The essence of good public relations is good content. To be able to attract the interest of journalists and bloggers, your business must have news, stories to tell. Some businesses struggle to determine what would be considered ‘news’ in their organisation or separate what is news to you as a business owner and what is newsworthy and of public interest.
Before you draft a press release or pitch a journalist with a possible story, ask yourself the following guideline questions:
-Do you think your story is something you would find in a newspaper/radio/TV?
-As a reader/listener, would this story be of interest to you?
-If so, which publication or radio station?
Your local or regional publication or radio station?
A national newspaper or radio show?
-Or which section?
Would it be suitable for business pages, a ‘what’s on’ section, a features supplement? Maybe a particular radio or TV show?
Some ideas on what could be newsworthy to journalists:
-You are launching an innovative product.
-Your business is expanding and creating a considerable number of jobs in the next few weeks/months.
-Your business or you have received an important award.
-You have an appointment, ideal for the business pages.
-You have agreed an important business deal or partnership.
-At a local level, charity and community engagement news are also appreciated by the regional reporters.
-Hosting an event is not necessarily newsworthy, unless there is a unique angle to it and you are pitching to ‘what’s on’ sections, local events listings or feature writers working on that specific topic.
And, what is definitely not newsworthy:
You business has a new website – unless it is a very extremely unique website that nobody has done before. It is news to you and, of course, extremely important, but not newsroom material.
If you have just revisited your brand, spent a fortune on new logos and produced the most beautiful glossy brochures. This may have cost a fortune, hurt like hell to produce and be the bases of all ingoing communications but it is just not news.
If you intend expanding your business or growing your customer base or targeting new markets we are very happy for you, but until such time as you increase the bottom line, sign up new customers or open new offices to support burgeoning business in far away places then please do not ask journalists to write about a future ware press release.
You have upgraded your widget. It may have cost thousands of euro and taken a team of nuclear physicists to crack the code but unless the end result is significantly changed in terms of features and benefits, then it is very hard to sell as news. Unless perhaps you are a car manufacturer and then every new flashing light can arouse interest in the passionate breasts of car lovers
The most important thing to remember is to find the right story for each publication or section. Relevance is key. And also a bit of luck!
By on May 22, 2012 /
PR commentary /
Comments Off on What is a good PR story? Let’s rephrase that shall we? What is a good story? Period!
The essence of good public relations is good content. To be able to attract the interest of journalists and bloggers, your business must have news, stories to tell. Some businesses struggle to determine what would be considered ‘news’ in their organisation or separate what is news to you as a business owner and what is newsworthy and of public interest.
Before you draft a press release or pitch a journalist with a possible story, ask yourself the following guideline questions:
-Do you think your story is something you would find in a newspaper/radio/TV?
-As a reader/listener, would this story be of interest to you?
-If so, which publication or radio station?
Your local or regional publication or radio station?
A national newspaper or radio show?
-Or which section?
Would it be suitable for business pages, a ‘what’s on’ section, a features supplement? Maybe a particular radio or TV show?
Some ideas on what could be newsworthy to journalists:
-You are launching an innovative product.
-Your business is expanding and creating a considerable number of jobs in the next few weeks/months.
-Your business or you have received an important award.
-You have an appointment, ideal for the business pages.
-You have agreed an important business deal or partnership.
-At a local level, charity and community engagement news are also appreciated by the regional reporters.
-Hosting an event is not necessarily newsworthy, unless there is a unique angle to it and you are pitching to ‘what’s on’ sections, local events listings or feature writers working on that specific topic.
And, what is definitely not newsworthy:
You business has a new website – unless it is a very extremely unique website that nobody has done before. It is news to you and, of course, extremely important, but not newsroom material.
If you have just revisited your brand, spent a fortune on new logos and produced the most beautiful glossy brochures. This may have cost a fortune, hurt like hell to produce and be the bases of all ingoing communications but it is just not news.
If you intend expanding your business or growing your customer base or targeting new markets we are very happy for you, but until such time as you increase the bottom line, sign up new customers or open new offices to support burgeoning business in far away places then please do not ask journalists to write about a future ware press release.
You have upgraded your widget. It may have cost thousands of euro and taken a team of nuclear physicists to crack the code but unless the end result is significantly changed in terms of features and benefits, then it is very hard to sell as news. Unless perhaps you are a car manufacturer and then every new flashing light can arouse interest in the passionate breasts of car lovers
The most important thing to remember is to find the right story for each publication or section. Relevance is key. And also a bit of luck!