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Writing Press Releases
UK-Netmarketing Weekly Round-up - February 9, 2001

Putting together a well crafted press release can be an arduous task, but if you don't have the budge to hire a PR company or even a freelancer, how do you DIY?

Alex Chapman asked, "Bit of a noddy question this but are there 'rules' on lay out etc for press releases – and what are they. I'm not about do any of PR folks out of a job - but from time to time (like now) we have things we like to shout about and figure that the 'press' will listen if we speak proper like."

Adam Atkinson suggested, "Go to www.prweb.com emulate their layouts and vast swathes of media coverage will follow. Possibly."

Xav Adam added, "Keep it to the point, put your contacts obviously and be available. Remember the what, why, who, when, where rule or the so what factor, i.e. everything you write - think so what, is it of relevance. Track down contacts - to be sure you're getting to the right people."

Jon Archer asked about the next stage i.e. who do you send your press release to? He wrote, "On the same topic, but I'm afraid an even *more* noddy question: say I had found out the rules for laying out a press release, how do I go about distributing it? Is there one simple way or do I have to track down contacts at all the places I think might find it newsworthy?"

James Cridland suggested some further web-based help, "We do have guidelines on our site. Here's a URL that'll go right there: http://support.mediauk.com/content/pressreleases.html ...any corrections/amplifications gratefully received."

Mike Butcher, seasoned journalist, wrote, "just don't send them on a !@£$%&^*ing CD-Rom", so perhaps it's best to stick to paper, email and fax!

Melanie Beech outlined her thoughts, "Do you read junk mail sent to the previous occupants of your house/flat? Would you walk up to a complete stranger in the street and expect them to listen to what you tell them?

If the answer to either of the above is no, then it is easy to work out that:

Checking with the publications you're interested in to find out who writes about your area is essential. You're not the only one sending in press releases, and if they don't go to the right person straight off they're often binned.
There's a reason why a PR person's address book is valuable: that person has spent time and effort building a relationship of trust with journalists in their field and therefore has more chance of getting their stories published."

Tim Gibbon suggested another website, "It is vital that the recipient can get their head around what you are trying to express easily. Try PressBox at http://www.pressbox.co.uk."

Leslie Bunder added a final thought, "…don't forget when you issue your press release either by e-mail or post/fax, put a copy on your Web site. I really hate it when you hear of some big launch and know jolly well that a press release has been issued, but alas the company concerned had seem to have forgotten to put it on their site!"

So, there's more than a few pointers, but as always, there's a reason that there are so many PR agencies, it's not straightforward. If nothing else, doing your homework building press contacts is crucial.

Advertising Locally

The great promise of advertising using the Internet is the targeting that it would offer. Whilst it is possible to target by domain, day part, site content and many other factors, how easy is it to target by geographical location?

Jonathan Forster asked the same question, "Does anyone have any advice on how to effectively market online to a geographic location in the UK right now beyond trying to limit by IP address- I have a client only wishing to reach people based in Birmingham."

Mat Morrison replied, "Radio. Posters. Local Press. Local TV loops. Flyers. Adshells. Flyposters. A quick run on the new data-mining software I've just bought comes up with a surprising correlation: (agencies AND use web for local marketing) 94% match on (people who limp BECAUSE shoes too tight) 92% match on (square pegs AND round holes) Could be wrong. I don't trust the software that much anyway." Or maybe not.

Leslie Bunder with a slightly more serious angle, wrote, "…you could try one of the local ThisIs series of sites, or a site where people input locality for information e.g.: UpMyStreet, Yell, Thomweb... of course, the traffic might be very limited, but nonetheless you will probably get getting some very focused traffic of people after products and services or information in those local areas..."

James Cridland added, "I think you need to use those sites that have registered users and which keep UK-regions as a demographic. We can provide different ad code for a Midlander than a Londoner, for example, all on the fly. ...Alternatively, try websites for the local radio stations and press; we list them all in our site at www.mediauk.com - you'll be wanting Galaxy 102, Heart 100.7, and BRMB, plus the local papers. Finally, some local papers (notably the freebie Metro) have a very high 'internetted' readership, and wouldn't represent total and complete wastage like much off-line advertising for online stuff ends up being."

Edward Cowell suggested, "Go through sites offering localised content/news information. News papers, club, local government and community sites etc. You'll have to put in a fair bit of research to pinpoint the best ones. Possibly buy into their mailing lists as well."

LINKS OF NOTE:
A quick round up of interesting, funny, useful and other links gleaned from the uk-netmarketing list, office gossip and other nefarious sources...we take no responsibility should you chose to click...basically, it's not our fault. Enjoy:

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