Is it local?
Is your story actually relevant to the publication's local audience?
This might seem like a no-brainer, but it's surprising how many stories the SoGlos team are sent which aren't even tangentially linked to Gloucestershire.
While some local media titles occasionally cover stories outside of their core areas, quality journalists will usually only do so if there is a strong local link, or it's geographically close enough for its audience to travel for.
For example, SoGlos will sometimes cover stories from bordering areas like Bristol, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, but only when we feel it's strongly of interest to our readers.
Is it relevant?
The next step is to check whether your story is actually relevant to your target title – and the best way to do this is to read it.
If you're targeting a digital publication like SoGlos, visit the site, look through the sections, read the kinds of content covered and assess where you think your story would fit in.
If you can't find a place where you think your story would sit, then perhaps it's not right for that particular title.
PR can sometimes take a scattergun approach, with the same release fired out to as many titles as possible – but this approach can alienate you from the journalists you want to work with.
Sending press releases which aren't suitable for the title you're targeting can come across as lazy or careless. Journalists are often incredibly busy, so taking the time to tailor your release to the title you're sending it to can go a long way.
As can learning someone's name. If there's a particular journalist in mind who you think might be interested in your story, make the effort to find their name – and spell it correctly – this attention to detail can help you stand out in a busy inbox. You can get to know SoGlos's journalists at soglos.com/about/meet-the-team.
Avoid outdated terms, too – emails addressed to 'Dear Sir(s)' can come across as old-fashioned, especially when the editor is not male. Aim for learning an individual's name as best practice, but if you don't know, opt for more inclusive, gender-neutral terms like 'team' instead.
Is it new and newsworthy?
Keep it punchy
We've said it once before, but journalists are busy people, so a press release in the form of a 6,000-word essay isn't ideal.
Don't bury the lead – put the most relevant and interesting information at the top of your release to capture attention. Even better, summarise it in your email with a TL;DR.
If your press release is on the chunky side, use bullet points and relevant subheadings to break up big blocks of text and make it easy to skim read.
And keep it simple. Journalists are looking for an angle, not five, so stuffing a press release with too much information that's not directly relevant can be detrimental.
If you're announcing the lineup for your event, that's what the journalist will be looking for, so make sure this is front and centre – and avoid putting in too many additional messages, as these will usually be edited out anyway.
Have you provided everything the journalist needs?
Some of the key components which journalists need for a story are:
- Basic information including what, where, when, who and why – for example, if it's a new opening, tell us the opening date. If it's an event, tell us who's headlining, when tickets go on sale and how much they cost. Creating an air of mystery might seem exciting, but journalists – and their readers – want the details.
- At least one image to accompany the story – ideally a selection of images in both landscape and portrait orientation, to suit different platforms.
- The names and job titles of anyone who has been quoted in your release.
- Contact information, so we can follow-up if needed.
If you don't hear back, don't be disheartened
Most journalists are juggling a multitude of tasks at all times – this means they often don't have time to respond personally to editorial requests, especially if they're not planning to cover the story.
But don't let this put you off. Just because one story didn't quite hit the mark doesn't mean they're not interested in your business or your news.
Keep sending your releases whenever you've got something to shout about. We can't speak for all publications, but everything sent through to the team at SoGlos gets considered for coverage – and we absolutely want to hear from you.
Why didn't my story get covered?
There are a multitude of reasons why a press release doesn't get picked up for coverage.
Often, it's because the story isn't relevant to our audience. Sometimes it's because we couldn't find a compelling enough angle for our readers to click.
Sometimes you could craft an absolutely brilliant press release, but a big breaking news story takes priority.
And other times it could simply be that our team just didn't have the capacity to cover your story at that time.
Rest assured that even if your news didn't make it onto SoGlos, it was read and considered by a member of our team.
