Yesterday we talked about sending out press releases in order to promote your event and get free advertising by exploiting the news media.  But today we’re going to tackle one critical fallacy in the press release marketing approach–the shotgun approach.

One might assume, and logically enough, that mailing a press release costs less than a measly fifty cents, and this after factoring in an envelope and sheet of paper and ink to print it, so why not throw them out onto the very wind itself and contact everybody in sight?  And with email, which is essentially free but for time to produce it, this approach makes even more sense.

This is actually not a smart plan.  What you WILL want to do instead is target your press releases according to one primary factor: interest.

Now, of course, any local (within fifty to a hundred miles of your front door) news outlet is fair game.  Television, radio, and newspapers thrive on “local news”, and so offering it up is a help to them and to you.  A good rule of thumb is if you can get it on your TV or radio, it’s local.

National news outlets should only be limited to those that have some stake in what you’re offering, as you’re less likely to appeal to them and more likely to make them resent you for wasting their time.

Of course, the final say of any news outlet is their own, and they’ll decide if you’re “sufficiently newswothy” to cover.  But you can make their job easier–and thus win yourself a few extra brownie points–by carefully considering whether they’re likely to find it newsworthy.

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