The press release continues to be a vitally important part of the PR process. It’s still a good idea to prepare press releases for leading news because it is one of the main tools for business communication.
What is the best reason to write a press release?
A news release announces something newsworthy. Ideally, it generates news coverage that positions you as a leader in your business field; a subject-matter expert; and attracts attention to your business. At this point, it is the rest of your business practices that will increase sales. Do you have quality products at the right price point? Is your business easy to find? How good (or bad) is your website? Do you offer high-level customer service? Do you have referrals or testimonials from clients or customers?
Do not send out a news release to journalists if there is no real NEWS in it. It will hurt you more than helping you. If the first impression you make on them is a waste of their time, they won’t bother to read anything else you send. So make it count.
A press release on an extensive contract win that names the customer and cites the contract value helps establish market leadership. Announcements that launch exciting new products show you are an innovator. Taking sides with customers on controversial issues, e.g., backing strong encryption on smartphones, builds trust and spurs product demand. All promote brand recognition, which is the end game of marketing.
Important: just as the wise only speak when they have something worthwhile to convey, follow the iron rule of only issuing releases when you have real news. The first “customer” you are selling to in this process is the journalist. The “product” they yearn for every day is a great story. Serve that need of journalists, and they’ll help sell your product or service to the buying public your target.
I prepare a press release whenever we have some news to announce. And by the news, I mean something really important, something I want the world to know about.
Ask yourself: is it the kind of news you couldn’t wait to share with your friends or the industry experts you follow and admire? If you’re honest with yourself and the answer is “yes” – well, you can now start planning your media outreach.
The funny part is that I don’t always send it out. I see three main, different ways of using a press release:
- distribution to a narrowed down (targeting & personalization) media list when the news happens;
- background conversation starter – whenever I try to build a new relationship with a journalist;
- speaking opportunity preparation – to make sure I know all the announcement details that may seem alluring to the press. Especially helpful for potential future speaking opportunities.
Practice. Ask your contacts what works best for them. Measure and analyze data, there is various PR software built just for that. For example, PRNEWS.IO marketplace. Just don’t make a press release your only communication tool – it will never be.
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Could Twitter replace press releases?
Journalists give more credence to press releases than to social media posts. Although social media has become a platform for publishing branded materials, such content is often treated as hearsay.
The fact is that even on official brand channels on social networks, unreliable material can appear. The reasons are many: from loss of access to the account to SMM manager errors.
A press release, on the other hand, is an official and important source of information about a company.
Social media can help in news promotion but cannot replace the detail of a release or a well-placed phone call. Social media platforms are, and always will be, a place for procrastination for the masses – even journalists.
Twitter and other Social media can complement rather than replace traditional tools such as press releases. A short, engaging tweet can link to the press release on the media section of a website.
The key is to try and reach out to journalists and your target audience through whatever ‘tool’ (be it Twitter or whatever) is most convenient for them and direct them to sources of additional info if needed.
No matter how digital the world goes, no one likes to know half-baked truth. That’s how gossip must have originated, right? Who would like to know only the headline? Wouldn’t you want to know the How’s, when’s, where, and why of the news?
Simple secrets of effective press release
There are, of course, ineffective press releases. The effectiveness of a press release depends on how engaging your material is. Journalists and media outlets need to meet the expectations of their audiences. They only pay attention to informative material that will attract their readers.
The secret to an effective press release:
- The material must be truly newsworthy.
- You should send the press release to the journalists in the right niche.
Read more: How to Write Press Release – Guidelines, Formats, Free Samples
Press-Release Writing Service:
The press release riting technique from PRNEWS.IO
At PRNEWS.IO, we prefer approaches that can be scaled rather than once. There are tons of templates for creating press releases. One of our favorites is the template for creating a press release based on company data.
If your company generates lots of data, you can easily reformat it into press releases. One of the most common examples of such content is ratings that are interesting to your target audience. For example, the most popular products from your catalog for Christmas.
We at PRNEWS.IO regularly rank the most-read media in various categories. And such press releases bring results!
Check out our press release in action:
Top 15 Ukrainian Business Websites
Media coverage: Post 1, Post 2, Post 3
Effective PR consists of techniques that can easily be repeated and succeed again. Experts show their successful cases at PR conferences, but they forget to mention that the approach has been applied only once.
One effective press release is not a success. We here at PRNEWS.IO are sure that Successful PR is when your materials get the coverage they need.
Press release: Top 10 Ukrainian media about finances
Media coverage: Post 1, Post 2, Post 3
Is a press release a good way of marketing?
Here are some popular applications for press releases under the Marketing umbrella below:
Media Relations. Most journalists ignore press releases unless they cover the company issuing the release (such as business/finance). Press releases can be a good follow-up to a one-sentence email or 140-character “Tweet” pitch to a journalist. You don’t need a press release to generate publicity – you can jot down the key points you’d like to cover in 30 seconds to a minute and call the journalist to bounce the idea off him/her.
Press Release Distribution. SEO companies use press releases to quickly generate a high volume of inbound links for the client (which help website pages gain authority/rank higher for relevant searches). While they don’t have the weight they once did, they make excellent resources for you to “get out there” in front of journalists. And since press releases are stored and indexed on the Web after you issue them, it’s likely journalists would find you via Web research for their stories.
Key Message Document. A Press Release sums up all the key messages the company would like to communicate around its news. As such, a Press Release can be used instead of a more-formal messaging document and provided to all employees who interact with customers and may have questions about what’s going on out there.
Product Pitch. Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon, has team members create press releases for new product ideas before the project is approved. Press releases provide a nice overview of the product, problems solved, and go-to-market strategy.
Wire Distribution. Sending your press release out on the wire is still a popular way to distribute news for companies. Some companies are required to report news via wire services or other secure and compliant channels. Press release distribution provides an easy way for less-established brands to quickly distribute their news to large audiences – though historically, I’ve seen few press releases result in my phone ringing at all.
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Conclusion: press releases best practices
Press releases can be an excellent tool to use when it comes to promoting something. The only thing to keep in mind is that you should be using it smartly. The desired results depend upon several factors like how it’s written, which is the targeted industry/area, and which PR service you are using. There are companies, like PRNEWS.IO, that provide professional PR writing and distribution services at the lowest pricing. Your job is to select the topic of the Press Release, and they will guide/help you all the way through.
Have fun!
