Five Strategies Of Making Your News Release Stand Out

It's widespread knowledge that one of the best a business receives free publicity and builds its expertise is by garnering media attention. Although it takes time and work to get noticed by journalists, the beginning of a great publicity campaign is the news release. If you want to establish a positive relationship with the media, often times a news release is the only way in.

However, not all news releases are created equal. The majority of them wind up in the trash. If you want the media to call you regarding stories you pitch, or the stories they are already working on, you must send the right message in your news releases. The following five elements should help you communicate your message effectively:

1. The Five W's and that one H of Journalism Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
Facts are the basis of every news article, and when reporters need fundamental, facts they often turn to news releases. This is the why who, what, when, where, why, and how of the story are so important. When creating your news release, take a few moments to note the facts about the news you wish to communicate. This information sets the groundwork for the entire document, and you will reiterate it in the lead paragraph of your release so news editors don't have to read very far to get the gist of your message.

2. A Short, but Catchy Headline
News headlines should communicate the main idea of the story, capture the attention of the reader, and so in ten words or less. Your headline present the news in an informative, but catchy manner, such as Teen Smoking is On The Rise" Despite Improves in Technology, Productivity is Down".

3. You'll Need a Hook
Once you've gotten your readers' attention, you need to hook them. It should be something to compel the reader to keep reading, such as a startling fact or statistic, a compelling question, or a common problem. This hook often communicates a common problem and a startling statistic, such as This year 40 percent of high school students will try tobacco" or At least 30% of adult males have an undiagnosed learning disability."

4. A Quotable Quote or Two
As you diver deeper into the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your news, providing as much detail as you can in the least amount of words as possible, you will start writing the body of your news release. In doing so, you should also include quotes that the reporter can pull directly from your release. The media loves getting quotes directly from the source of the news and by providing a quote or two, you make the writer's job that much easier, greatly improving your chances of getting mentioned in the paper. If possible you should use quotes that really highlight the impact of your news.

5. A Call to Action
Even though you got your main points in, you still have to close your news release with a call to action. If you want reporters to contact you for an interview, you should say so. If you want them to cover your event, make that your call to action. Don't forget to include your contact information.

Remember the goal of your press release should be to get media mentions for your company. It's like free advertising and it establishes you as the expert in your field. Remember, even if you don't get written up in a full length story, media professionals may keep your information on file for when the do need your expertise. So the better your press release is, the better your chances of receiving that free publicity, everyone is seeking.