Find the written word to be tricky and looking for tips to writing a media release? Words need to be put together in a precise way for the communication to be precise and to send the intended message. Enter William Scott.
In this segment of an interview between Dale Beaumont and William Scott, you can learn just how to put write a media release that will prove to be a success for your business. With over 500 employees across Australia, William”s hands-on and accountable nature has seen him win contracts with some of Australia”s largest multinational companies including News Limited, Integral Energy, Optus and many more.
What are your top tips for writing a successful media release?
- What do you want to say? Develop your key messages and ensure they are newsworthy. The newsworthiness of a story is judged by: * proximity * timeliness * impact * conflict * prominence * currency * human interest * the unusual.
- Make sure you wait until you have something of substance before you issue a release.
- Keep the release short and succinct – ideally it should be no longer than one page.
- Ask yourself how people will relate to and connect with your story.
- Remember when you pitch a story, journalists are seeking the answers to who, what, when, where, why and how.
- Use the ‘pyramid’ approach for writing releases – the main news summarised succinctly in the first paragraph and other information, in descending order of importance, in the following paragraphs. This makes it easier for editors to cut out information.
- Refrain from using superlatives or descriptors such as ‘pleased’, ‘excited’, ‘exceptional’ and ‘unique’.
- Include a quote from a person, identifying them by name and title and putting their comments in quotation marks.
- Provide as much contact information as possible – contact person, address, phone and fax numbers, email and website addresses. 10. Make sure spelling and grammar is correct – get someone else to proofread your release.
Find more of this interview check out Dale Beaumont’s “Secrets of Marketing Experts Exposed!“.
