Are your rockets ready to fly? Your sparklers ready to dazzle? Your bonfire ready to warm up a chilly November night? Yes? Great! But what about your PR campaign? Is that ready to sparkle and help your business soar? Or is it in danger of being a damp squib?
The nights may well be getting longer, but don’t keep people in the dark about your PR initiatives. Now is the perfect time of year to warm up contacts and get your hot topics talked about.
Here at Bloomin’ Creative, we know how to make your PR plans go with a bang.
Whatever your business, there’s always a story to tell. One of the biggest advantages of working closely with a reputable PR agency or consultant is that they will help you identify those newsworthy stories and use them to attract press coverage.
As a public relations agency working with clients across Cumbria and around the North West, we have vast experience leading B2B and B2C PR campaigns for clients in a variety of sectors, including hospitality, financial services, property, fashion and interior design – to name just a few.
One of the most important aspects of our job as PR experts is identifying unique and interesting stories and pitching these angles to the press. As a result of this, our clients’ profile and credibility soars upwards (without having to pay hefty advertising fees).
A good starting point is to think about the story behind your brand – how did your business start? What inspired it? Giving a business an interesting human interest angle will often result in good, positive coverage.
Another great PR tactic is ‘piggybacking’ onto an event, talking point or industry debate and offering your expert perspective.
As former journalists, we know what will stoke the media’s fire. We’re red hot at spotting good news angles. And we’re equally good at recognising when a story won’t sell. We’re not ‘yes people’ and we’ll let you know if we think you’re wasting your time, effort and money on a particular PR angle that’s unlikely to result in the press coverage you’re aiming for.
6 tips to make your press release sparkle
When you want to tell journalists about your news, one of the most effective ways is to issue a press release. But if you fire off a release about everything to everyone, it’ll be shot down in flames. Instead, follow our top tips:
- Do your research. Make sure you’re sending your press release to the right journalist at the right time (be deadline aware!)
- Keep your release fairly brief (800 words is the absolute maximum – ideally you should write around 400).
- Get to the point in the opening paragraph as most journalists will decide within seconds if they want to continue reading or throw it on their digital bonfire.
- Avoid jargon and superlatives. Don’t call something ‘groundbreaking’ unless it genuinely is groundbreaking.
- If you’re quoting statistics, also include the source. (Journalists won’t necessarily take your word for it).
- Include some ‘Notes to Editors’ at the end. This is basically just a snappy list of bullet points with very brief background information about your company.
- A great image can make or break a story – try to offer the press something eye-catching and interesting. It could be the difference between seeing your story as a NIB (news in brief) or a page lead.
If you need a bit of help to get your PR plans soaring, we’ll help you light the touch paper. Get in touch for a chat – email Bloomin’ Creative director Danielle Owen-Jones on danielle@bloomincreative.co.uk or call 07837858195.
