You’ve got your headline with a juicy hook, your compelling and carefully written copy, and you’re eager to spread the word about your company or brand’s latest news. You’ve loaded up your press release into your distribution software and you’ve selected your list of relevant media contacts. Don’t press send just yet. There are a few things you need to check.
As much as time can be of the essence in public relations, it’s also important to make sure your press release is of a professional standard. It should not contain any mistakes. It should give journalists and editors everything they need. These factors can be the difference between getting easy media coverage and a journalist clicking the dreaded “Unsubscribe” button.
1 Contact Details
You should always check that the contact details you provide on a press release are:
a) Rendered correctly
b) Up-to-date
c) Easily visible
If a journalist is intrigued by your press release, one of the first things some do is reach for the phone to get in touch. This doesn’t happen every time, or even most of the time, but when it does you need to be ready.
Firstly, have you provided the correct phone number? There’s nothing worse than a digit missed off the start or end, or a mistyped 5 instead of a 6. Most journalists won’t try an alternative number. If the number doesn’t work, many will email, but it’s better to avoid the embarrassment of them telling you they couldn’t get through on the phone. It’s not a good initial impression.
Another thing to consider is that some businesses have offices in different locations across the world. You should provide the number that puts journalists through to the relevant press office or agency representative. They shouldn’t have to be put on hold or have their call re-directed; that wastes time and could mean you lose the enquiry and consequently any coverage.
If you’re sending press release to multiple countries, make sure it’s clear where your press office is located, and (if necessary) what the office hours are. You should not assume that journalists from outside your country of origin know when you will be available. Be sure to include country dialling codes if you are sending an international press release. The US is +1; the UK is +44.
Whenever your company’s or your client’s personnel change, update your press release templates accordingly. If an old colleague’s name and details remain on a press release, it may mean a media contact is unable to reach your company. Worse still, it could in some cases lead to them contact the former employee, which can be a problem if they’ve moved to a rival company, as often happens.
Finally, contact details need to be easy to find. Many companies use a clear Contact Us section on their press releases, normally at foot, although sometimes at the top. If you’re providing email addresses, check these are correct and that media contacts know who they are contacting – is it a specific individual or a PR team?
2 Links
If you’ve included hyperlinks in your press release, you should check that they work before sending. Not the most exciting task, especially if you’ve included several links, but few things look sloppier than an outdated link or being directed to the wrong website because you’ve not updated from a previous press release that you’re using as a template.
Personally, I prefer links to open in a new tab, especially if you publish your press releases on your website. This avoids anyone clicking on a link being directed away from the original material. Most content management software will allow you to check a box to open a link in a new tab. You may decide that only certain links should be opened in new tabs, but whatever you decide, everyone in your team should be aware of the approach and follow it consistently.
3 Social Media Information
Some PR professionals don’t believe that social media links are important in press releases, but I know from hours spent trawling through analytics stats that people do click on them. If you’re not including a platform on which media contacts might want to communicate with you (usually Twitter and LinkedIn), you may be missing a trick.
There are several things to consider when it comes to adding social media information. Firstly, are your links correct? It sounds so obvious, but if a company has gone through a re-brand or simply changed their address or handle, you need to be providing a link to the latest account.
Secondly, are you including all the relevant platforms for your industry? If you work in business-to-business (B2B) PR, you might only need LinkedIn and Twitter pages, but if your company or client operates in the business-to-consumer (B2C) space, you might also consider Facebook, Instagram, and possibly others.
On the other hand, are you just including links for the sake of it? Do you (or your client) update your social media feeds regularly? If not, it might be counterproductive to include a link to an account that is inactive or used sparingly. You should always seek to direct your media contacts to the social streams which show your brand in its best light. So if you’re killing it with amazing content on Insta but only really posting job advertisements on LinkedIn, just include an Instagram link.
It is possible to achieve press coverage via social media. Twitter is a particularly good stream for this, especially if you’re able to find the journalists relevant to your target industry and see who is talking about what via hashtags. If you’ve interacted with media contacts on social media and they recognise your social handles in your press releases, this could increase your chances of them contacting you. If not, it at least serves to remind them that you’re active, which could come in handy if they need a brand like yours on another occasion.
4 Proofreading
Even the most talented and seemingly most diligent writer is not the best editor of their own work. We can often fail to spot basic errors (not just typos) or stylistic issues such as accidentally repeating the same phrase or accidentally repeating the same phrase or writing a really long and clunky sentence with no pause for breath… See what I did there?
In short, get a second set of eyes. They will see things your eyes have missed.
Ideally, get someone else from your PR team or agency, as they will be used to knowing what to look for. The obvious things are spelling and grammatical mistakes – such as apostrophes – but I would always encourage checking that figures make sense. In particular, check that any units of measurement are clearly explained – sometimes thousands and millions can get confused. Also, if you’re quoting values, be sure to outline which currency you’re referring to. Even “dollars” isn’t necessarily clear, as more than just Americans use them. Indicate that $ refers to USD if that’s the case, or an alternative if not.
5 Formatting
There’s no point sending out a press release with fantastic content if the formatting isn’t up to scratch. Journalists are too busy to spend time trying to decipher a poorly presented email and nobody will be impressed by something that looks unprofessional.
Your press release distribution software, such as Cision, Gorkana or Meltwater, will have a preview function, which you should always use to ensure everything is in order before you circulate your press release. What should you check?
Font size – Is the text in a sensible size? Is it consistently the same size throughout (with possible exceptions for titles)?
Paragraphing – Are your paragraphs separate and distinct? Are the spaces between them correct?
Alignment – Is the text aligned properly? Have you removed any unnecessary indentation?
Images – These can be tricky, depending on their size and the software you’re using. Consider an image’s importance depending on the press release’s desired impact. Is it better to include your image(s) within the press release, as an attachment, and/or to provide an external location from which journalists can download the image(s)? Have you correctly credited each image to its creator? Have you specified whether an image is for editorial use only? Have you provided a full description of the image? For example, if the image features people from your company, have you given their full names (spelled correctly) with their job titles? If it depicts a location or product, have you provided the relevant details (e.g. state and country; product size, release date and price)?
Brand logo – Has this been included? Does it look right (i.e. not blurry, not cut off, the correct shape, a sensible size)? Is it correctly aligned?
Generally, does it look like a professional document produced by a reputable company? If not, keep improving it until it does. And once again, get a second set of eyes to review your press release before you send it. Every detail should be checked, from the date and embargo time to everything listed above.
Conclusion
If you work in the communications industry and aren’t
doing these things, you might be missing out on media coverage and/or doing
damage to your or your client’s reputation. Some of the above items can be
included in templates to save time and promote standardisation, which helps
with brand recognition and familiarity. Building a checklist into your process
will help minimise mishaps and increase the likelihood of your press release
achieving better results.