Holiday Fun with Press Releases

Never miss an opportunity to create a theme with press releases or announcements. I serve on the marketing committee for the Downtown Arlington Management Corporation. This is what we sent out to help raise awareness of the Black Friday/Small Business Saturday specials.

'Twas the night before the biggest shopping day of the year,
The sun set on Thanksgiving and Downtown Arlington retailers want all to hear:

Dear friends, neighbors and shoppers - Santa needs your help!
Kris Kringle has a large load on his back,
He asked us all to pick up the slack.
Our stores and our windows are filled to the max
Our new winter items are falling off racks.

We'll throw open our doors on Black Friday
And we'll do it again on Small Business Saturday.
Our restaurants are cooking and our parking is free!
Ten new businesses opened in downtown this year.
Come visit us and we'll give you good cheer!

Check us out online and see what we have to offer,
Downtown Arlington is growing - shop here and we all prosper!

Pop Quiz Gets A+ Media Attention

The Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders annually recognizes Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Every October the Fort Worth-based cancer services provider sponsors free lunch and learn events throughout the community. Record attendance was reported this year, with numbers more than doubling at some of the locations. Additionally, media attention was received from two local Dallas/Fort Worth television stations and news radio. The success is credited to two things: the positive message surrounding breast cancer prevention, and a clever on-line quiz created by The Center. 

Media valued the latest research on prevention laid out in an easy to understand format. The concept was fun and separated itself from the traditional black and white stats. The results got an A+ from a public relations standpoint. The backlinks from the media's websites and all the additional clicks on The Center's site increased search engine optimization. Additionally, The Center was able to leverage the quiz and media attention in e-blasts, newspaper ads, and on social media.

This concept is easily applied to other industries. If you can't identify third party research, consider developing your own with a free online research tool that allows you to create a survey and send it out to your clients/the public. Report the facts and voila! You created a low budget news item!