Topline PR Turns Three! Here are Ten Top PR Tips to Getting More Press Coverage to Mark the Occasion

Last month marked three years since we launched Topline PR – and what a turbulent time it’s been!

We’ve had our ups and downs during the pandemic – like thousands of other businesses across the UK – but we’ve weathered the storm and we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

To mark the occasion, we’re giving you some top tips to help your PR campaign to succeed (with a dollop of shameless self-promotion mixed in as well!).

Appearing in the press may not be directly measurable in terms of ROI, but the benefits can be immense, especially over the long term.

Getting regular coverage for your business builds credibility and can mean the difference between a client choosing your service over a competitor’s.

So here are ten top tips to follow when working to get PR coverage for your company:

1. Start with a good story

Always make sure you have a genuine story to tell. Journalists will see through advertising content packaged as editorial straight away.

Most businesses have plenty to shout about, but often they don’t realise it! News sense is something you can develop over time.

2. Who? What? Where? When?

In the first paragraph, get to the point and concentrate on the who? What? Where? When? These are the four golden rules of starting a story that journalists follow.

3. Write tight

Write the press release as it would appear in the publication you’re targeting. Concise prose is far better than long-winded, wordy paragraphs.

4. Don’t attach the release

Include the release in the body of your email, rather than as an attachment – it’s far more likely to be read.

5. Case studies can be gold

Think about case studies. Journalists love stories about real people. If you have a particularly interesting client, ask them if they’d be willing to talk about their experience.

6. Keep an open mind

Expand your horizons – your staff may have taken part in a charity pancake race which is great for the local paper, but have you considered that a trainee’s promotion could also make a piece for the trade press?

7. Don’t push for backlinks

Everyone wants backlinks these days but don’t be too pushy. If you get one, great, but don’t demand them when speaking to journalists.

8. To follow up, or not to follow up?

There’s a lot of debate about whether you should follow up a press release with a phone call to the journalist you sent it to.

The Topline PR team have all been on the receiving end of many a PR’s call and the consensus here is that you shouldn’t do it as it’s annoying.

Sending follow-up emails is definitely worthwhile though.

9. Don’t expect too much straight away

Manage your expectations. There’s never any guarantee that a story will be published and, even if it is used, it may be changed substantially.

10. A picture tells a thousand words

Journalists love stories that have pictures with them.

Always have good quality images to go with your release, both portrait and landscape. Make sure you have the details of everyone who is pictured.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but it should steer you in the right direction if you are embarking on your own PR strategy.

Of course, writing press releases, researching publications, distributing the content and fielding calls from journalists is a time-consuming business.

You may want to focus on actually running your business rather than the PR side of things which is where an agency such as Topline PR can help (I told you there’d be some self-promotion!).

Also, with Topline PR you get 24/7 access to a team of qualified journalists with decades of experience to guide you through the process of presenting your stories in the right way and getting them to the right people.

If you’d like an informal chat about the PR services you require, email adam@toplinepr.co.uk or call 07543 195476.