Lesson 10: Basic Press Release Announcement
Welcome to Lesson 10!
Now some of the promotional strategies we have already reviewed may be familiar to you.
But today’s (and next week’s) strategy is one most people have little exposure too.
Sure, I know you know what a press release is. But why are press releases important to your list building holiday effort?
Studies are now revealing 67% of your potential subscribers find you online only AFTER they’ve been exposed to an offline marketing effort. So that means if you put all your efforts in marketing online, you’re missing the boat (and perhaps thousands of potential subscribers)!
Plus, the media really love holiday stories.
Let me tell you a story when I was a reporter for a TV news station…
Sure, being a reporter is exciting. There are tons of ‘issues’ to cover: fires, robberies, politics and other tragedies. (Yes, that IS a joke in there.)
However, most of the time, there really isn’t that much news to cover. So when some offered me a story about National Fraud Awareness Day or National Hot Dog Eating Day, you better bet I was on that story. They’re interesting and not the typical stories a news person covers.
As a matter of fact, when I became a public relations professional, I began using holidays (not just the one I created: Be Heard Day) to get my message out there.
One I particularly remember is National Do Business in Your Bathrobe Day. I had just started my new virtual creative marketing agency the month before in my home (a bit of a rarity at the time). So I used the holiday to promote working virtually by sending out a press release about how I was celebrating the holiday. The result: two TV stations came by, as well as a newspaper reporter and photographer, to cover me working in my bathrobe. (Yes, I had to go out and get a really, really nice bathrobe as a result!) From there, I got two new clients for my services.
I bet you can now see why news releases are vital to this promotion.
The first press release you need to send out is the basic announcement release. This is the type of release that looks exactly like a hard news story – something you may see in your local paper.
I could go through all the basics of writing the release, but sometimes getting started is hard to do, when you have to learn it from scratch. Instead, as one of your bonuses, I am sharing a fill-in-the-blank release you can use to announce your holiday. All you have to really do with this one is plug in your information in the highlighted areas and send it out.
Now, It’s important to stress (again and again) that you should never send news releases to the media which amount to no more than an advertisement. The editors see right through these, and discard them. It’s not their job to advertise your product or website, that’s why they have an ad department. If it’s not news, it’s of no value to them. You must carefully craft your press release to make it interesting to a potential editor in your target market, otherwise you’re wasting your time and theirs. That’s why using this fill-in release will be easier. All the hard work is done for you.
It’s also paramount to target the media you send your release to. This means you would not send news about a new auto accessory to a fine cuisine publication, or a newspaper editor who only covers pet stories. Inexperienced PR folks, or low-budget press release services, often make the mistake of “blanketing” every publication under the sun, regardless of market segment, which can alienate editors.
Now I want to give you a real insider’s tip. Never, I repeat, never send a press release out on a Monday. Can anyone think of why?
Mondays are one of the busiest news days in the business because most places are still covering a full weekend of news for those who missed it.
ASSIGNMENT!
Download the fill-in release and replace the highlighted areas with your own information as indicated.
Then prepare to send out the release about 5-6 weeks prior to your holiday.
Click on the links below to download your bonus
