How to maximise press release opportunities

Written by Julie Jackson, PR and communications specialist for Hampshire’s third sector and mission-led SMEs

Put together a forward plan of news stories to make sure you optimise every newsworthy opportunity. 

Where to begin

Plan ahead by creating a table and populating it with the following information:

Identify the news opportunities

1. List the events that happen every year such as your AGM, an awareness week/day in which you always participate or the announcement of the year’s fundraising campaign.
2. List new opportunities that you know will definitely happen during the year. For example, a milestone anniversary, the opening of a new building/service, retirement/recruitment of a key member of staff or completion of a significant project.
3. Look at last year’s news opportunities and make a judgement on whether a similar story is likely to reoccur. 
4. Identify new potential opportunities for the year ahead. This could be being part of something that is already happening such as having a stand at the town show, getting together a team of staff to take part in a fundraising initiative, celebrating the ‘000th customer, entering a business award, the outcome of an official inspection. 

Create a press release calendar

The next step is to schedule your press release opportunities. Aim for a good spread across the year. The number you schedule will depend on your resources and the newsworthiness of the idea. 

Work out your key messages and photo ideas

Once you have your list of news stories, identify the key messages you would like to communicate and ideas for a suitable photo to accompany your release.

Distribution of your press release

Think about which publications you would like to send your news story, for example, local newspapers, magazines, industry journals, broadcast media. 

Set your deadlines

Find out the deadlines for your target publications and work out the date by which you will need to send your press release to meet their deadline. Expect to work two to three months in advance for some magazines. 

Make a note of when you will need to start researching and writing your release so as to get it signed off in time for the papers’ deadlines. 

Evaluation

Finally, the last column of your schedule should be Evaluation so you can make a note of the coverage your press release achieved. 

Next steps

Want some help with putting together your media schedule or writing your next press release? Enter our tenth anniversary competition to win a day of FREE PR support. 

Content updated 6 June 2023