating And Improving: Every journalist would want to be the first to break the news about an innovative company. When your brand is well-known for innovations and marketing surprises no matter how little, your PR will definitely gain more attention. You can expect a PR from your company to gain lots of traction and could even trend, if that is what people are interested in.
- Flow With The Moment: You can take advantage of trendy news and attach a release to the trendy news if it’s a positive. Since such a name or event is gaining traction, all you need is to relax your mind and flow with the tide.
- Indicate Your Contact Details: Your press release can go beyond the first few paragraphs and if this happens, your contact details might be the only way the readers or journalists can get in touch to you.
