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A story about toxic shower curtains was catapulted to national news because of a well-crafted, well-timed press release, according to The New York Times. The story, loaded with tips on writing better press releases, show the power of PR. 

Here are some tips gleaned from the story:
#1: Give your release a “who cares?” and “so what?” test

#2: Valid claims like “first,” “most,” “fastest,” and “tallest” can help

#3: Hollow claims like “state of the art,” “cutting edge” or “unbelievable” won’t help

#4: Relevancy is important – The toxic shower curtain story took off because everyone showers.

Other relevancy and word tips:
o General: The general public likes these words: “money,” “fat,” “cancer,” and “sex.”
o Regional: The press in Idaho might respond to “fishing,” “hunting,” “Mormon” or “polygamy.”
o Topical: Cost breakthroughs, like the iPhone price drop or the $100 laptop, are good for consumer electronics press. “Baby,” “breakup,” “marriage” and “divorce” are good for entertainment press.
o Hot topics: The article mentions that “green” and “environmental” angles have been hot. I have a feeling these topics are getting stale, though. I think using “oil” or “gas” would have a better impact right now.

#5: Hit the inbox on a dead day
Getting press is a lot easier on slow news days. Avoid Fridays – typical big news days. Also avoid competing with a huge breaking story, like a new war or a cure for cancer. Editors usually look to fill space on slower days like Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

About Adam T. Sutton

Adam T. Sutton, Senior Reporter, MarketingSherpa
Adam generates content for MarketingSherpa's Email and Inbound Marketing newsletters. His years of experience in interviewing marketers and conveying their insights has spanned topics such as search marketing, social media marketing, ecommerce, email and more. Adam previously powered the content behind MarketingSherpa's Search and Consumer-marketing newsletters and carries that experience into his new role. Today, in addition to writing articles, he contributes content to the MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa blogs, as well as MECLABS webinars, workshops and summits.

Prior to joining MarketingSherpa, Adam was the Managing Editor at the Mequoda group. There he created content and promotions for the company's daily email newsletter and managed its schedule.

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Categories: PR Fame Communications Tags: PR, press releases