If you’re looking for information on how to more effectively connect with journalists and consumers, you may want to read “Business Wire’s Complete Guide to Modern Public Relations.”
This report, which was published by Business Wire, a leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure, provides insight into the way consumers receive news and how digital media has impacted this over last decade. The overall message of the piece is straightforward: times are changing in the media industry, meaning public relations and communications professionals must evolve in their practices as well.
The guide highlights the four key elements PR pros should keep in mind when reaching out to journalists:
The future of business communications
The first section introduces how the concept of a news release came about in the first place, thanks to American publicity expert and founder of modern public relations, Ivy Lee. Although the core elements of news releases have remained much the same, the way news and information has historically been distributed to media outlets has changed drastically. This is a result of companies increasingly seeking to cater to the way that consumers interact with the media, both in terms of accessing and reading content, as well as engaging directly with media through blogs and social media.
Lee offers guidelines for PR professionals to ensure that news releases are successful in their delivery and reception by their target audiences:(1) be trusted and timely, (2) focus on the facts, (3) be interesting, and (4) be impactful with media. These guidelines are timeless and essential for keeping journalists engaged and interested.
Tips on press release development
This section details the elements of a news release and why their mastery is important when communicating with journalists. Since a press release lets journalists know the news elements are for developing a story, it must contain attention-grabbing, accurate, interesting and relevant information.
Who, what, when and where (the four W’s) are questions that need to be addressed within the first few paragraphs of a news release to keep a journalist reading further and committed to determining whether to move forward with the information.
Implementation of multimedia elements can also increase engagement with news releases. The inclusion of pictures, infographics, videos, etc. in any announcement has been proven to retain the reader’s interest for longer. Multimedia elements can also communicate the overall message of an announcement more effectively than those that only have text throughout because visuals enhance reader engagement.
Business Wire mentions that when developing a press release, it’s a best practice to put yourself in your reader’s shoes and take the perspective of someone who might not know anything about the subject matter you’re discussing. The news release must do a good job informing the reader about the topic, why it’s worth covering, and why it’s relevant, in order to be successful.
Relationship building
This is arguably the most important part of the guide because it analyzes how imperative it is to build and maintain relationships with journalists, even before news is available to share. This is a best practice because, after all, journalists are people too, and they are experts at recognizing authenticity, or lack thereof. It’s important to remember that a journalist having access to your information is not the same as forming a relationship with them.
A great first step to doing this is researching journalists and bloggers, at both the local and nationwide levels. Knowing what they cover, their angles, interests, and biases helps make the connection more personal, and increases the likelihood of a response. A networking opportunity will always be more genuine when there’s proactive thought put into it beforehand.
Measuring success
The final section of the guide explains eight ways to measure the results of a public relations program or campaign. These include to: (1) get granular, (2) properly count the overall results of each programs, (3) look at the influence and reach of your news, (4) use advanced attribution, (5) research the devices your audiences use, (6) listen to social conversations, (7) track the amount of time your audience spends with you, and (8) don’t manage analytics alone.
The value of public relations is increasing, which means there is an increasing number of ways to assess the success of a PR campaign. Being able to properly identify and calculate the ROI, reach and value of a campaign is vital in the marketing, public relations, and advertising industries. Business Wire goes into detail on each measurement tool to highlight how and why to use it.
This guide is an asset to not only public relations professionals, but also to those who want more insight into the everchanging digital world and its effects on consumer media engagement. Updating your understanding of how the information age works is necessary for effective communication with journalists and their target audiences.