[3DCommunications UK]

Hi Sally,

I second all the above, it will also stand in your favour if you tailor your press releases to the individual titles your sending them to.

there generally tends to be a house style in regular features slots if thats what your aiming for, or go with the overal demographic tone of the title.

[Venka]

Hi,

I customise all our press release to every single journalist. It is more work but the results prove that it works.

[sally]

Okay am not sure what you mean.

I have just finished sending them and I put a little blurb at the beginning which I changed in each email (so for national press I referred to a previous article in their paper my story fits in with and for Cumbrian papers I spoke about the business being based in Cumbria, for farming ones I changed it to an agricultural issue) - is that the sort of thing you mean or have I got it wrong again.

Or did you mean change the title for each sector of paper? If so I did get it wrong.

Oh these learning curves are making me dizzy.

[3DCommunications UK]

Hello,


For eg: If I was sending a Press release to a popular weekly magazine, promoting a new beauty product, i'd take a look at the beauty features, and slots (these are the regular pieces which are included every week)

i'd note the style in which the journalist writes, their tone, and also note the frequency of certain topics throughout that section.

I would then apply the press release to that style & tone, so if I was to read it objectively, it would read like an article or news piece written by said journalist in that particular part of the magazine.

It's really great that you've mentioned previous articles, it shows you've taken a personal interest, which i'm sure will work to your advantage!

you should also take into account the current media climate with regards to the press release your sending, as this will also affect the result of the coverage that may be picked up.

hope that helps, and I haven't confused you any further!

Anthea.

[sally]

Thank you for explaining that Anthea, think I have a long way to go before I can copy a writing style but at least I understand what you mean.

[Venka]

I just realised I was not very clear in my post.

What I normally do is look up the column/ feature the journalist is writing for and address the journalist by name and the name of the column.

It personalises it and hopefully you will be able to build a relationship with the journalist. Only send out press release that you think are relevant to the journalist in question.

Hope this helps.

Venka

[temi]

I would actually argue that you let a professional do the press release for you for maximum impact. They will know the best format to send it in.

[RayB]

Originally Posted by temi

I would actually argue that you let a professional do the press release for you for maximum impact. They will know the best format to send it in.

That's a good point Temi - a great idea if you have the budget.

I use Vicky at Carbon Neutral Copy for mine - worth every penny

[pvcprinting]

Originally Posted by RayB

That's a good point Temi - a great idea if you have the budget.

I use Vicky at Carbon Neutral Copy for mine - worth every penny

Got to agree....nop notch work from Vicky

[sally]

Agreed, if I had the budget I would be using a professional but until I do it's trial and error. Finding the right journalist seems to be the hardest part.

Can anyone explain the difference between a press release and an article? I had a press release rejected because it was an article