The Top Home Section Stories of the Decade

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The Top Home Section Stories of the Decade

Techniques That Can Help You To Earn More Media Coverage

By Dorothy York, President and CEO of North American Precis Syndicate (NAPS)

To help our clients find formats that are getting the best results, North American Precis Syndicate ranks the top feature news stories of the year by the highest number of placements in media outlets nationwide. We have compiled the results to show the top feature news stories of the decade, those that have performed brilliantly, way above and beyond what is typically expected.

The most successful stories included attractive color photos or infographics, helpful advice from experts, celebrity spokespeople, the latest statistics, results from surveys, trends, time-saving tips, money saving ideas and other helpful information. The stories were targeting people across various demographic groups, relating to accident prevention, protecting the safety and assets, of the readers, their friends and family members.

We are passionate about working on the kinds of stories that help millions of people nationwide with the news that is potentially life saving or can improve the quality of their lives.

To name a few, here are examples by topic, of the work from the best and brightest home and lifestyle communications professionals for some of the most demanding management teams at leading organizations:

1- Outdoor: Bayer Advanced

2- Indoor: 1-800-FLOWERS

3- Home Technology: Bowflex

4- Services: Lowe’s

5- Maintenance: WD-40

Here are a few tips to help you build up your results on your home feature news program:

1. Photos: Use beautiful, eye-catching, color photos, infographics or informative charts and graphs.

2. Expert Advice: Use a byline format offering tips from your spokesperson or use quotes from a reliable expert to lend credibility to the story.

3. Statistics: Include statistics from a credible industry expert or government agency and mention the source in your article.

4. Save Money: Inform readers how they can save on energy costs and home repairs or get the most for their money.

5. Safety: Tell readers how they can protect their health, family, possessions and their property value.

6. Decorating Trends: Showcase the latest looks in home décor for a dream home and suggest how readers can make a design statement that will be a good investment.

7. DIY: Suggest to readers how they can renew and improve their homes with easy and do-it- yourself projects.

8. Maintenance: Give advice on regular home maintenance that should be done to keep up appearances, cleanliness and functionality.

9. Organization: Offer tips on how to create a more harmonious environment by making better and more efficient use of a small or neglected space and clearing out clutter.

10. Technology: Alert readers to benefits of the latest technologies for appliances, home entertainment systems and maintenance equipment.

11. Entertainment: Advise readers how to prepare for home entertaining with party-planning ideas.

12. Comfort: Create an awareness of the ways in which readers can enjoy more comfort and improve quality of life by living large within a reasonable budget.

13. Lawn and Garden: Give tips on outdoor living spaces, lawn care and creating a more beautiful landscape that will help increase property value with greater curb appeal.

14. Websites: Include links to a website or social media site for more helpful information.

Here’s one example of a successful series of Featurettes for a home maintenance client:

COMPANY OVERVIEW: The National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) is the global trade association representing the HVAC inspection, cleaning and restoration industry. They support members' success with standards, education, certification, marketing and advocacy programs to promote the highest quality and ethical services.

CHALLENGE: To utilize their pre-produced online videos in such a way as to amplify their informational value to the organization by extending their reach into the broadcast media.  

APPROACH: As part of its larger, decades long NAPS campaign, which has yielded billions of impressions, reaching people in every state, NADCA opted to include TV broadcast releases using their own pre-produced long-play videos. The “What’s In Your Air Ducts?” video was edited to 60 seconds and distributed nationwide.

RESULTS: This 60-second spot aired 771 times, reaching 14 states with a cumulative reach of 102.8 million viewers. Of all placements, 97% were in the top 50 markets, 34% were in the most populous third of states and 19% were in the wealthiest quarter of states.

Here’s what one client had to say about their experience with using the NAPS multimedia approach:

"Having looked around for other providers, I am convinced that NAPS is the best way to go for broad dissemination of my releases, be they print, radio or TV."--John Goodwin, President, Galaxy Press.

To see more Top Stories of the Decade for Health, Finance, Auto, Food, Technology, and more, click here.

For more information or a free proposal from our experts, contact us at info@napsnet.com or visit https://mynewstouse.com/