Eric Yaverbaum, Robert Bly, Ilise Benun. Public Relations for Dummies, 2nd Edition

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Chapter 15

Getting More Ink (Print

Isn’t Dead Yet)

In This Chapter

! Avoiding dead-end news releases

! Understanding the trick to creative press releases

! Offering a free booklet as a hook

! Tying your news to a special event, fad, or news

! Promoting telephone hotlines or trade-ins

! Using a new product, survey, or call to action as an angle

he Internet has changed the way business is done in the United States,

and it’s now transforming the way we live. Rumors of the Internet’s

demise in the early ’90s were greatly exaggerated.

But print media such as newspapers and magazines are viewed differently by

many people. Some say that print is not only “not hot” but also in danger of

disappearing entirely. A few of these skeptics predict that printing words on

paper will become as rare as carving commandments on stone tablets.

I disagree. Print is still alive and well. More than 8,000 magazines and 6,900

daily and weekly newspapers are published in the United States. Nearly 60

million newspapers are sold every day!

So, to promote your business interests, you still want to reach print journal-

ists and get your business covered in their publications. This chapter tells

you more about how to do that successfully.

Cracking the Journalists’ Secret

Journalists, like all of us, have too much to do and not enough time to do it. If

you give them a good story idea, you automatically improve the odds of get-

ting into print. If you give the story to them written, packaged, and ready to

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go, your chances of getting ink increase dramatically. The best way to deliver

such a story is in the standard PR document called a press release.

Chapter 8 covers the structure and style of a press release. In this chapter, I

focus on how to fill your release with content that gets editors to print it and

publicize your product, service, organization, or offer.

Knowing What Not to Do

Many PR practitioners waste an enormous amount of time churning out rou-

tine, standardized press releases that, almost invariably, land in the editor’s

wastebasket. Figure 15-1 shows a typical example.

Figure 15-1:

A ho-hum,

dead-end

press

release.

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Most publications receiving a press release like the one shown in Figure 15-1

will ignore it. Oh, sure — one or two industry publications will run a one-line

mention of Joe’s promotion, as will his alumni magazine. And if he lives in a

small town, the weekly newspaper may run a short feature article with his

picture and the text of the release. But except for some warm fuzzies around

Joe’s house, the result is minimal visibility for Joe’s company — zero leads,

inquiries, or new business. In short, the time and money invested in prepar-

ing and distributing the release yields virtually no return.

Perhaps 90 percent of all press releases are similar to this fictional example,

generating a similar lack of interest, media coverage, and benefit. Press

releases of this type, despite their popularity, are ineffective for a number of

reasons:

! The topic is a nonevent. Hundreds of people get hired or promoted

every day. So there is nothing to differentiate the announcement from

the other dozen or hundred or more the editor receives that week.

! The topic is not meaningful. The promotion is important to Joe Jones

and his family — but that’s about it. The release contains nothing to

interest an editor or a reader.

! The announcement does not help promote Joe’s firm or sell the firm’s

products, other than by mentioning the company name. (Journalists,

of course, have no interest in promoting your product, but in your role

as your company’s PR person, you should.)

! The reader has no reason or incentive to pay attention — the informa-

tion presented offers no benefit or usefulness.

! There is no call to action, no response for readers to take if they want

to do business with Joe or his firm.

Despite this lack of effectiveness, the “Joe Jones Promoted” press release is

the most commonly used and most popular; approximately 80 percent of

releases are structured just like it. (Other common company themes are

expanded facilities, new hires, awards won, other honors, corporate reorgani-

zations, openings of new facilities, and company anniversaries.)

Such press releases remain popular with publicists for two reasons. The first

is that they’re easy to write and can be prepared quickly without much effort,

research, or creative thought. The second reason has to do with the way PR

firms and professionals traditionally have earned their keep.

Many PR firms work on retainer: In exchange for a fixed monthly fee, they

produce a set number of releases and articles. Or they devote a certain

number of hours per month to developing and disseminating PR materials on

behalf of their clients. To fulfill this obligation, the outside PR firm (and often,

the inside PR manager) looks around the company, asks, “What’s new?” and

writes and distributes releases on these topics.

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If a lot is going on during a particular month, the releases have substance and

will work. If nothing noteworthy is happening, the PR person still has to pro-

duce x number of press releases. That’s when bland releases are hatched on

nonevents such as Joe Jones’s promotion or Sam Smith’s election as trea-

surer of the fraternal club.

Think twice about sending press releases on new hires or promotions. Such

releases offer little benefit to your company, and their publication can cause

headhunters to call the employees featured and lure them with job offers.

There are only two situations in which I think sending out new-hire or promo-

tion press releases is to your advantage:

! When you hire a big gun for a top executive position: Having the big

shot on your team makes the company sound better, especially to

investors.

! When your business is in the dot-com sector: Venture capitalists buy

résumés, and if you announce to the press that you’ve just hired the

former founder of Big Dot-com as CEO of your Little Dot-com, that can

help get the venture capital cash flowing into your coffers.

Catching an Editor’s Eye with a

“Creative” Press Release

A routine press release is an almost mandatory write-up of an event, usually

important to the organization issuing the release but mundane to the media

and the general public. In routine press releases, the facts drive the release —

something happens or exists, and the publicist, searching for a topic, finds it

and writes about it.

“Creative” press releases are more effective than routine press releases. A cre-

ative press release differs from a routine press release because:

! It has a “hook.” A creative press release has an angle or slant designed

to get the attention of the media (so they will publish the story) and the

public (so they will read it). I use the term creative because the publicist,

instead of just working with the facts as they exist, either creates or

helps shape the story hook, with an idea that is not obvious from the

story itself.

But the creative release is always built around a genuine story, a real

event, important information, or other “meat.” If it’s just an angle with

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nothing behind it, the release will get attention but be rejected as a pub-

lishable story.

! Its story is built around something that would interest prospects —

the readers of the publication or listeners of the program. An effective

release doesn’t begin with the product or the point the publicist cares

about.

Too many people write press releases from the product marketer’s point

of view. They put out story after story about things that are of interest

only to the company and its managers.

You do this either in the mistaken belief that others care about you and

your company as much as you do (which isn’t true) or to stroke some-

one’s ego. Often, an executive orders the PR department or agency to

put out a release on a person or his or her accomplishments as a way to

recognize and honor that person. It may flatter the subject of the

release, but editors don’t care . . . and neither do your prospects.

As with any effective marketing effort, good public relations focuses on

the prospect, not the product. As far as PR goes, don’t think about what

is important to you; concentrate on what is important to your prospects.

What are their problems, their needs, and their most pressing concerns?

What information, advice, products, services, tips, or guidance do they

require to improve their lives, do their jobs better, or save time and

money? What information do you have that they would want to know

and read about in a magazine, hear on the radio, or see on TV?

A press release should not be created merely to stroke the client’s ego

or serve some internal requirements to have certain topics covered in

releases. Press releases succeed when they’re focused on what appeals

to media people and interests their audiences the most.

Using a “Hook” to Snare Attention

You can choose from numerous ways to make a press release more creative.

The “hooks” I discuss in this section you can attach to your release — these

hooks have proven successful time and time again in luring attention from

the mass media. (I cover other tactics in Chapters 4, 5, and 6. Adapt these for-

mulas to your own PR campaign, or come up with your own ideas.)

When writing your own release, you can closely copy the format and style of

the example releases in this book, substituting details specific to your topic.

For example, I’ve used the format for a free-booklet press release to promote

numerous products and services — always with substantial results.

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Free-booklet press release

The free-booklet press release works as follows: You write a booklet, report,

or tip sheet on a topic relating to your product or service, and then you send

out a release about your free booklet. For example, if you’re selling seeds by

mail, write some gardening instructions and offer them as a free reprint. If

you sell spices, offer a booklet of free recipes.

Preparing the release

After you write your booklet, report, or tip sheet, you then send out a

release that

! Announces the publication of your new booklet or report. Editors are

primarily interested in what’s new, so if you’re offering a new booklet on

a topic, your headline should always begin with “New Free Booklet,” fol-

lowed by a description of the topic, contents, or issue the information

addresses.

! Describes some of the useful information it contains. Your press

release should repeat (either word for word or edited) some key points

highlighted in the booklet or report. This technique makes it easy for the

editor to run your release as a “mini-feature article” on the topic.

Just saying that you have a booklet available may get you a small men-

tion. But if you allow editors to reprint some of its contents, by putting

such material in the release you send, they’re more likely to run longer,

more in-depth pieces featuring all the useful information you’ve provided.

“But if all the information in my booklet is revealed in the article, then

people will have no reason to send for my booklet!” you might protest.

That sounds like a logical objection. But experience proves the opposite

is true: The more the articles describe the contents of your booklet, the

more people will read the article and send for the booklet. “The more

you tell, the more you sell.” That’s an old saying favored by mail-order

ad copywriters, but it also applies to free-booklet press releases.

Experience has shown that even if the entire text of a booklet is

reprinted in an article (or an ad), people still want to get that text in

booklet form. Why? Perhaps people don’t like to tear out an ad or arti-

cle, and they find that booklets and reports are a more permanent

medium.

Do not assume that the editor will read your booklet and pull out perti-

nent material for an article. The press release should be a self-contained

mini-article ready to use as is so that the editor doesn’t have to refer to

any enclosures or other materials.

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! Offers the booklet free. Your free-booklet release must call for action. In

the last paragraph, you say, “For a free copy of [title of booklet], call or

write [your company name, address, and phone number].”

Many editors include that contact information and a call to action when

running your releases, and if they do you’ll get many requests. Some edi-

tors, however, won’t print such contact information. You have no control

over that. However, if you don’t include contact information and a call to

action, no editors can tell their readers how or where they can request

your booklet, and without such information, no one will contact you. So,

always close with the call to action.

Including a copy of the booklet with your release

Including a sample of the booklet may be desirable, but it isn’t necessary. I

have had great success mailing press releases that didn’t include a sample

copy of the booklet or report being offered.

The main benefit of leaving out the sample booklet is cost savings: Including

a sample booklet can add another 10¢ to 70¢ or more per release being mailed,

depending on the cost to print the booklet and the weight of the booklet (which

increases postage). For example, a tip sheet or slim pamphlet adds less cost

than a bulky special report, book, or manual. If the extra 10¢ to 70¢ per piece is

significant to you, omit the sample booklet and pocket the savings.

Be sure to put a line after the close of your release that says, “Editor: Review

copy of [title of booklet] available upon request. Call Joe Jones at [insert phone

number].” Some editors may insist on seeing a copy of the booklet before they’ll

promote it in their publications, so offer to send a copy free to any editor who

requests it. The editor can get the information instantly via fax or e-mail.

If your free booklet is slim and inexpensive, or if cost is not a factor, include a

sample copy with each release you mail. Doing so certainly can’t hurt. And

some editors may pay extra attention when they open the envelope and see

your report or pamphlet.

Using key codes

Some practitioners use key codes in the address. For example, when some-

one makes a request for a copy of the free booklet, you may include “Dept.

105” in the address to which the request is made. By counting the number of

requests for this tip sheet addressed to Department 105, you know exactly

how many responses were generated as a result of mailing this press release

to the media.

Some practitioners take this a step farther and put a different key code on

each individual press release; the key code indicates the specific publication

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the release was sent to. Therefore, the press release going to Computer

Decisions would have been key-coded “Dept. CD,” while the next copy, being

mailed to InfoWorld, would have been key-coded “IW.”

The advantage of individual coding of releases keyed to publications is that it

lets you know how many responses were generated from each publication,

not just the entire mailing. With this knowledge, you can fine-tune your distri-

bution list, hitting only those publications that generate a high level of

response. The major disadvantage of key-coding each release with a different

key is that it’s time consuming: You have to do it one release at a time. I don’t

think it’s worth the time and trouble, but do whatever seems best for you.

Special event, gimmick, or timely issue

The press is always looking for a story that captures the public’s imagina-

tion. Therefore, if you have a special event, timely issue, or unusual human-

interest story, or if you can add some sort of hook or angle to your release,

you’ll have a better chance of gaining coverage.

Editors are interested in stories that are substantial and of value yet have an

unusual twist or gimmick to them. If you can be a bit different (albeit in a rele-

vant way), you will get noticed.

Figure 15-2 shows a news release that’s a perfect example of a story with an

offbeat angle. This company rents mailboxes — a pretty mundane business.

But the angle for this story was the unusual, prestigious location of its mail-

box address: the Empire State Building.

Mentioning that the Empire State Building is one of the few buildings in the

country with its own private zip code and post office is a nice added touch,

because some editors like to include a bit of trivia or little-known information

in their articles.

A successful promotion that my PR agency did for our client IKEA was the

“Sharing the Caring Program.” In addition to being an event-driven PR promo-

tion, it’s a good example of the PR principle of “Show, don’t state.”

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Figure 15-2:

Editors look

for an

unusual

hook or

angle, such

as the

“unique zip

code” that

makes this

office space

special.

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