Journalism Center
How to Write a Promotional Article for a School
The main purpose of a promotional article is to sway people to become involved in some way with an activity or event. For example, if a new club, say the Newspaper Club, has just been formed at your school, you can write a promotional article trying to encourage students to join it. Perhaps the football team needs more supporters to come out to the games, so an article promoting the next football game might be appropriate.
Start Catchy
Have a great headline or title that grabs someone’s attention. Get creative with these headlines and learn what works best for your audience. Understand, you are trying to generate interest in someone where there was little or none. Those already engaged in it do not represent your audience. Your audience is those who either know little to nothing about what you are promoting or who already have a negative perspective.
Be Exciting
There is a fine line between excessive hyperbole and being excited to generate interest in your readers. Don’t get excessive:
This new club will be the greatest thing you ever join in your life. Nothing in your life will ever compare better to this experience.
The problem with writing like that is that you verge on out-and-out lies. There is no need for that. You just need to be excited:
Perhaps the greatest surprise was the rare opportunities this club offers not found in any of the other clubs here at school. You will be amazed at the diversity of skills you can learn, and those who join get to participate in activities—even get to skip classes—off campus.
This last paragraph shows a level of excitement without the excessive hyperbole.
Get Your Facts Right
To reemphasize a previous point, there is no need to exaggerate the facts. Stick to the facts. People understand that you are promoting something, so there may automatically be some doubt as to your motivation. You will only turn people off by citing wrong facts or even guessing (usually incorrectly) as to the facts.
Know what you are talking about and it will allow you to have more credibility as you promote the activity or event.
Keep It Short
This article needs to be under 500 words…usually a lot less. You want to get the reader interested, but if he has to wade through a long article, you may end up leaving the wrong impression.
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