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Is the press release dead? You’re forgiven for asking given the huge change that social media has had on the media landscape. But the answer is very much no – this building block of PR still has its place, and if you’re neglecting it as part of your PR & marketing strategy, you could be missing an important trick. Here we give you some of the key benefits of a good (big emphasis on the 'good') press release...  1. Messaging
A press release isn’t a place for fluff – it’s a place for facts. Your press release will bring together your key messaging in one succinct document, agreed across your team. This in itself is a key piece of the PR strategy, pinpointing your story and objectives and ensuring everyone is on the same page. 2. Credibility Journalists still rely on press releases – in a sea of information they provide a credible source of information. And stories that are packaged in the right way and sent to the right people are far more likely to win you the coverage that you need. 3. Contacts Building relationships with journalists and bloggers is key – and sending well-packaged press releases that are relevant, timely and a darn good story, is a great way to do it. Newsdesks are inundated and journalists will look to contacts they trust. 4. Coverage Nothing boosts credibility like having your brand’s name, products and messaging communicated through trusted media titles. Targeted press releases are still one of the most effective ways to achieve this. 5. Strategy Your press release is a great foundation to build the rest of your PR strategy on. Re-purpose it for your website, share it in your newsletters and email campaigns, tie-in any paid advertising and be sure to plan your social media around its release and the coverage it generates. Need a hand winning press coverage? Our journalist-led PR is a good place to start, get in touch so we can help. You know your business better than anyone else, so when it comes to getting down content for your website, blog & promos, you can handle it yourself, right? So many clients come to us having tried this approach first. So why doesn't it work? Should you outsource to a copywriter from the outset to save your time & energy?  Here we give you some our top reasons for turning to a professional.
1. Expertise You're the expert in your industry - and we're the expert in ours. Combine all that expertise and it's a win-win. You know your message, and we know how to get that message to your potential customers. Taking any brief and turning it into the fast, accurate copy you need is what we do. 2. Clarity From inside a business, it can be really difficult to retain a sense of perspective. You get caught up in the past, or in your great ideas for the future, and today’s message gets muddled. An outsider’s perspective can be gold dust. And key to any good copywriter’s skill-set is the ability to quickly absorb every inch of your business and see how to convey what is important (and what isn’t) with clarity. This is easy when you’re outside looking in. A copywriter won’t be clouded by irrelevant information – and neither will your audience. 3. Professionalism Let’s take a website as an example here. You invest in a well-designed site because it has to look spot-on. But your content has to be spot-on too. It needs (most importantly of all) to convey that clarity outlined above and that’s where a professional pen can bring real bang for buck. How often have you seen a beautiful website undone by poor copy that is confused or typo-ridden? Effective design is great way to build brand, trust and reputation. But poor content planning and inarticulate copy can quickly undo all of it. 4. Copy to deadline Maybe you’re confident in your ability to get a good job done – but do you have the time and the inspiration? We’ve seen many projects stall simply because the person tasked with getting the copy together is stuck for inspiration or time (or both). Copywriters and content planners are great for getting stuff done. You won’t be bottom of our to-do list. 5. Clear project lead Too many pens can spoil the copy. We’ve seen so many businesses struggle to produce content because everyone has different ideas. Outsourcing to an expert really helps to ease inter-departmental arguments. Of course, we take all views on board – but we use them to agree a template, style and tone for content, led by our outside expertise. And then we get on with it. 6. Your time back Writing great content comes naturally to us – it’s what we do day in and day out. If it isn’t your day job, it’s very time-consuming – that lingering task you know you need to prioritise, but never quite do because you’ve got a hundred other things to do first. Hire a copywriter, cross it off your list – and get your time back. Talk to us about outsourcing your copy & content to a pro When it comes to social media marketing, knowing what to post is only half the battle. Knowing when to post is critical. So, what are the best times to share content on each social media platform in 2023?  Handily, the good people at Hubspot have surveyed 1000+ social media marketers to get the answer. Here goes...
Best time to post on Instagram:
Best time to post on Facebook:
Best time to post on Twitter:
Best time to post on LinkedIn:
Best time to post on YouTube:
Best time to post on TikTok:
There you have it – now experiment and analyse! For social media support, please get in touch New year – new goals (they just go hand-in-hand). For most businesses, the chime of those New Year bells is a time to re-stock, re-focus and re-strategise. When it comes to PR, now is the time to set objectives and formulate a clear, defined plan to maximise your media activity for the year ahead.  To help you on your merry way, we bring you our top tips for getting started on your New Year PR:
1. Consider the full year ahead Plan for six months and review after three. PR requires flexibility and a recognition that things will change over time. But that should never stop the planning. 2. Review last year’s PR This is so important (but all too often forgotten). If you already have PR in place, spend some time assessing the media activity that worked, and the media activity that didn’t pack the same punch. 3. Establish a news release calendar Plan out the press releases you intend to issue throughout the year. You will need to revise this calendar as the weeks and months pass (probably lots of times in fact) but it will give you structure and focus. Timely stories can work (think seasons, holidays and big events) – but make sure they’re newsworthy. 4. Send great copy Well-planned, well-written stories, which are newsworthy and perfectly packaged will get you attention and start to build media relationships with are beneficial all-round. 5. Send great copy to the right person Because generic email addresses just won’t do. Find out who you need to pitch to and start building that rapport. Go old school and pick up the phone. Time should be spent building a solid database of media contacts – trust us, you will reap the rewards later. What makes a story newsworthy? Read our do and don'ts of media coverage. Get in touch to see how our PR expertise can benefit you. For anyone wanting to build brand awareness, good publicity remains a cornerstone of the wider PR strategy. Your all important digital marketing and messaging will be all the more effective when tied-in with the bigger PR picture – and publicity, online or in good old-fashioned print, gives a third party seal of approval that money can’t buy (and that consumers trust).  So, what’s the secret? How do you get your story published? How do you get on the radio or TV? How do you become the industry expert the media call up for comment?
Well, first of all – you have to be newsworthy. Now that might sound obvious, but you’d be amazed at how often the mark is missed. And the key factor in whether your story gets picked up or spiked is newsworthiness. You have to remember it’s always the journalist’s call – if you want to ‘place’ a story, you need to pay for an advert or promo (they’re running a business too). But if it meets their criteria for being newsworthy, it’s a win win; they deliver relevant content to their readers and you grab trusted coverage. What makes a story newsworthy? Timing It has to be timely. Don’t send old news. Timely story topics are ones that are new or current. It doesn’t have to be ‘breaking news’ but it should offer something new or tie into a current event in order to be considered timely. Interest It has to be interesting. Journalists hate blatant attempts at a free plug. Delete. Your story has to offer something to the audience - so think about its interest and relevancy and big it up. Human interest is a big factor considered by journalists and editors the world over. Stories that are unique, compelling, inspiring, amusing, or otherwise have emotional impact or appeal will climb the news agenda. Proximity When you're looking local, pitching out of area is a waste of everybody’s time. Prominence Famous people get coverage simply by virtue of being well-known. Readers and viewers are interested in celebrity, and because of this interest, famous people are automatically newsworthy. But prominence can work for topics and places too and be a very handy hook. Pitch clever It’s not who you know (although a good contacts book is always a bonus) it’s what you know. Pitching to the right people at the right time is crucial. Magazines deadline months in advance, so don’t send them a story about something happening in 2 weeks’ time and expect to make it into print. Local newspapers are fiercely geographic – if you’re out of area (even just a little) you are not relevant to their audience. If you want to get on radio, you need a confident speaker. If you want to get on TV, you need to pitch a package they can ‘see’ on film. Plan, plan, plan Successful publicity is all in the planning. Get the strategy and the content right and it will fast become an absolutely fundamental part of your PR. Nothing builds awareness like it. Get in touch to see how we can win you media coverage! |