10 Forbidden Words in a Press Release

Jan. 11, 2011, by Jasper | tags: media-relations


Guest PostSometimes I come across great German or Dutch blog posts and I think it's a pitty that so many people won't be able to enjoy them.* 

But that's about to change! Last week, I spotted this great article written for the Dutch blog Coopr by Marie Louise van Dorp. She was kind enough to share the English version with our readers at pr-hamster. So here is our first guest post. Enjoy!

*On a similar note, I can only imagine how much great Japanese/Spanish/French etc. content I'm missing out on...

 

coopr

Coopr is a hybrid PR agency in the Netherlands, founded by Dutch PR pros Jody Koehler and Jos Govaart. When these guys started, they where committed to writing one blogpost every day of the week. And they succeeded! When I joint Coopr last year they had some interesting formats on their blog that also made things a bit easier for them. One of the formats is called ‘The PR-Wall of complaint’. In these posts we ask a journalist to answer 15 questions about their relationship with PR pros and the PR industry. What do they hate? What can PR pros improve in their daily activities? One of the questions is: ‘What words do you hate when reading a press release?’ Here are the top 10 most hated words by Dutch journalists. Be sure to use them wisely!

Top 10 most hated words in a press release

  1. Unique

  2. Innovative

  3. First

  4. Successful

  5. Exclusive

  6. Spectacular

  7. Market leader

  8. Experience

  9. Solution

  10. Suggestion

5 golden tips

After reading all the answers I also spotted 5 golden tips that could help a PR pro out. Here you go!

  1. Try to be personal in your pitchmail. For example: start your mail with ‘Hi Jack’, journalists who know you will appreciate that.
  2. You have to know the structure of the medium and what the editors are writing about. Use this information to improve your media relations.
  3. It’s very important to know everything about your media list. You can also learn a lot about your media list through out of office replies or press releases that don’t reach the journalist.
  4. Be active on social media! Can the journalist contact you via Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn?
  5. Can you say No to your client when they want you to send out a very bad press release? One with no news what-so-ever! Do it when you have to do it and help the journalist out.

Can you add to the list of words of golden tips? What forbidden word or advice can you share here at PR-Hamster.com? 

Marie Louise van Dorp, Coopr.