When you’re writing a news release, your target audience consists of only one person. Can you guess who it is? It’s the news editor who is going to receive your release.
The news editor has the ultimate decision on whether or not your release is going to get published or aired. So your news release should be in the style news editors are used to reading: i.e. like a news story, not a news release.
This means not including your company’s boiler plate in the lead sentence. This means not burying the main point of your release in the fifth paragraph. This means coming up with a lead that grabs attention, getting to the point quickly, avoiding industry jargon, keeping your sentence and paragraph lengths short, and not using any more words than necessary.
If your news can be communicated in one page, don’t waste the editor’s time by sending out a two- or three-page news release. You better believe their reporters don’t turn in verbose copy. You shouldn’t either.
If you can’t pass the “So what?” test that the news editor will apply to your news release, then rewrite it. If your news release does not resemble the type of news story the editor airs or publishes on a regular basis, then rewrite it.
If your news release is going to require heavy and substantive changes by a news editor, chances are the editor won’t want to take the time. Trust me, their email inbox and mail box receives hundreds – if not thousands – of news releases from other organizations every day. Editors simply don’t have the patience or time to pour through your release to find the news buried within it, and then edit the text so they can run a story.
Your goal should be to make it easy as possible for the news editor to take your story and place it in their publication with few edits, if any. If you can do that, your hit rate will skyrocket.
It seems to me that many public relations professions write their news releases to please their supervisors or clients. Those people don’t have any say whatsoever in your news release ever seeing the light of day. So don’t style your writing to suit them.
Keep focused on who’s going to decide if your release is newsworthy. That’s the news editor and no one else. Then write your news release accordingly.
If your supervisor or client complains that your finished product does not resemble the typical news release, show him or her the publication that you’re trying to place the story. Explain to them that you are trying to resemble the publication’s writing style in order to increase your chances of placement success. How can they disagree with that logic?
Hopefully by adopting this strategy, you will see your hit rate increase and eventually you will have free rein to write as you see fit. And news editors around the globe will thank you for that!
49 responses to “Your target audience consists of one person”
I simply want to tell you that I am new to blogging and I absolutely enjoyed you’re page. I’m going to bookmark your blog post. You actually come up with good stories. Bless you for your website.
Excellent post, very informative. I wonder why the other experts of this topic don’t notice this. You must proceed with your writing. I’m confident you have a huge reader base already!
I truly appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thanks again
Thanks for sharing excellent informations. Your site is very cool. I am impressed by the details that you have on this website. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for extra articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the info I already searched all over the place and just could not come across. What a perfect website.
Your site is valuable to me. Thanks!
I enjoyed reading through this. Very good stuff.
I don’t normally comment on blogs but I’ve got to let you know this was effectively done.
This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You know so much that it’s almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want to…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!
Wow, I like your posts! Saved to favorites!
I have been examining some of your posts and it’s nice stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your site.
I like this blog. It’s a master piece! Glad I detected this on Google.
Good day! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my old roommate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this post to him. Fairly certain he will enjoy it. Many thanks for sharing!
I really appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thank you again.
You have a very nice site. I enjoy the style. It stands out.
It’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!
WONDERFUL Post. Thanks for sharing.
Hello there. I found your weblog the use of msn. That is a really neatly written article. I’ll make sure to bookmark it and return to learn more of your useful info. Thanks for the post. I will definitely come back.
This really answered my problem, thank you!
Hello, your blog is awesome. I love it so much.
First of all I want to say superb blog! I had a quick question in which I’d like to ask if you do not mind. I was interested to know how you center yourself and clear your mind prior to writing. I’ve had trouble clearing my thoughts in getting my ideas out. I truly do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any recommendations or hints? Thank you
Just start writing. Don”t worry about the first sentence. Get your thoughts down. You can always edit and polish it later.
Can I just say what a relief it is to find someone who actually knows what they’re talking about on the internet. More people need to read this. I can’t believe you’re not more popular because you definitely have a gift.
Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their store. I’d prefer to use some with the content on my blog whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a link on your web blog. Thanks for sharing.
I get what you mean. Thank you for posting this. I am happy to have found this website through Google.
Hello, your website is cool. I love it so much.
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your website? My website is in the exact same area of interest as yours and my visitors would truly benefit from a lot of the information you provide here. Please let me know if this alright with you. Regards!
I like this site so much, I saved it to favorites.
Your writing style has amazed me. Thanks! Very nice article.
I appreciate the effort you have put in this. Thank you for all the great articles .
Hi, your blog is cool. I love it so much.
I enjoy your writing style. I’m genuinely enjoying this site.
You guys rock!
I do agree with all the ideas you have introduced to your post. They are really convincing and will certainly work. Nonetheless, the posts are very brief for beginners. May you please extend them a bit from subsequent time? Thank you for the post.
Hey, your blog is cool. I love it so much.
Some really choice blog posts on this site. I saved it to my bookmarks .
I like this web blog very much. It has so much great information.
You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!
Spot on with this write-up. I absolutely feel this site needs much more attention. I’ll probably be returning to read more. Thanks for the information!
Usually I do not read articles on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up compelled me to try and do it! Your writing has surprised me. Thank you. Quite great post.
Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this site. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s very hard to get that “perfect balance” between superb usability and appearance. I must say that you’ve done a excellent job with this. Additionally, the blog loads extremely quick for me on Firefox. Exceptional Blog!
The list of compliments I have for this article is way too long to be posted here. I have much admiration for your article.
“Hey very nice website!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your web site and take the feeds also…I am happy to find numerous useful info here in the post, we need work out more strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .”
It’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic. However you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
Glad I noticed this on Google.
A round of applause for your article post. Really thank you!
I simply want to tell you that I’m new to blogging and site-building and certainly enjoyed you’re blog. I’m likely to bookmark your website. You definitely come up with incredible articles. Thanks for sharing with us your webpage.
Perfectly composed post!
This site is… how do you say it? Relevant!!
Finally I have found something which helped me. Thanks!