Public Affairs & Public Relations Programs
Why send a press release over the press wire to begin with?
The newswire services can be a very good way to get the message out about your company, product or service. The press wire is the official wire service that journalists and editors look to for company news and for story leads that they can write about. When writing your press release, try to put yourself in the shoes of the editor or writer of the story. After all, it is the job of the writer to give consumers and businesses “News They Can Use.” Here at MMI we are a member of the PR Newswire which is the oldest and most wll established wire service used by the industry. Call us today to get news about your company out on the official presswire
Just because you think your product or service is the greatest thing going it may not necessarily be what writers and editors are looking for. The more you make their job, easy the more likely you’ll be successful in getting a story, either on the press wire or to generate interest for a story in a newspaper, consumer publication, trade publication, or even on radio or television. Many times I have seen company public relations people put out press releases using superlatives, street jargon, and are bragging about how great their product or service is, without even giving the basic facts like Who, what, when, where, why and how…basic journalism 101! A good reference is the AP style book, but just following good writing for information is sometimes all that’s needed. Writers look for unusual products, services, events or human interest to offer their readership. A brief note about headlines.
If your company has had unusually high sales performance, or if they’ve saved a lot of money for a client, or they are offering a new technology, remember to put that in your headline first so you can grab the attention of the editor or writer immediately. Big numbers, always sell and should be included in the headline first, not at the very end of the press release. Editors should be able to know exactly what the press release is about just by reading a short headline. Remember to keep your press releases, brief, less is always better… need I say more? Almost every larger newspaper is now receiving press releases electronically, however your smaller papers, and writers still, sometimes like to have things faxed. If you are using a press release to generate leads, or you want people to sign up on another website page for a product or event, don’t forget to use links, 800 numbers, or any other response device in your press release that you want the reader to respond to.
