PR and Media6th February 2014

• Set up in 2009 by Nicky Rudd

• Grown quickly – we now have a team

of 11 specialists

• Based in Woking, Surrey

• National and international clients

across all disciplines

• Most of our work comes from

referrals

Who is Padua Communications?

Our aim:

We work in partnership with our clients

to help them create a conversation with

their target audiences – whether that is

customers, partners or the media

through a range of activities

Creative content for a range of communications channels

We have great testimonials and accolades

Why do customers work with us?

What I’m covering in this session:• What makes a good news story?

(planning content)• What is a press release?• How to sell in a story• 10 things you should know before

dealing with the media

What makes a good news story?• Client versus journalist• What’s the headline you’re after?• Know your target audience and match it

with a readership audience

Audience is key…

• Appointments• New staff• Turnover• CSR projects• New customer wins• Mergers

• Partnerships• Redundancies• New products and

services• Award wins • Events

Perseverance and regular communication required!

Timing is key!

So what is a press release?

• A press release is a short summary of a piece of news, which you can use to let journalists know the key elements of your story.

• Its most important feature is that it needs to be topical -it should make clear what's new and is not marketing fluff!

• You use press releases as part of a marketing strategy to let the media know what you’re up to: forthcoming events, new customer wins, fundraising announcements, new appointments, charity (CSR), sponsorship.

Journalists want:Well-presented, clear, concise copy that: saves the journalist time and energy doesn’t require them to phone to establish key facts is easily edited for use

What do journalists want?

What should a press release include?• Who?• What?• Why?• Where?• When?• How?• Contact details and notes to editors• Photo/Image (300dpi minimum for print)• Think about your medium – is it visual for TV?

More precisely…• It should have a title that grabs the attention of the

reader• Think of the benefits to the audience (reader,

viewer, listener)• Journalists get sent hundreds of releases and many

don’t bother opening their emails, so think about what you are putting in the subject line…

What else?• The 1st paragraph is crucial and should include all of your why,

where, when, who, what and how information• Keep it short and simple – the whole release should be no

longer than 2 sides of A4 and if you can get everything on one side, even better

• Job titles should not be capitalised• Don’t use capitals, bold or italics• Quotes – Use quotes to back up the story, where relevant (they

should be further down the release)• Use the format - Name, title, company says: “…”

A bit about formatting…• The title should be in bold and don’t go mad with

capitals• Sub-title (optional)• A press release is written in the 3rd person• 1.5 point spacing• Boilerplate at end with contact details • Notes to editors at end

A bit about grammar…• Proofread your release

to make sure there are no typos, poorly written, badly edited, terrible grammar – remember, you’re pitching people who write and deliver news for a living.

‘Good writing is about making reading easy’Think about your language

• Don’t use jargon and acronyms• A company is always referred to in the

singular, eg. ‘Padua Communications is doing this talk’

• Words from one to nine and numbers from 10 upwards

• Words to watch:- revolutionary, unique- whilst (actually means whereas) – you probably mean while- it’s and its- CDs not CD’s

Also:don’t utilise, use

don’t request, askdon’t relinquish, give up

don’t terminate, end

How should a press release be used?• Journalists are swamped with information

“I get roughly 100-200 emails a day. I delete 95% of news releases that come into my inbox.”• Remember the audience!!• Different approaches – can be issued to selected

publications (different PR agencies/people have different approaches)

DON’T PHONE AND ASK A PUBLICATION WHETHER THEY GOT YOUR PRESS RELEASE!

How to sell in a story…• Research and preparation• Timing and time• Email – what else are you offering? Exclusive interview

with the CEO? A visit to a new site?• Phone• Email again• Phone, email, phone…• Try a different publication or new approach

• Press day and lead time• Publication and readership

details • Who you should be

contacting?• When you should contact

them and how they get their information

• Decent image (300dpi)• Phone and email details• Format of information – do

you have a spokesperson?• Contact details on press

release• You won’t get to see copy• Have some media training/do

some preparation about your key messages (only 3 at a time!)

10 things you should know before dealing with the media

Let us help you…

www.paduacommunications.comTel: 0203 282 7570