Why One Press Release Is Not Enough. And What You Can Do Instead.

One press release is like opening the door of a busy bar, yelling your news from the threshold and then leaving. One or two people may turn round and look, but you won’t have an effect.

It doesn’t work because:
• You don’t know if this is the right audience
• Your news isn’t that interesting to them
• You don’t follow-up

A good business-to-business PR agency will do all of this in a campaign. The account team will find the right audience, present them with the right news repeatedly and follow-up to secure the effect. But this can be expensive and time-consuming for a start-up.

If you just want to test the water, here’s what you can do with your news instead of a press release:

Go Where Your Audience Is
You probably already know which pub is open late, or likes dogs, or has a band on Saturdays. You also know that a business audience is likely to check LinkedIn and your corporate website. This is where they expect to see your news, so they’re primed

Make It Interesting
You know how to tell a good pub story. It needs a bit of the unexpected and a lesson. Man Bites Dog in Pub is news. Pub Sells New Beer is not. Try this for your news:

1. Start with who, what, when, where, why & how. Answer the two most important in the first paragraph. Is there anything out of the ordinary? Man Bites Dog is news because it’s unexpected.

2. Keep it short; around 300 words. To write short, start with 3-5 key sentences.

3. Include one or two examples underneath each key sentence. Add industry statistics or your own figures.

4. Include a quote from a user, partner, industry person. This gives you credibility, and if they can relate your news to an industry trend, even better.

5. Lastly, write the headline. Headline writing can be hard, so go back to point 1 and focus on what makes your news different. Write ten and see how it develops.

These may not shut the pub up, but they might get a like on LinkedIn…!

Follow-up
As in all good pub stories; share it. Put it on Linked In on Monday afternoon, send a tweet on Tuesday morning, put at the bottom of your emails for a week. Check the results. Did you get any likes, enquiries, retweets? Think about how you could engage next time; another piece of news, opinion on an industry topic?

One press release isn’t enough; you need a campaign. But a few strategically placed news or opinion pieces, could kick start your PR.

Drop me a line if you want our full press release template which has tips on what to say where.