A few months ago I did a press announcement for a PR client that got the attention of its biggest partner, Microsoft. That press release made this IT solutions provider stand out among the hundreds of other Microsoft-certified IT solutions providers in North America, leading to kudos from the software giant.
The announcement also resulted in coverage in the telecom industry press, which this provider was targeting for the first time. Any business would be happy with this return on PR investment.
For a follow-up announcement, however, the IT solutions provider drafted its own release and posted it on a wire service, obviously expecting the same results. Instead, nothing happened. Nobody even noticed its press release.
You see, it takes more than posting a press release on the wires to get coverage. There are three fundamentals that should be followed when considering a press announcement:
1. Newsworthiness –- Find an angle, topic or event that will be relevant to the target audience, which includes both the media and the potential business customers. If you have nothing interesting to announce, save your money.
In the case of the IT solutions provider, it actually had compelling news –- an exclusive partnership with a major telecom vendor. But being PR virgins, the company execs did not know what angle to pursue, so they missed the mark in their press release draft.
2. Pitch the news –- Pitching a news story (that’s what your announcement is, by the way) is not easy, yet it is as crucial as the announcement itself. You have to know the journalists and bloggers and how to contact them based on their preferences, i.e. email, phone or even Facebook messaging. Then you have to present the news in a manner that is relevant to them and their audience. For instance, say you are announcing the hiring of a seasoned executive. If the publication has been writing features on industry cutbacks and layoffs in an economic downturn, a PR professional might position the hire as a company expansion when its competitors are scaling back. That’s interesting news.
Also, it takes a long time to build relationships with bloggers and journalists, but it’s the best way to generate news coverage about your company, product or solution. PR pros often pitch news about several companies to the same media outlets and blogs, so they know the writers and editors.
3. Follow-up -- After the press announcement hits the wire, send a copy directly to the journalists you targeted. Select a few who have shown interest to prop ose an interview with a company executive. Journalists sometimes refer to the flow of incoming news announcements as a "fire hose," meaning they are so inundated with press releases that they cannot cover everything. Your PR professional can make the journalists’ life easier by reminding them about a relevant, newsworthy item –- your press release –- and by having a quotable executive at the ready.
A lot of thought should go into your press announcements before your write them. When possible, build a campaign, in which you promote an ongoing theme, such as thought leadership in a particular technology or development of a broad ecosystem. And follow the steps above to improve your chances of generating media coverage.