Need more media coverage? Give, don't take
If PR forms any part of your role, you will know that it has become increasingly challenging for businesses and brands to get their news stories and the opinions of their key people featured in the media, whether it be the nationals, locals, or trade press.
One of the primary reasons behind this challenge is the unprecedented ratio of PR professionals to journalists in the UK. For the first time, there are more PR people than journalists, leading to a daily inundation of press releases from organisations and PR agencies promoting their stories.
As a result, journalists are extremely time-poor. In fact, many national press journalists now have to produce up to eight stories every day – yes, eight stories, which equates to one every hour.
To capture their attention and ensure your story has a chance of being published, it is crucial to get to the point quickly and clearly (no pun intended).
If you waffle at the beginning and fail to make your story’s potential clear within the first 15 seconds (the maximum time a journalist will spend evaluating a story), your press release will likely end up in the trash folder.
- Recent media wins for Clearly’s clients include: BBC, Business Green, HR Magazine, Insider, Yorkshire Post, The Guardian, Bath Echo, Cosmopolitan, The Times.
However, if you address the who, what, when, where, and why in your opening sentences, your chances of media coverage success increase significantly. These chances rise even higher if the press release provides the journalist with most, if not all, the information they need.
Any gaps requiring journalists to conduct their own research can kill the release instantly – they simply don’t have the time. They are relying on messengers – you – to give them the access to all the information they need in the here and now.
It’s about trying to make their life easier. In doing so, you not only boost your media coverage prospects you also gain a valuable ally who will be more inclined to use you again for future media opportunities.
So, how will you make your story stand out?
Read our Media Relations page for more information on getting your stories in the media.
