Many PR professionals, when sending a press release to the editorial office, expect the ready material to be published. Without considering the fact that journalists may ask detailed questions about the text they would like to publish. This is a big mistake because one must be properly prepared for such a conversation.Sometimes a journalist who received our material would like to publish it the same day but lacks several essential pieces of information. In such a situation, an unprepared PR professional contacts their client – of course, this is not a problem as long as these are not fundamental details about the client’s activities. In every other case, data and materials for the publication should be collected well in advance – so that journalists have quick access to them if interested, and the chance for publication is not lost forever.
PR professionals must have concrete knowledge about what they are writing. They should obligatorily know the answers to questions such as: what the text is about, why it is important, what significance it has for the journalist, and why they are being contacted on this matter. PR professionals should also be prepared to provide more detailed information – depending on the represented client and their offer. For example – when promoting events, they should be ready not only to provide information about the date and place of the event and its theme but also about its detailed schedule, previous editions, price and participation conditions, the number of people expected at the event, and attractions organized by the hosts.
Of course, there are many such issues, and these are just some of them. It is also worth remembering to prepare print-quality photos in advance – so that sending them to the journalist at the last moment does not turn out to be impossible.
Author of the text: Marta
