Firstly, there are guest blogs, secondly there are feature story ideas and last of all there are press releases.

Whilst there is no right or wrong answer for which form you should take, I usually suggest that pitching guest blogs should be a recurring thing, whilst pitching feature story ideas should be part of a greater campaign. Press releases are in their nature a more formal document, so they lend themselves to larger events or a product launch.

Let's take a look at each in a more in depth fashion:

Guest Blogs

Guest blogs are by far the easiest type of content that you can get placed in publications so that is where I would recommend to start. This is mainly true because they don’t require a lot of work from the journalist or editor of that specific publication. Guest blogs are exactly what they sound like.

They’re an article that you’ve written, to the specifics of the publication–typical article length, first or third person, that they will publish under your own name. In the media, they’re technically called opinion editorials or OpEds and they’re great if you want to comment on a recent event or share your experiences. Guest blogs should be considered as similar articles to your thought leadership articles on LinkedIn.

They should, rather than advertise your product, add value to the audience. One of the simplest ways to do this is by commenting on a recent development in your industry or the way that a recent event will impact your business. It’s integral to understand who the publication’s audience is and what struggles they may have – they’re likely to have a struggle that’s similar to your own – and offer them information about how you are going about solving that problem.

Guest blogs are also a great way of building the domain authority of your website. In return for getting your content featured in your target’s publication, you will also get a backlink which helps you rank better in Google. 

Feature Story Ideas

A feature story has a long shelf life because it is not technically considered a news story. They generally range from between 2,000 and 4,000 words and are usually more creative, more descriptive and more subjective than news stories. For instance, a feature story may have the founder or CEO’s name in the title of the article, it may have a large photo of the company or the subject embedded in the story.

The front cover of a magazine is the most desirable and elusive feature story there is. Features are ideal for magazine publications, who tend to have their editorial calendar filled in months in advance, as well as industry publications and weekend newspapers. They are a chance to get in depth and personal with an individual and see their take on life, written in third person by the journalist.

The basic structure of a feature is 20% context and 80% about you and your company. When pitching a feature, you will give a journalist or editor a package with all the information they need to decide whether they’ll cover your story or not. The package will basically start the journalist’s homework for them. In the pitch you should include the unique angle, statistics or research which supports that angle and experts or customers who have agreed to be interviewed for the story. By giving them the information that they need to research the story effectively, you’re making their job easier and improving your chance on a feature.

Remember, features contain a human interest angle, which means they should also show your personal side, your experiences and your beliefs to the journalist.

Press Releases

The press release is the most traditional format of public relations that we are going to cover. Press releases are emailed out to media contacts to announce something newsworthy. Press releases are also the most common form of PR that journalists receive, so it's important to remember that if you want your story to get picked up, you have to make sure that the format and style conform to the standard.

Press releases always begin with the most newsworthy information: who, what, when, where how and why. What follows next is supporting information that gives context to the story. This can be anything from an explanation of a global event, localization of a current affair to a history lesson. This context is then backed up by one or two sources who give a quote, adding additional context or backing up why the event happened.

Quotes are the part of a press release that can add colour or flair to the article, so make sure you choose your words carefully. I always suggest that you read them aloud to make sure they sound authentic. I often ask myself“Is this something you would really say?”. A second outside source is a great way to build trust and credibility. For instance, if you’re a tech company, then it can be a customer or a partner who’s agreed to be quoted and can endorse what you’re saying as truth.

Lastly, a press release always ends with a synopsis of you or your company, which will be used by the journalist when they’re writing an article about you. Always make sure you only include relevant information in this section, to avoid you having to follow up with the journalist later.