– when it comes to getting in the headlines.
No matter how great your news is, if a bigger story comes along you may be beaten off the front page. However, there is plenty that you can do to turn the tables in your favour.
Timing your release really helps, here are a few points to keep in mind that will help you to maximise the impact of your news.
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There are optimal times to send out a press release
– and it’s not Friday afternoon! Think about your audience (how often do we chant this mantra). When do journalists want news – in the morning. Then they have time to do something with it.
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Internal dates and times
– often dictate when content is released may not always get the best results.
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Plan ahead and build a pipeline
– you may put a huge amount of effort into writing the perfect new business win, only for it to languish with your customer’s PR department for approval. Keep your planned timings realistic and try to stay flexible about what news goes out when.
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Opportunity knocks
– remember that you can send out news that may get picked up weeks, or even months, later when a journalist happens to be covering that particular topic.
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Sometimes the timing isn’t in your control
– journalists write about what they want to write about, when they are ready (or when they are commissioned). Keeping an eye on forward features schedules and building a library of content that you can draw upon to provide salient comment swiftly can often yield the best editorial coverage.
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Respond quickly
– when a journalist asks for more information, or asks for an image, do respond quickly. When sending images, be sure that you have the rights to the image, or that it is royalty free.
