Keep Your Audience Interested in Your Press Release

Outbrain reports:

"While not new to the marketing landscape, press releases are still one of the best ways to convey information about your product or service, to generate awareness, or to support your sales team. And PR writing is still a highly coveted skill that marketers must deal with all the time...Are you targeting a certain demographic? Is your release intended for a specific segment of your industry? Should your language be suited for the general public, or are you hoping to speak to business insiders? The more clearly you define your audience, the better chance you’ll have to craft a release that truly connects...The most effective press releases communicate the information clearly and succinctly. You’ll want to answer the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How as soon as possible, making clear why your event or update is newsworthy...The concise nature of press releases mean[s] you should be up front about your main objective, but you should also build room for some measure of conversion. The best press releases not only offer information about the new product but [also] convince readers to click through to your website, blog, or social profile, and eventually become loyal customers...[B]efore you start writing first figure out which type [of press release] does the best job of framing your announcement to the audience you are targeting...Whichever type you choose, the release should never be longer than one page. The point of a press release is to entice the reader[s] and leave them wanting more. So be concise and to the point...[I]f you’ve been looking for a way to show your personality, the title is where it’s at. The best press release headlines are explicit and informative while still maintaining a sense of cleverness. They shouldn’t undercut the material, but since the subject line is often the only part of the release a reporter will see, do your best to craft compelling and timely headlines. In addition, make sure the most important part of your headline is clearly visible in email or when sharing...Personally send your press release to as many relevant journalists as possible...Once several journalists have published stories about your announcement, don’t let the story stop with just the reach of that particular publisher. Send these articles to your clients, your newsletter list, [and] your [T]witter and [F]acebook followers. If it’s a really great article you should even consider paying to drive traffic to it with a service like Outbrain Amplify...In addition, make sure your press release is hosted on your website or blog, and you have included the proper keywords in the title tag as well as written a great meta description. Your meta description [is] what will show up in the Google search results describing your content. So if you expect people to click, it [had] better be exciting."