Valley PR Blog

Charlotte Says:
March 8th, 2007 at 6:20 pm

Awesome reminder with great points…like “Catchy does not equal cutesy”.

I sent this on to my clients to let them know how precious a reporter’s time is and why I write my releases and pitches the way I do.

Len Gutman Says:
March 8th, 2007 at 8:14 pm

6. It reads like a testimonial. Despite what a lot of webmasters and small business owners seem to think, a press release is not an advertising / marketing tactic; it’s a publicity tool. Journalists don’t give a damn about what your customers say, or how great you think you are. If you want to run an advertisement, then buy advertising space.

I disagree with this one. I have had much success with the “testimonial” type press release. It gives a journalist an actual case study to use and they can see how your client’s product/service can truly benefit a customer — thus making it valuable for the media outlet’s readers/viewers.

danwool Says:
March 9th, 2007 at 8:53 am

I think her point is that news releases should read like news, not marketing copy.

Jenn Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 5:50 pm

That’s exactly what I meant Dan, thanks. Testimonials are a general no-no in PR writing, b/c it crosses a line between news value and basic marketing hype. Let’s face it… a journalist doesn’t care what a no-name client has to say about someone’s site. Now if that quote weren’t written just for sales/traffic value, and from a huge client with a reputation behind them, you might be able to make a solid case for exceptions.

btw… thanks for highlighting the post.

Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound Says:
June 7th, 2007 at 10:37 pm

Jennifer’s argument that “a press release is not an advertising/marketing tactic; it’s a publicity tool” is short-sighted.

That may have been the case 20 years ago, when we were writing press releases only for journalists. But today, now that we can post press releases on the Internet to be read by consumers, press releases can, indeed, be a valuable marketing tool.

Besides, press releases rarely result in the kinds of newspaper and magazine articles people really want. That kind of publicity usually requires a customized pitch to a journalist.

Smart business people write lots of press releases and post them online through press release distribuiton services like Expertclick: The Online Yearbook of Experts, and PRWeb.

Releases can include valuable information that consumers might love, but journalists wouldn’t touch. For example, unusual ways to use your product. If you write the release using the same keywords people would use when searching online for information, they will most likely find your press release.

My free email tutorial “89 ways to write powerful press releases” explains how to write and distribute press releases online. You can opt in at http://www.PublicityHound.com/pressreleasetips/art.htm