The Press Release is Dead

Traditional press releases are being increasingly ignored by the media – so how do you adopt your marketing strategy to keep your brand in the press? Reporters, editors and bloggers receive hundreds of emails daily from PR professionals, and most of these notes go straight to the trash. With Canadian newsrooms shrinking, media have no time to read your fussily formatted release that, sadly, took days to compile and finalize.

By Patricia Dunn / October 13, 2010

Traditional press releases are being increasingly ignored by the media – so how do you adopt your marketing strategy to keep your brand in the press?

Reporters, editors and bloggers receive hundreds of emails daily from PR professionals, and most of these notes go straight to the trash. With Canadian newsrooms shrinking, media have no time to read your fussily formatted release that, sadly, took days to compile and finalize.

We’ve largely scrapped the traditional press release, focusing our communications instead on fast pitches that underscore why this is news now. Often we include a low-res photo and a website link so that media can look further, if interested.

The key is to make your pitch in a timely manner and with great impact. Define why your story improves the lives of, or is of genuine value to the audience. Lots of people and products are interesting, but relevancy to the audience will get you the coverage you seek. You may be a powerful First Nations chief with hours of stories to tell, but unless you are doing something that impacts a wider audience – like a significant real estate development – you may not be profiled.

But don’t be discouraged if you are a small business trying to build buzz for your hand-made hemp pet coats. You may not be cover material – yet – but you could start by pitching to bloggers who have a strong influence in the online community. This does not mean that you can just add a few popular bloggers to your media distribution list and your work is done. Read the blogs, get a solid idea of whom these bloggers are and the topics that interest them. A photo of and note about your new winter pet coats might pique the interest of a local fashion blogger. Especially if you’ve read their blog and noticed that they like to walk on the seawall with their chihuahua. Send them a sample pet coat, and the buzz will build from there.

The bottom line is to remember that media aren’t hanging around waiting to read your carefully groomed press release. Provide these overworked people with what they need, in a way they like to receive it, and you boost your chances of receiving free editorial.