Good and Bad PR

Know Your Audience

by Patty

Public Relations is all about knowing your audience and how to reach them. In a recent article I found on www.ragan.com titled “Dumping C.R.A.P. On Reporters”, the standard formula used for many corporate press releases is scrutinized for its inability to reach its primary audience: reporters.

An Unimpressive Formula

According to author Steve Crescenzo, 90% of the releases he sees follow the same formula: Name of company + everything great about this company that nobody really cares about + bad verb + bad quote by a guy with too many titles. Sound familiar? That’s because many companies use this formula to create their releases, using them to stroke a client’s ego rather than attract attention from reporters. A fluff piece may be nice for clients to read, but if a company wishes to gain some exposure for those clients, they’ll need to appeal to the reporters who can make it happen.

Remember Your Objective

The ultimate goal of any press release is to inform the public of something that is happening with a company, good for bad. To do this, the company has to realize that its first audience is the reporter. Crescenzo says that press releases should be written for reporters, not external or internal audiences. If you can write a lead that interests a reporter, the chances of your release ending up in the desired publications increases exponentially.

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