PR agents and journalists can work hand in hand. You supply us with ideas, Inspiration and facts. We give your clients press space and the public enjoys a good read. When it all works out, we’re a match made in heaven.
However, when your subject matter doesn’t naturally align with our remit, it can be harder.
The PR agent has to think more creatively to make his or her material attractive. How to do that is your field and not mine; however as a section editor, journalist and end-user of PR, I can give you a list of pointers:
Use correct punctuation, spelling and grammar.
Do not underestimate this point. Journalists are sensitive to language mistakes and editors even more so. We have spent our career checking and double-checking to get things right. Spelling and punctuation errors tell us that you can’t be bothered to do the same.
NB: Be especially careful about your use of apostrophes: the use of misplaced apostrophes (hothouse tomato’s, platform wedge’s) seems to be spreading like a virus.
Avoid inflated language.
Don’t use phrases like “absolutely free” or “unbelievably stunning” – it undermines your product and sounds like a cheap circular. Don’t gratuitously capitalise words like Function Room or Bridal Gown – this isn’t a Jane Austen novel. Newspapers don’t use devices like that, so match your tone to the
publication you’re pitching. Don’t use the unaccompanied words “press release” as your email
subject line. I get 150-400 emails a day. A quarter of them are unhelpfully marked “press release.” Use something brief and descriptive: “Longwoods students rejoice at A-level results,” “Red shoes are summer’s hot accessory”. As a regional publication I am always attracted by the word “local”, as in “Local mum wins knitting competition”.
Include logistical information at the beginning of the press release.
You would not believe how many press and photo calls I have received that omit crucial points: time, date, location. Paraphrase logistical information at the top even if you repeat it in the text: make it bold and large.
Make the information accessible technically.
Your information should be easy to view and open on the computer. I don’t like cold-mailed attachments, especially if they’re entitled “Zaras 101 client final” and come with no accompanying description.
I personally like body text emails that I can skim in my Outlook preview. If you include pictures (especially before requested), make sure they are not overlarge (more than 2 megabytes, say) – large pictures take forever to open and generally clog things up.
Include quotations – and try to make them sound natural.
We all know that some of your clients need to be saved from themselves, so please give it a shot. We just can’t use quotes like: “John Doe of Digicorp said: ‘I am very pleased by the renovations to
the technology centre as sponsored by Tweeside County Council, the Svensky and Walderheim Charitible Trust for The Advancement of Silicone Chips and the Regeneration Project of Northern
England and Some Bits of the Lake District. It will provide computer sector end-users with an interesting, stimulating and comparative buying experience under one roof.”
Be familiar with the publication.
Tap into a series or campaign that we are running, which is courteous and shows good salesmanship: “I noticed you were running a series on remarkable women. Could I suggest the director of a company that we are representing?”
Don’t send too many press releases; limit phone calls.
There are a few names that I can pick out from hundreds in my inbox as peddlers of drivel. I now delete them on sight. I hope they never send me something interesting or I might feel bad. As for the
phone, remember that journalists are under pressure to write well-researched, concise and engaging copy every day that’s going to be read by thousands of people. That takes concentration. Be succinct and sensitive. Above all, remember is that journalists are either (kindly) stretched very thin, or (unkindly) lazy. The more appealing material you can give to us in readily useable format, the more likely we are to use it. Good luck!
By Gillian Molesworth, Features Writer/Section Editor, Western Morning News, Woman Section