Archive for the ‘Key messages’ Category

How to get your message in the media

Monday, July 25th, 2011

 So the day has arrived – you have finally got a story in the media. You pick up the paper and flick through quickly to find your story. There it is! It’s a great feeling. Then you read it, and it’s not exactly what you had in mind. You wish they’d used a different quote, included another bit of information or mentioned your new initiative…

According to a recent study by PR firm, Burston Marsteller, there’s a huge gap in the messages Australian businesses want in the media and what actually ends up in print.

Comparing key messages in 137 media releases to articles published, the study found that 74% of the time, the messages were different.

It certainly shows that getting your message in the media isn’t always easy.

To help increase your chances of getting the publicity you want, it’s worth investing some thought into what it is you want to say, before you write your press release.

Ask yourself, what do you want your audience to know? Write out some statements in dot point form and rank them in order of importance. The top three should be the basis for your key messages. Now to get them into a format that’s likely to get published…

Here are PR Guru’s top 5 tips on getting your messages in-print:

  1.  Avoid clichés and say something meaningful. Journalists can see through PR hype and glaze over when reading corporate jargon. Statements like “it’s been an amazing journey” or “we’re thrilled by…” make journalists yawn. Use quotes in your press release to make an informative statement that you want your audience to hear.  
  2. Where possible be specific, don’t generalise. Media are interested in the detail. So when you say something like “it’s improved our business efficiency and increases sales”, explain how and by how much. When you use numbers, they’re likely to get a run. 
  3. Don’t make unsubstantiated claims. For example, don’t claim to be unique, the largest, the product of choice or the best without being able to prove it in the same sentence.  Focus on the facts to boost your credibility with the media. 
  4. Offer timely comment. Be aware of hot-topics, issues and events happening around the time of your planned announcement and where appropriate, tie your statements into these. 
  5. Be consistent.  This means picking out the top three things that you want your audience to know about your news and using them in your press release and weaving them into your interviews with journalists.  

  Need more DIY PR advice? Download PR Guru’s DIY Publicity Guide now!

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Tags:Burston Marsteller study, DIY PR, DIY Publicity Guide, getting your message into the media, marketing, media relations
Posted in Key messages, Press Releases | No Comments »

Who is your official spokesperson in these days of the citizen journalist?

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

The rise of the citizen journalist, popularity of blogs and widespread use of social media has opened up a whole new world of opportunity for PR people working in not-for-profit and member organisations.

With more and more people connecting to social networks online, organisations can now directly engage with their supporters and volunteers in timely and meaningful ways.

In such free flowing environment, it’s also meant that anyone can have their say in the public domain.  Having your volunteers, members and employees become advocates for your cause can be a great thing for raising awareness. But with so many voices in the mix, there is a risk that your organisation’s key messages might get lost. And what happens to the messages of your official spokesperson?

Consistency of key messages is one of the key pillars of traditional communication strategies.

It’s important to offer supporters, volunteers, patrons and partners media kits with key messages outlined. Organisations need to empower all their supporters to be spokespersons by involving them in the campaign.

For instance, Motor Neurone Disease Australia gets support from hundreds of people around Australia living with the disease or affected by it in some way. Their involvement and willingness to share their stories on Facebook, twitter and blogs as well as traditional media is key to generating media coverage and raising awareness of the disease.

So how can communicators ensure they don’t lose their key messages in the noise?

Here are three tips to keep your supporters on ‘key’

keep your key messages simple, short and memorable (no more than three)
update your website and all communication material to ensure key messages are consistently used across all channels including Facebook
create a supporter kit and FAQs that cover your key messages. You may like to create a template media release that can be adapted and used by your supporters/volunteers/partners to publicise their efforts.
Want to know more about key messages? PR Guru’s DIY Publicity Guide has more valuable information and tips on communicating with your target audience and messaging.

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Tags:blogs, citizen journalist, communication, DIY PR, facebook, key messages, media, Motor Neurone Disease, non for profit organisations, online, organisations, PR, PR Guru, social media, spokesprson, twitter, volunteers
Posted in Awareness weeks/fundraising, Key messages | 1 Comment »

Magpie tatts not taboo in the right circles

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

Only days after their Grand Final win, Collingwood fans were keen to cement their success in history and make their long awaited win stick. So much so that a flurry of supporters have eagerly hit parlours to get a magpie tattoo immortalised on their body. According to the Herald Sun, some fans even had their appointments booked in advance. Now that’s dedication for you.

While they do have a certain appeal and are generally accepted in public with little to no ‘taboo-factor’, not everyone is a tattoo fan. So why are we going down this path on prguru.com.au?

Because when it comes to doing your own PR, it’s so important to remember that what appeals to one audience doesn’t necessarily work for the other.

Understanding your audience and their interests is essential when writing a story pitch or key messages. Get your message wrong and you can polarise potential customers or miss your target audience altogether.

For example, Aussie terms and phrases won’t necessary work if you’re targeting an international audience. And, you wouldn’t use business speak to grab anyone but a business person’s attention.

Here are 5 tips to writing effective key messages:

1. Know who you are talking to and understand their interests, for instance not all  Collingwood supporters like tattoos

Tw2. Tailor your key messages depending on the audience you are trying to reach. For example, price point will be important to students, but may not be to other audience segments.

3. Highlight your points of difference e.g. what makes your product or service unique to what your competitors are offering.

4. Be believable - don’t make any claims you can’t substantiate. Instead use specific examples, statistics, or facts to back up your statement.

5. Express your position on a relevant issue - if you are in the pool business, have a stance on child swimming safety or water usage.

Once you have developed your key messages, use these in your press releases and media interviews. Also, include them on your websites, in advertising and marketing collateral, presentations and sales efforts.

But remember, when using your key messages “not everyone likes tattoos”.

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Tags:collingwood, DIY PR, grand final, Herald Sun, key messages, PR, PR Guru, publicity, story pitch, taboo, target audience
Posted in Key messages | No Comments »