Tag Archive | "online news"

College Students Care About Accurate News


With more students getting their news on social media than ever before, it’s no surprise that they’ve learned to be skeptical. In the news media’s desperate attempt to cry out, “First!” when it comes to breaking news, publications are more likely to push content out before it’s been properly checked. 66% of millennials report mistrust in the accuracy of the news they receive, and that matters:

Almost 70 percent of millennials would rather be the last to know the news than receive inaccurate information. – PR Daily

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Full infographic at http://www.ypulse.com/post/view/millennials-and-news-fact-checked

Fortunately, there are ways to build trust with readers from the millennial generation. Here are a few ways you can foster trust with young readers:

1. Get Familiar with Their Technology

It seems that every few weeks there’s a new app or social network that kids are suddenly using and spreading like wildfire. While you don’t have to figure out how to use every network out there, you should definitely be familiar with the big ones like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Also, keep your ears and eyes open for new players. Recently, Instagram, Vine, and Snapchat have all found a place into youth culture in a big way.

2. Make Users Your Advocates

Young users are more likely to trust their peers than to trust your marketing materials. They’re used to hearing how great your product is from your commercials or press releases, but they rarely hear it from their friends. It should be easier than ever to give your current users incentives to talk about you on social media, so don’t be shy. You might get really good results if you just try.

3. Know the Culture

In order to be trusted, you’ve got to keep your brand relevant. This means knowing a little bit about the institutions and brands your readers will and won’t trust, and hopefully keeping your company in the former group.

4. Be Honest

Finally, young customers and readers will value honesty over undeserved hype. When you screw up, let people know you screwed up. When you add a new feature or product, don’t make it out to be more revolutionary than it really is. Honesty in news delivery is the same as honesty in press release delivery; it’s always the best policy.

How do you get young, skeptical readers to believe your stories? Leave your ideas in the comments below.

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Reaching College Students Through Press Releases


College students are an important market for advertisers and public relations professionals. They are forming habits and relationships with brands that will continue throughout their lives, and even though many of them are relatively poor now, they’re likely to make more than $1 million more than those who stop their education at high school.

Because college students are such a highly sought demographic, they tend to get bombarded with ads almost all the time. It’s difficult to walk around a major college campus without seeing dozens of posters, banners, promoters, and coupons attempting to lure college students into giving their brand a shot.

Content Helps You Cut Through the Noise

Fortunately, there are ways to get in front of students and grab their attention without adding to the noise, and one of the best ways is through press releases. College newspapers are still a major source of entertainment and information for students, and at some schools their daily print circulation might be in the tens of thousands.

Getting a story in just two or three major college newspapers or a couple college blogs can be an invaluable way to create a buzz around your product or service. Plus, with the advent of the internet, your message that starts at one school can easily spread its way virally around the world. It’s easy to see the advantages to getting a story published, but the better question is how can you do it?

Getting Student Journalists to Read Your Release

There are a few things that you can do to instantly boost the credibility of your release, whether you’re using UWIRE or a similar press release service:

1. Use a trusted source – Sending a release from your company or personal email address can work, especially if you’re just trying to reach a few college campuses. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to reach hundreds of campuses quickly unless you have an established relationship to begin with. Sending your release from a trusted source will ensure that

2. Be genuine – One of the biggest mistakes we see in press releases for students is a lack of honesty. You’re a real person writing a release to reach other real people, right? Treat them as such.

3. Offer links, quotes, and follow-up information – Sending a release that leaves the reader with more questions than answers is probably a bad idea. While good journalists will certainly double-check any information you include in your release, they appreciate being given as complete of a picture as possible.

4. Don’t forget online news – With over half of students using a smartphone every day and nearly all of them in possession of a personal computer or laptop, it’s hard to deny the role of online media in their daily lives. If you only get in front of print journalists, you’re missing a massive share of the market for student written news.

If you’re a PR professional who’s had success reaching students, we’d love to hear your story! Just email info@uwire.com for details.

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Photo by NS Newsflash on flickr.com

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