Top 10 Ideas for PR releases to gain station exposure

Sometimes it’s hard to think of news for your station that you should be telling the world about through press releases— especially when everyone is wearing more than one hat as far as job duties are concerned.  Following is a list of ideas to get your press release campaign jumpstarted.

Promotion or Hiring of a Person
When someone is hired to a position or when someone is promoted, issue a release.  Employees love to see their names mentioned in the press.  Their family and friends see it.  Other folks at the station see it and mention it to them.  It’s a small act that goes a really long way for employee morale.  And, it creates great brand karma for your station.

Event
If you’re planning a reception, conference, 5K walk, or any other type of event, they’re great for getting media attention. And, if you’ve joint ventured on the event with a local organization, company, or other media entity, there’s even more reason to issue the release.  People love to read about good things in their community.  Plus, they need to know about them so they can make plans to attend!

Expanding Business
When your company expands, it’s newsworthy.  People love to hear about companies that are growing. This could be for a new location, entering a new market, adding capabilities such as an online presence. This one is great for not only issuing a press release, but also creating a short video news release that can be posted to your website— especially if it’s something like upgrading your studios and you give an online tour.

Contribution to a Charity
It’s always uplifting to hear about ‘good news.’  Issuing releases on contributions or participation in charity fundraisers raises the brand equity of your station or group.  Issue a release that includes the charity and its importance.  If there’s a tie to a particular person or situation at your station, make the release personal and include that. For example, if you do a breast cancer walk and it’s done in honor of a survivor at the station.

Winning an Honor or Award
Whether your station or a person in your company wins an honor or award, spreading the news is fantastic to create goodwill.  There are local awards given to dignitaries and industry-specific awards such as GRAMMY®, EMMY®, and GRACIE® awards.

Product Release or Upgrade
Let everyone know what a value you are with your new product introductions and upgrades.  This could be for brand expansion across multiple platforms such as creating a niche-specific website. Or, you could issue a release for additional functionalities that help listeners and viewers interact better with your station.  For example, if you add a listener line or implement text capabilities.

Sales promotion
Have you come up with a witty, special sale for a product or service for a client?  Make sure everyone knows by writing a press release. These can be some of the most fun and buzz-generating releases that get a lot of attention.  It also shows that you’re going above and beyond on behalf of a client.  Not only that, these are many times worthy of national news coverage.

Joint Venture/Strategic Partnership
Have you created an amazing relationship that going to drastically benefit your client base?  Spread the news with a press release. This could be a partnership with another local or national media entity that will help you serve the community interest better or it could be joining with a local organization for a specific cause.  The possibilities are endless.

Re-organization
When you’ve re-organized to re-position your company and operations, releases can be effective information sources.  They’re also great to communicate to the region that you’re looking to better serve the needs of the community. For example, you’ve re-organized to create a digital media department. NOTE: This is not a good idea if it could be perceived negatively (i.e. reductions in forces, etc.). Do your due diligence with this idea, but it can net great results when applied appropriately. 

Sponsorship
Maximize the money you’ve invested in a sponsorship by sending out a press release talking about the sponsorship and why it’s significant.  Tell a story on why you selected this particular event to sponsor.  It makes for interesting news.

After reviewing this list you may realize that you have a lot of happenings that are newsworthy and can write press releases around them.

NOTE: The names mentioned in this article are registered trademarks of their respective organizations.

Lauren L. Darr is President of LOI International, a strategic, visioning marketing firm specializing in the broadcast industry. She has more than twenty years marketing experience with over fifteen of those devoted to broadcast.  Lauren has been named as a “Woman to Watch” and as one of the “Women Who RULE” in sales and marketing by the American Women in Radio and Television.

Lauren has a passion for technology that changes out world.  She is the author of the anthology book, “The Official LOI International 2010-2012 Media Outlook Book” with a publish date of April 2010.  In the book, she interviews over twenty experts from all facets of media.

You can reach Lauren at lauren@laurenoriginals.com or visit the website at www.loi-international.com.

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