The Public Relations Blog

How to write a news release that gains media coverage for your company

If your company has an announcement it wants to make, then a news release may be a great option for you to share that news. A news release is an official announcement that a company or nonprofit issues to the news media. There’s a right way and a wrong way, though, to create a press release. The better it is, the easier it will be to secure earned media coverage. These seven tips will help you write an effective news release to gain earned media coverage for your company.

How you can properly vet a company before doing business with them

We were in the final in-person pitch with a prospective client. The client was a tech company that had developed a negative reputation online for its fast-paced growth because it had hurt some feelings along the way. While the company earned this reputation, the managers saw the errors of their ways and wanted to get a better handle on the company’s reputation after improving its operations and culture.

You do have the time, money, and data to measure public relations

The reasons for incorporating measurement and evaluation into your company’s public relations strategy are many:

• You know actual metrics behind reach, impressions, items, mentions, and engagement to understand the effectiveness of campaigns.
• You see which media channels certain audiences are most responsive to.
• You can predict future trends for better planning and agile response.

There aren’t many people who read the newspaper at breakfast anymore. Most of us get the news from our phones through social media. However, traditional media – like newspapers and major news outlets – still hold value in our fast-paced, 24-hour news cycle. Social media curates content from many sources, including traditional media outlets. Its platforms are a dynamic medium that your company should use to share news as well as engage with current and future customers.

As a public relations firm dedicated to helping companies manage crisis communications, improve their reputations, and manage online reviews, it often surprises us how many of our prospective clients don’t understand the differences between these things. We think it’s important to educate companies about these critical areas of PR. If you don’t know the difference between crisis communications, reputation management, and review management, you’re in luck, as we outline the three below.

3 ways to bring your media relations efforts back to life with help from PR

Over the years, the business community has reported that many tools and concepts are “dead.” From press releases to polling, people are quick to declare the premature end of something that no longer seems to be working for them. One such device that has suffered this fate is the media kit. Is it really dead – or perhaps just misunderstood and misused?

Blockchain has received a lot of attention in recent months, especially after the explosive growth of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in December. Many people associate blockchain solely with financial applications. Others see potential for blockchain technology in nearly all aspects of life. It’s helpful to have a basic understanding of what blockchain is in order to thoughtfully consider how it may help your company, including your public relations efforts.

Pitching the media about company news that has a positive economic impact is one of the best ways to gain earned media coverage. (Hint: That’s because it’s newsworthy.) This is especially true when it comes to announcing jobs. News stories about employment opportunities are a great way to recruit employees. The news media enjoys sharing this news with their audiences. If your company plans to expand and increase its workforce significantly, then it’s an opportunity to gain some earned media coverage.

Don’t make these errors when a crisis hits your company

On the afternoon of Thursday, April 12, an employee at a Starbucks in Philadelphia decided that two men who were sitting at a table and had not purchased anything were a threat. That employee called the police who arrested the men and held them in custody until 1:30 a.m. the next morning. The men, who were waiting for a business associate, were African-American. Another Starbucks patron, Melissa DePino, recorded the incident and posted the video to Twitter at 2:12 that same afternoon. She tagged the video @Starbucks.

Applying the PDCA/Deming Cycle to public relations for strategic growth and improvement

Using measurement and evaluation (M&E) is a process that takes deliberate planning to thoroughly implement. It’s more than lifting some data from your analytics software and hoping to do better next month. Our previous blog posts discussed the difference between measurement and evaluation, the importance of knowing your purpose in this process, what kind of measurement data to collect and how to create SMART goals.