Zadro Communications - So You Think You’ve Got News?

So you’ve introduced a new product or service to your business and you think you’ve got news to share? From a business’s perspective you would be absolutely right. But from a media or PR perspective you’re just another business trying to make a buck.

Journalists are generally not interested in pushing products or services. They’re not salespeople or marketers. They do like to set the day’s agenda and feed into people’s conversations.

Don’t worry - you still have news. It may just be a matter of seeing it from a different perspective! Rather than concentrating on your shiny new product and its great features, try placing the focus on the problem that you’re solving or the outcomes you’re providing.

By doing this, not only does your story become less commercial, but it will also deal with common issues that are relevant and of interest to the journalist’s readers.

For example: instead of talking about a new product or service that relieves insomnia, you could reveal the growing number of sleepless Australians and the reasons why the number is increasing. You could also provide case studies to share their experiences and some top tips for relieving insomnia – including your product or service!

Not only does this approach provide an interesting story that may resonate with more people, it also helps to build your brand identity and establish you as an expert - a credible source of information.

There are five main elements that you can use to help determine whether you have a strong news story:

1. Timely – is your news current, new and different? Media will rarely run a similar story twice and something that happened last month (or even last year!) may no longer be considered news.

2. Significant – will your news impact large numbers of people? For example a new flu vaccine or the closure of large manufacturing plant is of vital importance to many groups of people.

3. Proximity – the closer to home the more relevant your news will be, so start in your local area or within you specific industry as a great way to get some initial media coverage and support.

4. Fame – things that celebrities or well-known personalities do are still of some interest (to us and the media!) For example: the birth of the royal baby!

5. Human interest – does your story appeal to emotions? Think of those feel-good or funny stories at the end of the evening news.

If you’re still unsure about the right PR, marketing or digital strategy for your business, product or service, speak to a Zadro Communications professional to help you identify what information is really newsworthy and what can be better utilised in advertising or marketing campaigns.

         Find more helpful tips on Zadro Communications blog