Any business looking for a highly effective digital PR strategy to achieve its goals must have strong content writing and newsworthy campaigns and content.
This is because at the heart of every single digital PR strategy are the publications that hold the attention of the business’s target audience. Having media outlets with authoritative voices that can speak directly to a business’s target market is an asset that every digital PR campaign must value.
But with so many competing for their attention, how can you ensure that your digital PR campaign will speak to the writers behind the media outlets?
Creating newsworthy linkable assets is key, which makes providing a piece of content that is not just eye-catching, but relevant to the current news cycle essential. This newsworthy approach to digital PR writing must be tied into all writing that is done for a digital PR campaign, from the copy to the press release and any pitch emails.
What does newsworthy mean?
As a term, newsworthy is a word used to describe something that is topical and relevant to ongoing events, attitudes and news stories. It’s different to newsjacking, but is just as important and often requires similar tactics to see results.
When it comes to digital PR writing, newsworthy elements must be implemented if the content is to compete with hundreds of other news stories fighting for a journalist’s attention. Newsworthiness within digital PR can be defined in a few different ways.
However, the overall outline of newsworthy digital PR writing is content that is not just related to the business producing it, but to the types of publications, it is outreached to, all whilst being new information that ties into what the ongoing stories are currently discussing.
It can be difficult to write content that not only reflects a business’ message, tone and purpose but is also newsworthy. Tecmark has listed five top tips for you to follow every time you sit down to create newsworthy digital PR writing:
Our 5 Top Tips for Newsworthy Digital PR
1. Keep it timely to make it newsworthy
One part about the news that will never change is how quickly it cycles through news stories. Journalists and writers are always under pressure to turn around new and exciting pieces of writing that are engaging and relevant in an incredibly short amount of time.
This is due to the demand for content and the consistent need to be there first in order to beat competitors. That’s why, when you are ready to create a piece of digital PR writing, it must be timely to be newsworthy. Sitting around on an idea, or taking too long to have pieces of work signed off will put you on the back foot.
Working quickly is key. We highly recommend having speed be a common goal amongst anyone involved in a digital PR campaign, as any delay could mean the content you have created is no longer relevant and has lost its edge.
2. Put people at the centre of your digital PR writing
Humans are central to some of the biggest and most exciting news stories and are often the most emotional. Newsworthiness doesn’t just have to tick the box of being on time, it has to be eye-catching and be able to stand the test of time if you’re to see the most impact.
By putting people at the centre of your digital PR writing, you will immediately boost the chances of your content being used and the business being linked back to by the media outlets. This can be done by finding case studies that are highly relevant through your connections, online forums or through social media.
By incorporating these, you save a journalist time on finding their own and provide an angle that is unique. These are both incredibly important parts of successful writing and a tactic that can almost guarantee newsworthy content.
3. Find the most important part of a story and highlight it
It might seem obvious, but sometimes we can get wrapped up in the smaller details when we sit down to complete the content. Newsworthiness is all about having the biggest and best elements to a story.
Competing against countless other campaigns, the smaller elements will be drowned out. So, if you have created a report or conducted or survey, choose the biggest and most impactful statistic. If you have put together a ranking or a new business announcement, find the fact or statement that will be most difficult to find elsewhere and put it front and centre.
This process will also give you the opportunity to sell the story more easily, as a journalist won’t have too much time to read your digital PR writing. Instead, the highlighted key facts will be able to grab their attention and signal how newsworthy the content is.
4. Remember what your audience finds newsworthy
The proximity of the story you are creating should always be taken into account before you begin writing. Consider how you would not want to watch news about Liverpool if you were living in Bristol – the physical location of a story will impact how newsworthy it is.
The audience you’ll be targeting will want any news story to hold notable relevance to them. But this doesn’t just have to be through the location.
If the story is about motoring accidents increasing in a certain city, motorist enthusiasts from other cities will still be interested. That’s why it is so important to keep the message and the key information as clear as possible so readers can see how it is newsworthy to them too.
5. The overall impact of the story will decide how newsworthy it is
It should come as no surprise that a newsworthy piece of writing must include something that is new! Journalists are bombarded every day with information that claims to be exciting and fresh, but in reality, a lot of it is simply boring and recycled information.
In order to create a piece of newsworthy writing, the overall impact of the story should be decided on before the pen is put to paper. The idea should be run past a number of people and confirmed to be interesting and original which also offers a unique insight into a relevant story or ongoing conversation.
But, most importantly, a story should aim to be relevant to the largest number of people, whether it’s sharing a new ranking of places with the highest energy bills or the side effects of a new health craze that has a large following.
Get in touch for newsworthy PR for your business.
Want to know more about digital PR, how to be successful with it and use it for your brand? Have a read of our other blogs discussing all things digital PR.
