6. When Not To Write Press Releases

Remember that a press release is just a starting point for a story, and as far as most editors are concerned it is a pretty poor starting point because they know it has been sent to all their competitors. It therefore stands to reason that there can be other ways of creating a story – and some of them can be just as effective, if not more.

One of the best ways of getting a journalist’s attention, in fact, is to tip them off without a press release. This implies an exclusive lead, something guaranteed to get any reporter’s attention. It also implies the ‘news’ has not been gestating in some corporate communications department for weeks, so it might actually be worth hearing. Even for an off-the-cuff tip-off, though, it helps to have some written material prepared, whether in the form of a sheet of bullet points or a carefully crafted email.

From a copywriter’s perspective, the benefit of using this method is that it can help you steer clear of situations where you think a press release will involve a lot of work with little reward, either for yourself or for the client.

Because they are seen to be official documents, press releases often have to go through immensely complicated approvals procedures and, once released, can lurk in files forever after, with potentially damaging consequences. A backgrounder or tip-off email, on the other hand, can be prepared very easily and might even increase the chances of coverage in the long run.