Press releases are one of the most underutilized tools in business. Whether you\u2019re representing a non-profit, selling to consumers, or selling to businesses, press releases can help you brand your business and improve your bottom line. Regardless of your business model, how you approach a press release generally remains the same, and this is where people often make their mistakes. Let\u2019s take a look at three common press release mistakes and talk about how to avoid them.<\/p>\n
No One Cares<\/strong><\/p>\n The information you publish in your press release has to be news. And while it seems like just about anything can be news, it really isn\u2019t. News is something that people care about. It matters to them and it impacts their life. You hiring Janet Smith to your business isn\u2019t news. What Janet Smith brings to the business and how that impacts your customers can be news.<\/p>\n So it\u2019s not only what you have to say, but how you say it. If Janet has 30 years of experience leading Fortune 500 customer service teams, then that means that your customers are now going to get better service.<\/p>\n Of course you\u2019d have to tread lightly here because you don\u2019t want to imply you\u2019ve been giving bad customer service. You also want to think about why the media would care and that takes us to the second mistake that businesses make when writing and publishing press releases.<\/p>\n No Distinct Goal<\/strong><\/p>\n Why are you publishing a press release? What\u2019s the goal? What do you want to achieve by putting in the time and energy to get your release out there? Think in terms of a smart goal. That is to say that it should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. Your goal can be anything, and you can certainly have supporting goals.<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s much more productive to craft your release to help you achieve a specific goal. For example, \u201cTo increase website traffic to sales page by 5 percent within one week of press release distribution.\u201d<\/p>\n Once you determine your goal, you can then craft your content to support it. You can make sure, for example, that you\u2019re writing a call to action and including a link that sends your readers to a sales page. You can make sure that the content in the release supports your readers to want to visit the sales page to learn more.<\/p>\n