I just got an email from a friend who founded a video-sharing startup. He wrote:
Question for you. We are announcing the winners of our contest tomorrow and we are going to try to get some press in the local markets of the winners. So we’ve drafted a press release, prepared a story line and a list of targets. My question is whether it is worth it to use PR Newswire or something similar to put it out on the wire, vs. just sending alone ourselves.
Here’s my response:
In my experience, it is not worth it to send a release via PRNewswire, assuming you have a robust list of target reporters and you send them each a personalized note with your press release pasted at the bottom.
In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a press hit from using the newswire, even when we paid the big money for US1 distribution. We got plenty of press, but it always came from directly emailing the right reporters.
One suggestion, have the release come from someone on staff other than you, but have them offer, “If you have questions our would like to interview Widgt’s CEO, Blah Blah, you can reach him at blah@widgt.com or by phone at 512-555-1212.”
For some reason I think this comes across better– I’ve seen reporters criticize CEO’s who do their own outreach (“he must not have very much to do if he has time to email reporters”), but they also like to get direct access to the CEO (“I hate it when a PR thinks they can be the gate keeper to the executive suite.”).
If you want to be a real bulldog, you can have your staff follow-up with a phone call.
Of course, there are other ways to promote this– post the news on your blog, pitch the story to local bloggers you find on Technorati, and don’t forget to pitch TV stations (local morning news shows are always trying to fill content) and radio. If you think your winners would agree, you should offer to make them available for tv and radio interviews. And since you have video, consider cutting a short video of the winners’ content and offering it to the tv station.
5 comments
Jason, thanks for stopping by. I joined the PitchEngine group on Ning a while back and checked out your alpha. Thanks for putting in a mention here. Good stuff.
You’re in luck! I just launched http://pitchengine.com for generating social media press releases. It’s ideal for video! So, here’s an invite code to get you started: XPQ957 Once you gain access, click on “Build and Share to begin. Hope you like it!
Great advice. I’ll definitely consider that!
I haven’t tried Collegiate Presswire, but I have tried UWire. UWire didn’t work for us (no coverage), but I’m not sure if that’s because of bad timing or what. The challenge with college newspapers is the staff is constantly changing, so you can’t as easily follow a particular reporter, gauge their interests, and then pitch them with a slam dunk pitch. However, my guess is that if you could find the email of the appropriate section editor and send them a personalized pitch (i.e. that’s clearly not a form letter) followed by a phone call, then you’ll have better luck than using any wire distribution service. Good luck! -Jeremy
This is some really great advice and great timing as I am working for web-based company and we are getting closer to launching our own contest.
Have you ever heard of collegiate presswire? Would you say the same about it as newswire?