It’s a big help to us when we receive relevant, topical, press releases, with good quality pictures. I know that for a lot of people, putting together a press release might seem like a daunting task. But it needn’t be. I’m currently considering putting together a short presentation on how to prepare and submit a press release that magazines like Cranes Today will use, and holding a Q&A. I’ll do this through our LinkedIn group: there’s a poll up there now, to gauge our readers interest. If you think this might be useful to you, or to someone else in your company, join the group and let us know. I’ll schedule something via the group later this spring.
In the meantime, here’s a reminder of the basics. The most important thing is to decide on the message you’re trying to get across to our readers, and to include that right at the start of the release. We’ve seen a lot of companies recently trying to find a topical, general news, hook that they can fit their release around. That doesn’t help us (we’ll add background if a story needs it) and it doesn’t help you reach our readers. If a release needs a lot of irrelevant background hacked away before it can be used, it likely won’t be used at all.
Once you’ve told us what you’re trying to communicate with the release — that a new product is available, that you’ve worked on a particularly challenging project, or that you’ve expanded into a new market, for example — break down the key facts as simply and clearly as possible. I’d always rather receive some bulletpoints and job or product details in a plain text email, than a beautifully presented PDF that lacks detail or clarity.
Finally, find a way to support your claims with evidence, even if it’s just a customer comment. I hope all of our readers and contacts think that their company is the best in its field. But, to make that claim convincingly, it helps to have some support from your customer, or some additional evidence of why you’re better than your rivals.
Once you have the facts together that demonstrate your message, written however you find easiest, the other vital par t of a prominent article is the pictures. More than anything, a selection of high resolution images, in jpeg or tiff for mat, that show the product or project you’re talking about, will determine whether we use your release as a double page spread, or as a paragraph in our running news.
Will North Editor
wnorth@cranestodaymagazine.com