Marketing, so says the Oxford English dictionary is "the action of business promoting and selling products and services, including market research or advertising."
While our friends from the publishing house seemingly have the definition down to a tee, what they fail to see is the relationships that can make the difference between marketing being a booming success or a damp squib. One of these is the relationship between journalists and marketing. This is where PR comes in.
Although many mistake PR and marketing for one and the same, there are subtle differences. In an article for website The Muse, Alex Honeysett says Ð “marketing handles advertising, PR handles press.”
While a marketing company and copywriter can write a ton of top quality press and news releases, ultimately it is up to the journalists to decide what goes to print and what does not. This is why the relationship between PR and the press is vital.
On that point though, it is vital that all news releases are well written and not simply blatant advertising material. Journalists regularly receive multiple press releases a day and in an industry where time and deadlines are as tight as they have ever been, many are simply glossed over.
In an interview with a member of the JAM team, award winning Travel Writer and Freelancer Mark Nicholls revealed the number of releases he receives is often in three digits and that he has developed an eye for sifting out the good from the bad.
“When I see press releases, I can tell which are useful and which are fluffed up adverts in seconds. As a journalist I don’t have time to sift through hundreds of duds. Solidly written, newsworthy stories stand out from a lot of the glorified adverts I and other journalists receive daily. There are some key words in there. If I see exciting in the introduction, I know it will be anything but.”
Yes, deep down news releases are promoting a company and journalists know this. But they will not publish, or in many cases, as Nicholls said, even look at things which are in your face advertising Ð which is why they should be written as news. After all, they are going into print as news articles.
Press releases are just one aspect of PR that we specialise in at JAM Marketing though and If you need any help with any aspect of your marketing get in touch with us on 0845 900 2127 or drop us an email on info@jam-marketing.co.uk and see what we can do for your business -who knows, you might even get in the papers.
Until next time
