Sending out a news release can be time consuming. From writing the first draft until the final touches, the goal is to tell a story that your target market will want to read. Effective press releases highlight customer wins, share data, and blend key messages to reenforce examples of success. Done correctly they are a record of your success and part of your overall story—showing others how you are an effective partner.
Looking to build your organization’s story using press releases? Here are 4 tips to optimize your news release:
Create a killer headline
As the first thing that readers see, it is a make-or-break factor in how far your news release gets. Optimizing your headline is the difference between highlighting a proof point that reenforces your value proposition or flat self-promotional content. It can be tempting to focus on your headline in the beginning of your writing process in order to set the course for the rest of the release. However, writing the release first and pulling key words out to create the headline almost always yields better results.
Highlight what is important to your business. Did you just win a big contract or partnership? Are you launching an innovative product or solution that helps meet your customer’s needs? When writing a headline, keep in mind how your news will impact your overall business’s story. Think of it holistically—as an example of your success on executing your company’s mission. Finally, ensure readability and accuracy of your headline before finalizing it.
Looking for more tips? In a case study conducted by Business Wire, a headline optimized this way had three times more leads, nearly three times more visitors, and received an increase in ROI by almost 13 times an unoptimized release.
Utilize multimedia
In a world ruled by screens, visual fluency is at an all-time high. By adding pictures and video to your news release you are not only capitalizing on thisbut are presenting a more complete story for readers. Multimedia also activates those who prefer to learn visually and assist in creating emotional connections for readers.
By saving readers time and supporting visual fluency you can drive message permeation and adoption. According to Business Wire, their multimedia releases generate 3X more ROI than text only releases.
Call your readers to action
Make it easy for people to act on your behalf. Most press release services allow you to include a prewritten tweet with your news release but there are other tools to use as well. Use social channels like Twitter and LinkedIn to share and your news release. Make sure to use the buzz words you identified earlier and link to it as well. Use hashtags to ask questions, make remarks and start a conversation that can bring attention to your story.Better yet, join an existing conversation that already has traction.
Drive measurable inbound traffic
Each release is an opportunity to drive traffic to both your website and your clients, so remember to hyperlink. Take it to the next step by adding URL builders/UTM links to track the actions and gather data about the person who clicked it. This gives you one way to measure the effectiveness of your release. Is it the first time someone has visited the site? Then you are driving awareness into action. Is it the 25th time someone has been? Then you are driving consideration.
Not only do these tools let you take credit for what you have achieved, they gather the information that lets you see where to go next. Take these tools and use them to make recommendations for the future and to optimize your next news release and stand out.
Interested in professional news release writing? Visit www.distinctiveedge.partners for more information about working with Distinctive Edge Partners.
The Distinctive Edge team is comprised of business builders with unique communications expertise and industry specialization. We help leaders solve business problems, thrive through transition, and achieve growth and engagement goals. The tools of our trade are strategic storytelling, investor and public relations, communications, and marketing. To learn more about our services, visit https://distinctiveedge.partners or book a free 30-minute consultation here.