How to Ace a Press Release!

The Caroline Doll, CEO of POSH PR®, shares the strategy behind the pitch for your press release!

POSH PR doesn’t hope for the best. 

Instead, we do all we can to deliver the best. The world of public relations is far beyond sending out a templated press release and hoping for the best. Business is fast. Business changes. With the tools of social media, the market is saturated with competition….or so it seems. 

Anyone can say they do what you do, so how can you stand out? How can you be seen? Google is FULL of templates for how the format should be. But when it comes to a press release, it takes a little more than checking off the “Who, What, Where, When, and How” in order for it to be picked up. 

It takes strategy.

First tip? Your press release isn’t about you. 

When you pitch a press release, you have to reverse your thought process. Yes, you want to come up with an irresistible title. But it has to be irresistible to the person you’re pitching to! It immediately has to relate to something that will bring value to them! 

Second Tip? Get to know WHO you’re pitching to. 

When it comes to discovering WHO to pitch to, make sure you’re finding other companies that make sense to your brand. How? Scour their site and see who or what they’re talking about. Does their mission coincide with your mission? What about their personality? For instance, say your product is nail polish. You LOVE girly and you LOVE fun! But that doesn’t necessarily mean any beauty company would be interested in YOUR product. Some may be more formal and traditional, some may have an audience completely different than your target audience. Find a company who shares a similar energy and voice as you!

Third tip? Stalk.

We mean this in the lightest sense of the word, doll. When we’re looking for companies to pitch to, we read articles about similar brands. This company featured this brand? Great! Take that and find who else picked up that same brand. That’s a direct way to find potential companies to pitch to. The author of this article wrote about this brand? Perfect! Find their e-mail and write directly to them!

Fourth tip? Don’t let them know you stalked.

Nobody needs to know exactly how you found them. Similar to tip number one, they need to know why and how your pitch relates to them! Start off with a hook that’s about them! Example? “I recently read your article and loved how you…” Right from the start, they’re hooked! Of course they want to know what you loved about their work! 

You are providing them a service through your press release. Make it easy for them and propose potential topics to write about when it comes to your brand. Ask if it fits into anything they’re looking for. Tell them how your brand aligns with them!

It’s all about the pitch, dolls!

We’d love to help you spread the word about your brand! Contact us here!