Welcome new learners who are just brought into the world of press release writing. It is quite a lot at first for novice writers to figure out what it takes to become a master in PR writing. While some of you have acknowledged the basic patterns of writing a press release, others might be confused with its plain similarities with a media advisory. To clear the air of confusion, this blog is dedicated to those readers who have been having a problem while identifying the proper features that set a press release apart from media advisory. It will discuss the differences and definitions of the subject and make you a pro in making a worthwhile press release.
Learn about the side by side comparisons of the two topics and understand when you should use media advisory vs. a press release. You must know all the potent make-up of a press release and how to distinguish them from the story of media advisory.
If you want to know what are the potential differences between these two marketing proposals? Then all your focus should be on purpose, composition, length, and timing.
Knowing the difference between the raw elements of what makes these two separate styles of marketing will help you to become a fast learner of how the industry works. You can become a master PR professional quickly and possess your writing with intense credibility. On the other hand, you should know that media advisory will help you to spread media contacts. It takes the right time and true purpose to generate a howl for the story with a media advisory.
Let’s know the basics first to move on to the complex section.
What is a press release?
A press release is an official news that contains important information about the upcoming events and launches of goods. It is specifically provided to the journalists and PR distribution sites so that it can be placed on news media outlets.
Reason to write up a press release:
- When you are about to launch a product
- Mergers
- Announcing achievements
- Generating new funding
- An imminent event of the company
A press release feels quite similar to a news story because both articles appear in newspapers and on websites. The aim of a PR is to garner media coverage and getting picked up by the media representatives depending on the depth of information. It is a smart way to convey your brand’s exclusive story to your target audience.
A suitable PR is written in a typical format to daub the facts in their real colors.
Things that make a PR:
- A subtle headline
- An essential subheading
- Intriguing paragraph
- Add smart pictures and videos
- Include quotations
- Details of contact information provided with the website, location for the business
What is a media advisory?
On the other hand, a media advisory is a one-page written article of a future event.
It is exclusively considered as an invitation for media representatives solely about the future events containing only the most important data. It is restricted to members of the media and they have to attend the events to pass words to their audience.
A media advisory is small because it doesn’t have the full story; instead, it only captures the specific details about the event only.
Format of a media advisory:
- Contact information
- A short headline
- The 5Ws:
- Who
- What
- When
- Where
- Why
Example-
Who- Dua Lipa
What- Virtual concert
Where- URL
When- Day, date, time, including time zone
Why- The artist will perform her latest tracks for her fans
It’s time to discuss the main parts of the difference between the pattern of a press release and media advisory with a glimpse of details.
1. Purpose:
A media advisory’s main aim is to generate information about the upcoming event on media. It will be concise with specific information to make it look like an exclusive invitation. It will contain only the most important facts about the upcoming event. Generally, it is a tool used for informing the media about something important going on. One of the most salient points you should know while making a media advisory is that the article will only be strictly shared with members of the media. It has no intention for publicizing the document to the outside world of commoners apart from media partners. Like any other invitation, it has to be made for specific media recipients. Thereafter, the decision will depend on the media house whether they will agree to attend the event or they will stick to more research about the worth of the upcoming event. The newsworthiness of the document will matter a lot.
A PR is offered to media outlets and other representatives to help the company with worldwide attention. It is related to product introduction and company details with basic information of the industry that will help to gain more attention from the public.
It is sent to media and also to other forums and magazine sites for others to see. The same press release can be used even after the event.
2. Composition:
The stuff that you see in a media advisory and a press release are pretty much the same. They almost follow the basic structure with the same information written in a different style. There are 5 ‘W’ and the proper headline that make a press release strong. Both the documents should be error-free with no grammatical mistakes and misspellings.
Though they may look similar at one glance, there are some basic differences that you can find if you concentrate on the pattern. There is similar information shared on a PR and media advisory such as Contact information, Headline, Dateline, and Introduction.
But the media advisory contains less detail with a small introduction. It is comprised of full details of the upcoming event that will be published to social media and media marketers. Apart from the boilerplate part and the contact information, other stuff remains different.
3. Length:
Another difference that you can clearly see is the length of the two formats. A good press release can be written within 500 words whereas a media advisory is about only 100 to 150 words.
4. Timing:
Press releases are issued before something new is going on like a product launch or new event. It can be released just before the event is going to take place. But, a media advisory is always published before 5 days in advance. It can’t be reused later after the event is gone. A media advisory is only used for a specific purpose.
