Publicity Management. Lifestyle Press Release Distribution. Journalist Blog. Press Release Tips

Public Relations plays an integral role in the sales and marketing strategy in many organizations, large or small. Its goal is to ensure that the corporate image (of the company and the Brand) and key messages are communicated to the media in an effective and positive manner.

PR is one of the most powerful and effective marketing tool, and can boost sales performance when it delivers to the right target audience.

The main objectives of this 'Press Release Tips' are to assist you to achieve the followings:

1./ Better understanding of a PR role

2./ Writing an effective news release and getting it placed

3./ Get the most out of media relations

4./ Photography

5./ Evaluating PR Results

PR can communicate your company's message and achieve your marketing strategies at a fraction of the cost of paid advertising. Make it work and it will deliver !

1./ Better understanding of a PR role

What is Public Relations ?

Public relations communicate your story and generates publicity. It is free and regarded as legitimate news. You can prompt the media with newsworthy events, products, openings, packages, etc.

Public Relations will generate more credibility as consumers know that you paid for the advertising message whereas the editorial is from a neutral party. People are more accepting of news and stories they hear and see on television/radio or read from newspapers/magazines. In many instances, media coverage of an event or product can appear to the public to be society/community endorsement of your company or products.

2./Writing an effective news release and getting it placed

What you say and how you say it can greatly influence the media and your audience. You must first of all have a good foundation in the language of your communication. We must be able to communicate clearly, succinctly and in the correct grammatical construction of your language. Remember, the written release makes the first impression to the journalist about your product. Should you require press release writing service, please

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Basic Press Release Format on PublicityWire.com
• Media Contact : Media Contact name, company name, contact details.
• Release date : A specific date that the information can be released.
• Headline : This is where you put your message, to grab the editor's attention
• Summary : A summary of key points to help your audience review your message.
• Body : Details on what you want the media to know about your product / service. A quote from a senior management representative can be effective in enhancing the personality of the release. Always close your press release with an official boiler plate with brief information on the company.

3./Get the most out of media relations

Target Media
Know your audience before you speak ! This is very important. Before you send out any news release, you need to know what type of press is interested in what type of news.

Media is usually categorized into the following groups:

a) Trade: focus on industry offers/packages, industry events, new products, business trends, executive appointments, new openings, etc.
b) Consumer: focus on destination, unique products and services, special packages, current affairs and trends.
c) Broadcast : TV and Radio promotion. This depends on the programming topics.
d) E-Commerce : Internet promotions feature mostly on promotional offers

Nothing in PR happens by chance. If you are targeting a specific market segment, then you will focus on the media that is read by this segment. To interest the media, you must feature areas that are of interest to their readers.

Sales & Marketing Message
Public relations efforts need to support the marketing objectives. Do not send anything out if it's not going to generate anything for your company. It should always have a sales and/or marketing message.

Your message could be to build awareness, enhance reputation or to sell.

Dealing with the Media
The following key points are to assist you in building and developing good media relations :

• Support media with background information on the industry and developments. While this may not provide you with a specific story at that point in time, this helps you to build the relationship and they will remember how you helped them to understand a particular area of your industry.

• Be responsive – always get back to the media, especially when you said you would.

• Be creative – be able to discuss or share new ideas, new story angles

How to handle Media Requests for "Trial offer of Product & Service"
Not all media requests for free rooms are from "free loaders." Unless we know specifically of a known "free loader," we must treat all media requests seriously with the potential it can provide us in terms of the exposure.

Assess the media request and ask for the following information:
- Name of publication, target audience, circulation, story angle, proposed date of issue, travel itinerary
- If the journalist is a freelancer, ask for the media outlet that he/she is assigned to write the story for
s- If the journalist does not have an assignment but is hoping to get the story placed, ask for samples of stories that he/she has placed before

4./ Photography
A picture tells a thousand words! This is evident especially when it comes to the use of photography to promote a product or service. How many times have you browsed through an ad or collaterals and formed an opinion about the product based on the photography before even reading the content ?

Photography should depict the standards and level of products that you are trying to sell. It's important to use a professional photographer so as to ensure the end result is really within your standard expectations. A photographer specialized in your business / product should be able to display the clarity, true color and portray the brand identity.

5./ Evaluating PR Results
Just like in other Sales & Marketing areas, you can set goals for Public Relations and measure the results.

News Clipping House
Hire a reliable news clipping house to track your online and off-line news clippings. Ideally, this news clipping house offers a customized service to your business needs, such as geographical, product segment, online media, radio, TV broadcast and print media tracking.

Tracking Media Impressions
One way to track your media effort is through 'Media Impressions' which can be measured in the following ways.
• Advertising Equivalency : Equivalent advertising cost based on the size and position of the article
• Readership & Circulation: Calculating how many people actually might pick up / read your news based on the readership numbers of the publication .
• Media points : Awarding points based on your company's key messages appearing in target publications