Assembling an Effective News Release: Part II
August 5, 2009

Now that we've gone over the importance of developing a provocative news release, let's move on to the next step: the pitch.

The windup is complete, now the pitch...
So you've got a news release assembled and ready to go and you're probably thinking, "now what do I do?" First, you need to decide which publications to make your pitch to. Once you've decided, do research to find out what reporters you should submit your release to (the education beat writer, technology reporter, etc.). Also, it's always a good idea to send your news release to the reporter's editor just in case the editor likes the angle and wants to push the reporter towards your story. Once your media list is ready to go, you can submit your news release via email. Make sure you don't send out one large email to several contacts at various publications. Instead, send out separate emails to each contact so that the reporter doesn't feel turned off.

Grab the reporter's attention!
For your news release to be turned into an article, the reporter must, first and foremost, read your pitch. A catchy title/subject line will pull the reporter to your fax/email (whichever means of transmission you choose). If you can force the reporter to read your news release, then the rest is out of your hands. After that, you can only hope that what you've written is compelling and complete. If you feel that your release does have merit, but hasn't been published yet, then you may make a follow-up call to the reporter. One follow-up call is acceptable, but make sure to not be a "pest." You don't want to leave a sour taste in the reporter's mouth, or he or she may completely disregard your future pitches.

Try, try, try again.
Don't let the fact that your last two news releases haven't been picked up discourage you from continuing to make pitches. Remember, a news release is a sales piece to the reporter; it's up to him or her whether or not to "make the purchase," but you never know what "product" they might really like. Also, reporters are always looking for sources for future articles, so if you continue to build a relationship with a reporter through your news releases, you never know when he or she will turn to you for expert advice and possibly a quote in an upcoming article.

The value of PR
Public relations is particularly effective in building brand awareness and brand loyalty. A quality news release is only one piece of the much larger puzzle. An organization's credibility is built by an effective and integrated marketing communications plan. Today's increasingly skeptical consumers are finding advertising messages less credible, so why not try a more-cost effective way of getting your brand's message to its target market?