Press Releases

Having written a press release, what should you do with it?

Decide exactly where it should be sent - those publications which are read by your audience! Do you know which ones these are? It may be your professional association's magazine if you are staging a trade conference, fellow concerns' or in-house journals if you are holding a training event.

Decide when your press release should be issued. When do you want the event to be publicised? How often? Six months, three months and one week before it is staged to attract speakers, then delegates and finally last-minute delegates, as appropriate? Can you therefore prepare three versions of your release, each with a twist, another angle, something to ensure second and third mentions? How long do you want a feature to run?

Follow up:

Be available if the news editor or a reporter wants to follow up the release for further information, more details or to arrange for photographs to be taken - perhaps of the new product you are launching. Keep track of the responses to your press release. Do you now have a useful media contacts list? Note who ran a feature, whether it was a positive one, what the effects were and who and how many enquired as a result of it. Which would-be delegates registered and in what numbers? What have you learned for the future?