Getting your news release to appear in the media is not a cup of tea for anyone. It has always been a challenging task for various PR firms to get the story of their client’s features in top media publications. Writing a press release is an art done by the highly skilled professionals of top PR firms. The professionals handling healthcare PR and marketing, from providers to hospitals, to medical organizations and manufacturers, are very well aware that capturing “free publicity” is the most difficult task and it is getting tougher day by day.
But some rules haven’t changed. Here is a fundamental guide for hospital, provider, and healthcare organizations’ news releases and media relations for getting a PR idea from the media point of view.
- Know Publication and Its Readers: Before writing for any publication, you must understand the requirements and the deadline. Read the publication carefully to understand its special requirements. A publication receives n number of press releases in a day, but only the one with an important announcement and useful content for the readers catches the attention.
- Know Target Audiences: In the case of healthcare PR, the message released is specifically for some specific group of people. So, for writing one, you need to understand the liking of the readers what they will look for when reading your article. Think from their point of view and requirements.
- Target the editor: The editors and reporters are the gatekeepers and the decision-makers. They have their assigned areas, deadlines, personal interests, and many other factors that make them presentable for their readers. The reporters work for their readers so understanding the reader’s mindset is very important.
- Stand Out in the Crowd: Your focus must be grabbing the attention of the reporters and getting published in your favorite media section. To achieve this, you need to create a message that is impactful, unique, and notably interesting. In the ocean of release, you need to stand out to grab the attention of the publisher.
- Be On Time: An old news is history. Publishing the information on time is very important otherwise it loses its authenticity. It may be less urgent but publishing it on time can be impactful.
- Think About Immediate Area First: People are more interested in knowing the information about their surroundings than what is happening in the world. They live in that area and can relate to the situation. Hence, they will always look for the grounded information first. Share your story idea keeping this point in mind.
- Avoid Industry Jargons: Especially in healthcare PR, it is important to avoid using medical jargon as it cannot be understood by the general public. People love to read the content which is written in simple language, easy to understand, clear, precise, honest, and accurate.
- Proofreading is Important: A very minor typographical error can also be an issue for the editor. The editors do not like to read the posts with even a minor error. It is a good idea to get it read by someone else before sending it to the editor.
