Prior to joining Lessiter Media and the Rural Lifestyle Dealer editorial team, I had spent much of my career in marketing communications and public relations, primarily for OEMs. One of my key responsibilities was securing news coverage for my employers. There are a number of ways to do this, but among the most popular and well-known is the press release. Having been on both sides of the press release equation, I’m in a unique position to offer insight into how equipment dealerships can maximize the likelihood that their press release will be reported on by a publication. Here are some tips.
Keep Your Media List Small
Public relations is often — and unfortunately — done in a scattergun fashion. A press release is written and sent to the largest possible list of publications in hopes that the news will be of interest to someone — anyone — and will get published. This strategy is often the result of too much to do and too little time in which to do it. The press release and its deployment are just another couple of items on a long list of to-dos, and the sooner they can be checked off, the better.
Such an approach is inefficient and ineffective because it assumes that getting the story published anywhere is better than nowhere at all. This often isn’t true. For instance, you may want news of the upcoming ribbon-cutting ceremony for your new dealership location to be published by your local newspapers as well as any publications reaching potential customers. If the only place it does appear is on the back page of the Nowhere News-Standard on the other side of the state — where you have no presence — then it achieves nothing for you beyond any personal satisfaction you may have at knowing it appeared in print.
A better way is to focus on the quality, not quantity, of media outlets with which you will be sharing the news. First, develop a list of media outlets that are the “must haves” — outlets where having your news published will give you the biggest return on your PR investment. Then augment that list with your “nice to haves” — those outlets from which you will receive some benefit if they choose to publish your story. Ignore any others. They will simply be a waste of your time and that of the journalists who receive your press release.
Focus on What the Media Will Publish
Now that you know which outlets you are targeting, you need to craft a release that will get their attention and make them want to publish your news. That means knowing what kinds of information they publish and how they publish it. Do a little research — at least for your “must have” list — so you can draft a release that puts the information they want front and center in the release. Have you taken on a new equipment line? Are you acquiring a new dealership location? See how the outlets have written about those topics in the past — how long the stories are, what details are included, what information is left out, etc. That way you can craft your press release such that it hits all the high points the media outlets want when publishing your news.
And the last word in that sentence — “news” — is really important to keep in mind. Every journalist wants to feel like they are telling their audience something they didn’t already know. If you opened a new store 6 months ago but are just putting a press release out about it now, for instance, you should think like a journalist and come up with a newsworthy story angle for your press release. Maybe you’ve seen sales of a particular product more than double since adding the new store. Perhaps the new store allowed you to tap into a new labor market that has made it easier for you to hire. In short, don’t make the press release about, “In case you missed it, we did that thing 6 months ago.” Instead, make it about, “That thing we did 6 months ago that you already know about? You won’t believe the amazing results!”
Make a Spokesperson Available to Journalists
One thing you should know about journalists: we love to ask questions. You may have hit it out of the park with your press release, but there might be 2 or 3 questions we still have before we publish your story. To do that, we need to know how to reach you and feel confident that we’ll get the information we need by our deadline.
When publishing your press release, make sure to include at a minimum the name and phone number of someone a journalist can contact with questions. Maybe it’s you or maybe it’s someone on your staff. The important thing is to ensure that a journalist knows how to get in touch with your organization if they need additional information.
Even more important, though, is making sure that the spokesperson listed on the press release will be available to answer questions in a timely manner. Journalists are beholden to deadlines, and we might need to get our questions answered within the next hour in order to publish the story. If you or your spokesperson can’t answer a phone call or email right away, make sure you stay on top of it or delegate it to someone who can. This is even more critical if your news is especially important — you’re merging with two other dealerships, for example.
What do all of these pieces of advice have in common? They make things easier for the journalist to do their job. Why should you care how hard they have to work (it is their job, after all)? Working a bit harder up front to help journalists will benefit you in the long term, because they will start reaching out to you proactively as a source for news. And that means you’ll get more news coverage over time — with a lot less effort.
