Writing press releases to announce an event or upcoming special at your company takes time and much thought. Remember, you’re not trying to sell something necessarily but rather inform journalists, bloggers and other media of something at your company that may be of interest to their readers.
Well written press releases can be an invaluable tool in generating attention for your company, if they’re done right.
If not, your press release will be relegated to the trash bin of any editors you send it to. Not only that, you won’t see much online impact either…in short, relegating what’s important news to the dust bins of irrelevance.
Continue reading for 5 common mistakes that stop press releases cold along with ways you can avoid these mistakes.
1. Not doing the proper research – Taking a look at how others in your industry and business in general prepare their press releases helps you find what works and what doesn’t. Just slapping something together will ensure your press release doesn’t get the attention it deserves.
2. Making assumptions – In order for your press release to be successful, you need to put yourself in the readers’ shoes. Don’t assume they know about your products and services. Detail any specifics so the reader can effectively relay your company news to their readers.
3. Belittling or talking down to someone – While we say in point 2 that you should provide as much detail as possible, be sure it’s done in a courteous tone. In other words, don’t treat the reader like they’re an idiot.
4. Overselling products & services – Press releases are meant to inform people who write for your potential buyers. Think of the people reading your press release as your “re-sellers”, not your buyers.
5. Over-writing or ‘bloating’ the release – Many press release writers are guilty of over-hyping their products/services. Keep fluff to a minimum and focus on details pertaining to what you’re announcing. In fact, it’s best you only include any flowery language when you’re quoting someone for the press release. Including any in the body may result in rejection by online outlets.
If you’re sending your press release to any editors directly through email, you will want to come up with a clever subject line to draw their interest. Think of how many emails you’ve deleted. We all get a lot of emails on a daily basis so be sure your subject line stands out above the rest.
Copywriters at SEO Advantage can help you announce your company’s news through our expert press release optimization services. Press releases are only one part of the larger content creation puzzle. They make your company look active as well as giving you great content to serve up to the search engines.
But to make sure your company news in more than just great fodder for the search engine spiders, consider the 5 points mentioned above when preparing your press release.