Whether you’re pitching a media story about the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or a start-up business, here are the five “Ws” to consider before getting started on your next corporate PR project:

The Five Ws: In a New Corporate World; the “Why” Always Comes First.
Many of you who have studied journalism learned the five Ws in this order: Who, What, Why, Where and When. In today’s ever-changing world of marketing, have you ever wanted to stop in the middle of a marketing project and ask, ” Why are we really doing this project?”

How many campaigns, projects and job orders have gone from beginning to completion, with the “why are we doing this?” getting lost somewhere along the way? Based on my 25 years of experience, I can tell you that a great many have.

In Public Relations today, “Why are we doing this story?” is the most important question you can ask yourself before embarking on a time-consuming campaign. If the answer to your “Why” question will not result in the ultimate reward of press coverage, then take a pass on that story. Dig deeper and find a stronger, more compelling “why” and therefore, a stronger and more compelling media story and PR campaign.

For example, at Wayfinder, we recently launched a PR campaign about CEO Louis Briones and his leadership in launching a new national nonprofit, Expedition Balance, that helps combat vets with PTSD. The WHY in this campaign is that we at Wayfinder want our clients, potential clients, friends and associates to know that Wayfinder is not only a national marketer, but is also a caring, philanthropic leader that gives back to our community.

What: The Substance of Your Media Story (Release).
My college journalism professor was right: if you cannot sum up your media story idea in one sentence—then you should probably move on to another story idea with more clarity and substance.

At Wayfinder, we summed up our PR story idea in one sentence:
New Wayfinder CEO takes on a mission to help combat vets with PTSD.

After you get the story idea captured in one sentence, that becomes your media release headline. The rest of the media release should be written like a short news story, with an interesting angle that grabs your audience’s attention in the first one or two sentences. The next paragraphs should provide a unique idea with enough details to prove its potential as a news story worth their follow up.

In part two of this article, we will cover the remaining Ws of PR: Who, When and Where.