Businesses need to reach out to their audiences regularly to stay relevant and popular. Effective marketing is key to business growth and expansion. As a business owner, you need to think of new ways to be in the news every now and then. There are several ways to catch the eyeballs of your audiences and investors and writing a press release (PR) is one of them.
Out of the 5 billion+ internet users globally, 4.65 billion use social media actively. A majority of these users depend on online media for information. This is why news articles, press releases, and other forms of social media content can play a critical role in increasing the visibility, generation of leads, and conversion of sales. Press releases are an active part of the public relations strategy and hence, you must master the art of writing a powerful PR. But, easier said than done.
How To Write A Press Release?
A well-crafted press release can help a company is garnering the necessary media attention. Hence, it is mandatory for a business to cover all the basics. A press release is an effective medium to spread the word about your company, and inform the community about the latest updates, offerings, and new launches. Therefore, you must ensure that the content of the press release conveys the message effectively without straying away from the agenda. Besides the key goal, it should also speak about your company, its mission, and its relevance.
Press Release Guidelines You Should Stick To
- Know How To Write: Press Release is totally professional and you should consider taking professional if required. Press Releases are about telling a story that is informative and intriguing. A good writer knows the value of words. Every word in the press release should make the story more appealing to drive maximum reader engagement.
- Format Is Important: Since press releases are strictly professional, you need to follow a certain format. Every time you go for a press release, the format should be the same. A press release begins with a powerful headline. The headline should answer as many questions as possible. Having a powerful headline is mandatory to add value. A headline is often followed by a sub-headline that further simplifies the message in the headline. Next comes the body. This section contains the key message that you want to spread through the press release. It can be anywhere around 250 to 350 words. If the press release is about a partnership, the section must answer who gains what from it plus the approach and rules of collaboration. The body section is often followed by a quote by someone in a key role eg CEO, CFO, Marketing Lead, etc. Next is the intro section where you add a brief introduction of your company, its goals, achievements, and awards. In the case of a partnership or an achievement, the intro section is preceded by a short intro of the second party or the partner company. Once the content section is over, type ‘ENDS’ to indicate that the message is over. The bottom section is reserved for contact details like website address, mail address, telegram group, discord, and other social media handles. This is followed by the contact information of the PR person who is generally a marketing expert in the company.
- Know Your Audience: This is the most important step for any kind of writing. Before passing a message, you must know whom the message is meant for. Make sure you do your bit of demographic and customer research to get an insight into their interests. This can be very helpful in deciding the tone of the press release and preparing the content. You must have critical information like average audience age, profession, nationality, time zone, area of interest, and preferred source of information gathering to reach out to a wider audience.
- A PR Could Be Your Elevator Pitch: A press release serves two purposes. First, conveying a message to the audience, and second, branding your company. In the world of online marketing, crafty PR could be a great way to boost the visibility of your business and achieve targeted lead generation. Therefore, the intro of your company in the press release should be nothing less than an elevator pitch. It should be short, crisp, and to the point.
- Quality Distribution: A press release or a news article is as good as the readership its gets. You can be a wordsmith or a writing wizard but those 500 words are of no use unless you get the desired engagement. The key to reaching your target audience is partnering with top distribution channels. It is expensive but worth every penny. Top online channels like Yahoo News, PR Newswire, and Businesswire have a huge reader base. You can get access to those readers in exchange for a few hundred dollars.
Note: The word count of your press release must not exceed 500 words (excluding date and contact information)
Are you building a business from scratch or an established business struggling to reach out to the desired audience due to a lack of access to professional writers? At Zuvomo, we have a team of seasoned marketing writers with years of experience in crafting powerful press releases. Reach out to us for top-quality PR and boost your online engagement exponentially!