3 Common Press Release Writing Problems
Press releases can be a key component to your marketing strategy and plan. Press releases integrate well with other marketing tactics like content marketing, social media marketing, and even SEO. To get the best results from your press releases, it’s important to make sure that you avoid some of the most common mistakes.
#1 Is it Newsworthy?
One of the most common press release writing problems that people face is not understanding the concept of newsworthy. To be newsworthy doesn’t just mean that you have an announcement to make. For example, your company had six figures in sales. That’s news to you and to your employees, and perhaps to an investor, but that’s not news to your audience or to the media.
One of the things that make something newsworthy is that it is relevant to your audience. For journalists, relevant news is different depending on what type of information they cover and who their audience is.
Some journalists write human interest stories. Some journalists write stories based on research. Your job is to decide who your audience is and why they should care about your information. That will help you decide whether or not your news is worthy of a press release. It will also help you write your press release to that audience.
#2 A Lackluster Headline
The next common press release writing problem that authors face is writing a strong headline. A good press release headline has to tell readers what the news is and why they should care. That’s a big job for a quick sentence or two. The best way to overcome this press release writing problem is to practice writing headlines for each press release.
It is not uncommon for professional press release writers to write 20 to 30 headlines for the same press release. Some press release writers write the headline first – even before they write the press release itself. Other press release writers write it last. Experiment with both. Test what works best for you and test the headlines that give you the best results. That leads us to our next common press release writing problem.
#3 Measuring Results
The third and critically important press release writing problem that companies face is not testing and tracking their press release results. Hopefully analytics is part of your general marketing strategy. You test and track the effectiveness of your content marketing tactics and channels.
Now do the same for your press release marketing. Test headlines. Test calls to action. You might also test and track different elements within your press release, like a video, social media channels, and links to downloadable content.
Finally, make sure that you avoid distribution issues. Once you’ve written your release get it into the hands of your audience with a quality press release distribution service. That means a service that has the media outlets, channels, and features that you need for successful press release writing campaign.
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