Monday, March 31, 2014

Press Release Tips: How to Grab the Attention of Your Target Audience


It’s a fact that boring and pointless press releases are automatically thrown to the trash bin.  Journalists and editors just don’t have the time to read them amidst their very hectic schedule.  So, as a company that is trying really hard to get some news exposure, you need a solid strategy to attract the attention of your target audience.

Top 7 Ways to Grab the Attention of Your Target Audience

Grabbing the attention of a highly critical set of audiences is probably the most challenging part in doing a press release distribution.  But, it is also the most rewarding especially if your news story will get the exposure it badly needs.
1. Pitch a story that is highly related to their interest.  Make sure you’ve done your research before sending your pitches.  Journalists and bloggers find it insulting if you pitch news stories that are not even relevant to their niche or the demographic they are serving.  Don’t waste your time and theirs by sending a story that won’t attract any interest from their readers.
2. Make your title catchy and engaging.  The title of your press release should automatically grab the attention of your target audience.  This is the most crucial part of your copy that you need to work properly before submitting your news story.  As much as possible put the most important details of your story in your title.  Be sure that your reader can automatically tell what your news is all about just by reading it.  Oftentimes, if they’ll find it boring, they’ll just automatically drop your copy in the trash bin.
3. Keep their audience in mind.  While writing your press release, make sure that your story has a high impact to their audience or readers.  This way the probability of getting your copy published is higher, and if your story is interesting enough, shares and mentions in social networks are extra incentives.
4. Keep your copy short and clean. Definitely a must for press releases.  Keep your news story short, clean, and smart.  Journalists, editors, bloggers, and the like have so much going on with their professional lives that they don’t have time to read lengthy stories. Also, news stories should be factual, and direct to the point.
5. Don’t be too pushy. And appear like you are very desperate to get the attention of your target audience.  In most cases, they will interpret your pushiness as being too aggressive to the point that they will lost interest about your news story.  Keep your enthusiasm at a professional level and be minimalistic as much as possible.
6. Avoid too many adjectives.  Your target audience are not some product prospects wherein you need to gloss your words every now and then.  Be straight-forward and avoid any kinds of adjectives, superlatives, and any unnecessary language constructions that are not essential to your news story.  Save all your flowery words to your sales pitches.
7. Establish a working relationship.  Probably one of the most important aspects of public relations that is not yet tapped by some small businesses is to establish a working relationship with their target audience.  Inviting journalists, bloggers, and TV reporters to any annual events that showcase the best assets of your company is a good start.  You can also hold an annual gathering of media friends to show how much you appreciate their help.  For sure, every time they will receive a press release from you, they would surely make it a priority to consider it for publication because you already have established a connection with them.
One way or another, these tips can help get your submission to the editors’ desk and ultimately right in front of their audience and readers.  Press release submission is definitely not easy, thus it is of utmost importance that you are doing it right from the very start to the very end of the process.  Good luck!

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