How to Write a Promotional Press Release

If you want to attract media attention and promote your business, then you’ll need to write a promotional press release. Here’s how.

Press releases are an ideal way of highlighting any achievements you’ve made with your business, new products you’re launching or special events you’re holding and is one of the main ways of attracting interest from the media. Hundreds of press releases are written and released each day and, with so many out there vying for attention, you need to ensure yours stands out from the crowd in order for it to get noticed.
Before you get down to business and write your press release, it’s a good idea to have a clear idea in your mind about exactly what you want and need to say and who your press release is aimed at. Press releases tend to follow a set format, so sketch out ideas of what you’ll include under the following sections.
The headline. This needs to be short, snappy and memorable, but also highlighting the main aims and reason for the press release.
Opening paragraph. This needs to include all the main facts, including mentions of the name of your company and the new products, service or events you’re promoting. As journalists receive so many press releases, they often skim through reading them, so it’s important to encapsulate the main points concisely in your first paragraph.
The following paragraphs. These should contain all the supporting information in order of importance. It’s a good idea to include relevant quotes, such as from the owner of the business.
Further information. At the end of the press release, always include a box of further information, so journalists or media outlets can get in touch with you for more details or to interview you. Include the name of your business, the business address, key phone numbers, an email address and your company website.

Tips for Writing Your Press Release

It’s best to stick to writing your press release in third person, as this comes across far more professionally. Ideally, try and make it only one A4 page long, or 1½ pages at most. Many journalists won’t bother ploughing through a long release and much prefer something that’s concise and quick to read. Whilst it’s good to include a quote from someone from your organisation, don’t go overboard with using quotes. If your referring to any surveys or forms of market research you’ve carried out amongst your customers, always try and provide details, for example either in the release or at the end in the ‘further information’ section about how you gathered the data and how many people were surveyed.
Try and avoid being too ‘wordy’ or using flowery language – recipients of you release will spot it a mile off and won’t appreciate it. Once the press release has been written, always ensure that it’s accurate and contains no errors or spelling mistakes.
If you don’t feel confident writing the press release yourself, then you could employ a freelance PR consultant to write it on your behalf. The benefits of this are that they’ll already have good experience writing press releases and marketing businesses, plus they should be experienced in sending it out and reaching the right people.
If you’re looking for new and novel ways of promoting your craft business, then how about creating craft catalogues and instruction guides?
For most crafts businesses it’s no longer practical to produce catalogues simply listing all the products they sell, not least as it can soon go out of date. Having online websites has helped get rid of the need, as people can browse the range of products available online. But when you’re trying to continue to promote your business and the wide range of products you have available, then there are still benefits to be gained from creating craft catalogues and instruction guides.
With the crafts business in particular, customers are really keen to learn how to get the most from the products they buy. Although some products have basic instructions on their packaging, most items don’t come equipped with more than simple instruction leaflets. In many cases, customers are left unaware of everything they could do with their products.
Craft catalogues and guides can be used as both an effective marketing tool for your business, but also as a very useful resource for your customers – if they contain the right balance and level of information.

What to Include in Craft Catalogues and Guides?

One of the most useful types of content that you could include in craft catalogues and guides are step-by-step project ideas, with clear and easy examples to follow and hints and tips about how to produce certain crafts and specific techniques. The content could draw on products you sell and be aimed at various different ages or crafter experience.
If you’re already running craft classes and courses as part of your business, then you can draw on your wealth of existing experience when creating the guide. If you don’t feel up to the job of writing the guide, then you could employ a professional freelance writer to write the content for you, using your guidelines and experience. Plus, you could either use your own creative skills to design it, or enlist the help of a local design company.
To be sure about the type of content your customers would like to see, it may be useful to do a spot of market research. Simple data gathering approaches, such as questionnaires, should do the job efficiently and will help you gauge details about what kind of instruction guides or crafts they’d like featured in the guide.
Your guide could be printed by a local printer for a professional look, or you could perhaps print it and bind it yourself. Depending on your print run and when/if you intend to update the guide, it’s a good idea to try and keep the contents from dating too soon, as you don’t want it to seem old before its time. So if your prices are likely to change or you may stop stocking certain products, try and avoid mentioning them.
Alternatively, one way around this is to produce simple inserts to insert into the guide with details of current product prices – that way, you can keep it up-to-date without having to reprint the entire guide.
Once you’ve produced the crafts catalogue or guide, then always ensure it’s thoroughly proofread and checked for errors before it goes to print. Don’t forget to ensure that all your essential business contact information is included, such as the name of your business, your address, phone numbers, website and email address. You’ll need to consider whether you’ll charge for the guide or provide it free for customers - in part, this may depend on any production costs involved in producing it.
Finally, once the guide is published and available, producing a press release to promote it may well work well and get you a mention in any local newspapers or crafting publications.
Getting your crafts business noticed by the media – for the right reasons! – can bring with it extra PR and promotion opportunities. But how can you make the right impression and get your business into the media limelight?
The media is a powerful tool for information sharing, promotion and marketing and, if used positively, it can help get your business name and nature into the knowledge of readers, listeners or viewers. Media outlets are always on the lookout for feature stories, articles and news to feature in print or broadcast mediums, and that’s where the main opportunities for business comes in.
If you’re organised and efficient and are already producing press releases when you have special events or offers, or are regularly advertising at a local or national level, then the chances are that you’ll get noticed by relevant publications. For example, crafts publications are always on the lookout for new products or stores (especially if they’re online) to mention in product write-ups and like to include details of accessible stockists.
At a local level, newspapers and magazines are always looking for businesses with a story to tell – perhaps you’re a new company, innovative, selling quirky handmade products or doing something unusual. The more eye-catching and original you are, the better. Likewise, radio stations local news channels also like to feature things going on at ground level, so if you’re having a big event or launching a new product range with a bit of pomp and fanfare, you may be able to get your local radio or TV station to come along and film it.

Contacting the Media

It’s no use contacting media outlets and saying, "I want my crafts business featured in the media". That will get you nowhere. The best way of grabbing their attention is to give them a specific focus. Being able to send in a press release you’ve written or had produced is a fantastic way of initially approaching a newspaper, magazine, radio or TV company, as it gives the impression that you’re media aware and are clued up on what you’re doing.
The press release should have a clear focus – e.g. be concerned with the launch of your business, a particular new product range you’ve launched or have details about any special events you’re running. Make sure all the key information and contact details are included on the release before sending it in.
Sometimes local papers will use the press release pretty much as is, printing it in the paper without contacting you. On other occasions, they may get in contact with you to ask for further details or a request to interview you. If your goal is to get your crafts business mentioned in the media, then don’t say no to a media interview, however busy you are.
You may be interviewed for extra quotes to go with a news article, or perhaps for a separate interview piece or feature for the publication. Either way, be friendly, helpful and cooperative throughout, as it’s your chance to mention what you’re doing and give your business some much-needed PR.

Becoming an Expert

To expand your media portfolio further, you might consider trying to get yourself known either locally or nationally as an expert. In this case, it would most likely be as either an expert crafter, craft spokesperson or craft business owner. Again, you could use the press release format to let relevant media organisations know that you’re willing to speak on certain craft related topics and would be happy for them to get in contact anytime. There are also various directories online typically used by the media where members of the public can gain free listings as an expert and provide contact details for journalists who want to get in contact.
Do be aware that often journalists have tight deadlines and will contact you out-of-the-blue – potentially at times when you’re already snowed under with work – and be keen for you to share your views and insight. If you’d like to be used as an expert regularly, then do try and fulfil these requests as much as you can and be helpful.
As a crafts business, one of the key issues you’ll be concerned about is getting relevant promotion. Media outlets, such as magazines, newspapers and online publications are all highly useful ways of gaining promotion and if you’re prepared to offer crafts goods for competitions, you could gain valuable rewards.
Getting editorial in crafts magazines, newspapers, trade publications, online or even getting your products mentioned in relevant craft podcasts, radio shows or TV programmes, is a brilliant way of gaining extra exposure and building your brand name. But it’s not always easy getting a mention. One other way that’s well worth exploring is being prepared to offer a selection of your products to media outlets for competitions they’re running.
A wide range of media outlets regularly hold competitions for their readers, viewers or listeners and they’re always on the lookout for products to giveaway as prizes. The benefits for craft businesses is that you get a free mention of your business, details of the products you stock and, depending on space, a free bit of editorial. Plus, the media publication will be grateful for the opportunity to run a competition.

How to Offer Products

Rather than waiting for them to find and get in contact with you, many media publications would be pleased to hear from you with details of items you’re prepared to donate for competitions. A good starting point is any local newspaper or magazine. Firstly, make sure you’ve read a few copies and suss out whether or not they run these types of competitions (most do) and the sorts or prizes they offer. Look out for mentions of the value of items too, as this will help you gauge whether or not it’s something you could match.
Next, think about the amount or cost of items you’re prepared to offer. Give this careful consideration, as you don’t want to be out of pocket by giving too much away, but don’t want to be too stingy for not giving enough. Have this clear in your mind before you approach any publication, as you don’t want to be caught out not knowing your intentions or budget. Don’t forget that, as well as products, you could offer classes or tuition.
As for who to approach, you could either contact any of the staff journalists on the publications, or the deputy editor or editor. Sometimes the marketing or promotions department will be involved, but it’s often the editorial team themselves who arrange competitions and giveaways.
Once you’ve had an offer of a competition prize accepted, be sure that you agree any terms and conditions involved. As an added incentive for readers, you could also suggest extra reader discounts – for example, a coupon they could cut-out to get 10% off a purchase or a code to put in to get a discount off an online order – as these are also a useful form of business promotion.
Check that your company will be given a good mention and double-check that they have all your details ready to include – the name of your business, your location, phone number and website address. Don’t take it for granted that the media publication will source these details themselves and neither should you assume they’ll get them right. It’s beneficial to arrange to approve the copy before it goes to print to make extra sure that the information is correct. It’s not good news for your business promotion efforts if some tiny details are incorrect.
Finally, when the offer comes out, be prepared for any extra business that comes your way and welcome new customers with open arms!


http://www.startacraftbusiness.co.uk