When your company – or an individual within it – has some exciting news, you’ll want to shout it to the world (or at least those who are listening in your sector). There are a number of ways to do this include posting it to your company blog, as well as putting something in front of a wider audience. Whilst a company blog or twitter feed is great to build up the authority of your brand, people will need to be either looking at your website or following you on twitter to see it.
In order to get your message out further, you can write press releases to send to journalists as well as for distribution online; interesting and well written press releases can get picked up by some of the most renowned publications so it really is a worthwhile activity to get your brand involved in. So how do you create the perfect press release? Here are a few tips to get you started.
Answer simple questions
A Press release optimization should always include important information so people go away knowing exactly what you do, and what your news is. You can specify which areas you work in, where your office is, and the services you offer. This should all be in context with the news you are issuing, so it might be along the lines of “London based PR firm goes skydiving for charity” or so on. Follow the reverse pyramid structure to provide the most important information at the top (think along the lines of who, what, where, when, why, and how) and then progress the press release from there.
Include a call to action
On the other hand you should also consider the end of your press release. Ending abruptly can leave the reader with a confused message so you should always provide details of where they can find further information on your company and any additional news that you haven’t included in the press release. You might simply say, “to find out more about our PR firm, please visit our website [insert URL here]”.
Contact details are vital
In line with the last point, you should make sure that the contact details provided with the press release are relevant and up-to-date. If your release is indeed picked up by influential publications you’ll want someone to handle incoming phone calls with knowledge and professionalism. It’s probably best to avoid including the details of a company director as they will probably have their details added to marketing data lists which can end up in lots of sales calls.
Be time sensitive
If your news is coinciding with something that is – or is about to – gain coverage in the press, make sure your release makes it out on time. Take care to include correct details as it can sometimes be difficult to retract press releases once they have been distributed. If your news is a company secret, ensure that you put an embargo date on the press release when you send it, and make sure that the journalists know about the embargoed date.