Public relations seem to be falling by the wayside—when you can connect with your audience directly via social media and blogs, why bother with press releases? There are three reasons, actually, but when your overall goal is to stay in touch with your target market(s), writing and distributing press releases is an important part of your marketing efforts.
The three reasons to bother with press releases:
- Improve your website’s search results
- Drive traffic to your website
- Increase brand/company awareness
Another reason not to write off press releases (pun intended) is because writing them is easy. If you can write great blog posts, you can write a great press release. Your press release need not be long, just relevant to your target market. Come to think of it, there are a lot of parallels between blog posts and press releases, so if you want your press release to be read, just follow some of the same basic guidelines you use when writing blog posts.
Grab ‘Em With Your Headline
While incorporating keywords in your headlines are important, they shouldn’t take over and make the headline awkward. The goal of your headline is to grab the interest of your target market. Use the keywords you can, and don’t fret about leaving some out.
Too many keywords: The ABC Group Launches New Social Media Marketing Consultancy to Build Brand Awareness and Generate Leads For Small and Emerging Companies
Better: The ABC Group Launches Social Media Marketing Consultancy
Rethink the Opening Paragraph
People love stories. They’re engaging, interesting, dramatic and memorable. Begin your press release with a story that draws in the reader, especially since so many press releases are now read directly by your target market (rather than journalists), whether they find it through search or a PR syndication service. The traditional who-what-where-when-why model is dated. If you want your press release to read like a newspaper article, have at it, but if you want to engage your audience, tell your story.
Add Lots of Hyperlinks
The more hyperlinks in your press release, the more engaged your reader will be. You can link keywords to other blog posts you’ve written and pages on your website, thus leading your readers to more information on whatever it is you are promoting.
Include Calls to Action
In your press release, ask people to do something! Whether you want them to subscribe to your blog, follow you on Twitter, like your Facebook page, sign up for your email newsletter or download an eBook, provide them with links to it. Add an incentive if you’d like: bonus eBook chapter, new whitepaper, free hour of consultation, whatever.
Insert Photos and Videos
Insert photos and videos in your press release for a truly interactive, engaging experience. You can show screen shots of your new app, photos of your new product, “how it works” videos, video testimonials and more. Be creative!
Image by Flickr user Kimba Howard (Creative Commons)
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