How to Create Your PR Message?

Every business has a story to tell, no matter its size or the industry it operates in. These stories are what define a company, and making sure that they are understood by key stakeholders goes hand in hand with overall business success.  and their quality and efficacy go hand in hand with an organization’s success. 

The difficulty, however, is translating that story into a digestible message that is catered for the people that most need to hear it in order to encourage that success. But what does that message look like, and what is the process like of having a concept and translating it into a message? 

What is a PR Message?

A PR message is any communication that is shared with external stakeholders, and can take the shape of a press release, contributed article, blog post, or many other communication channels. No matter what it looks like, it is a critical first step in differentiating a company from the rest of the pack, as it’s a means to clearly define a company’s proposition value and ability to connect with the target audience that is most essential. When boiled down, an effective PR message is how a company is presented to an external audience. 

How to Write a Good PR Message?

Know Your Goal

Before even putting pen to paper, the first step in crafting a message needs to be establishing a goal that’s trying to be achieved with the message. These goals can range from launching a new product or service, handling a crisis, raising awareness around an event, but there are many different approaches and considerations to have when starting to set PR goals. Every action taken after goals are set should be laddering back up to them. They should be the guiding north star when writing the message, distributing it, and assessing its success. .

Get to Know Your Audience

With goals established, a company can dig deeper into the stakeholders that will need to be communicated with in order to meet them. See what sort of channels they typically interact with to help guide where a message should go and how it should be delivered. Also research to see examples of previous messages that have resonated with those audiences from other organizations. It’s a brand’s job to meet their target audiences where they like to be and present them a message that they are already interested in, and coming in with an understanding of what they enjoy and interact with will help to ensure your brand doesn’t come across as stale, out of touch or inexperienced.  

Decide Where it Goes

After seeing where the target audience prefers to receive messages, a company can plan how and where the communication will be distributed. This can include engaging with the media for a story, issuing a press release, posting on the company website or developing an op-ed. Authenticity, reach, and understanding how the channel ladders up to the previously established goals are all essential considerations at this step.

Create a Snappy Headline

A catchy and interesting headline will grab a reader’s attention and prompt them to dig deeper. Additionally, this could be the only part of a message that they read. A headline won’t fit in every detail, but it’s important to include the core of it to give them a lasting impression. 

Start Strong

The beginning of a message is the time to give readers a quick overview of everything they need to know, while simultaneously hooking them to continue further. Similar to headlines, this may be the only part of the message that a reader sees, so making sure that it’s content rich and enough of a takeaway on its own will increase the chances of a message sinking in. 

Keep it Simple

No matter the channel that’s being used, being focused and concise should be a priority. Any audience is likely bombarded with messages constantly throughout their day, and it’s easy to lose their attention with a message that ventures too long or gets confusing. 

It’s important to nail down the main points that need to be made, eliminating confusing industry-specific jargon and focusing only on easy to read and understand language. Having a focused, non-diluted message, that carries only the essentials will get stakeholders through all of the key points, and makes sure they don’t bounce off of it quickly.

Share the Details

Following the hook of the first paragraph, this is the space to give the meat of the story, with the facts and anecdotes that give stakeholders everything they need. This should answer any questions not addressed by the opening portions. 

For example in a new product press release, after giving a high level overview of a new product in the lead, a company should talk more about the differentiators that this product has with others that have already been released, or more details on its features and background. 

Explain Why it Matters

While a company may have a core audience that is inherently interested in any message that’s put out, a majority of potential readers will need to be convinced that what is being said is important and matters to them personally. There is limited real estate in the minds and attentions of any audience. It needs to be clear immediately why a message deserves a piece of that finite resource. When messages are authentic and clearly come from a place of passion, it will be much easier to convince an audience that it matters to them too. 

Add Some Quotes

Tying in with the theme of authenticity, including quotes from leaders in an organization can help to make a message more personal and relevant. It can be difficult for an audience to wrap their heads around a message coming from an amorphous company, but being able to put a name or a face to a message can make all of the difference. Additionally, using internal voices helps to build the personal brands, establishing executives or other employees as trusted key opinion leaders among their peers in the industry.

Answer Questions

A message should be as transparent and open as possible, to show that there is nothing to hide. Brand authenticity is becoming increasingly important in the eyes of all stakeholders, and being transparent and honest is a first step in building that up. 

In the instance of crisis communications, when trying to approach how to write your public relations message, thinking through any and all questions your readers might have when hearing your news can help to make sure that you’re staying transparent. Laying all of your cards on the table will provide a peace of mind to the audience, instead of sowing additional seeds of doubt in their minds. 

Tell Your Readers What To Do

Any message needs to also end with a call to action for the reader. This can be anything from prompting them to attend an event, purchasing a product, raising awareness, or even just going to another channel to learn more. 

It should go without saying that this call to action should also feed directly back to the previously established goals, as this is where a company can convert general interest in the message into the desired tangible result. 

Wrap it Up

At the end of the message, summarize all of the important information that the audience  needs to know, including the call to action. Landing on a positive note can also help to ensure that they feel good about the brand after reading it. This will be the lasting impression and may be the only part of the message that the audience remembers before they read their next piece of news, so make it count. 

Think About How You’re Sending Your Message

Look back at the message that’s been created, and reassess based on the channel that it’s being distributed through. Asking the following questions can help to make sure the message is framed properly: 

• Should it be more concise? Should it be longer?
• Is this comparable to other messages that are put out via this channel?
• Does it follow all of the publishing guidelines that are in place? (e.g., an outlet not allowing a byline to be too promotional)
• Is the message clear and simplified in case it’s and repurposed by another party? (e.g., when reaching out to a reporter)

Check for Typos

Nothing throws off anybody reading a message quicker than a typo; it makes the organization that distributes it seem unreliable or lazy. In the throes of building a message and shuffling different pieces around, it can be common to lose track of how every element plays off of each other or get lost in the weeds with technical language and jargon. 

Taking the time to go back over a message with fresh eyes, reading it out loud, or even passing it off to a family member or colleague that can take an objective look, can mean all the difference between a message being received positively by a stakeholder, or deleted immediately.

Follow-Up

It’s important to keep an eye on how the audience reacts to a message, and to be prepared to follow-up with additional information in case they’re curious, or even confused with what they read. If they have interacted with a message already, it’s a great indicator that they could be interested in engaging even further in the future, so it’s important to make them feel welcome and heard. Make sure to have planned follow-up key messages before a communication goes out to be able to react quickly and effectively when responses start to come in. 

Examples of PR Messages:

One example of a company that effectively used PR messages was Meatless Farm, which sought to enter the American market after finding success in the United Kingdom. In part of a larger campaign, Meatless Farm developed a message that positioned the company not as a brand new disruptor, but rather an established company entering a new market, which resulted in a substantial amount of traditional media coverage, including articles published in CNET, Observer, and Benzinga. 

Our Approach at CVM

We understand the value of an effective PR message, but just as importantly, we specialize in applying the necessary care and attention that goes into building one, letter by letter.

It’s this focused approach that separates us from the rest of the pack. We have assembled a team that is devoted to telling stories, and building messages from the ground up with businesses that are passionate about their brands and the solutions they provide. This results in waves being made for our clients with messages designed specifically to ring in the ears of their key stakeholders, whether it be media, potential investors, prospective customers, or any other target audience.