Thinking about effective public relations for your business? Then you must consider press release. People usually know what a press release is. However, not everybody knows how to use it effectively.
Understanding press release
A press release is a brief piece of content meant to inform the media about an upcoming event, launch, or any other important happening by an organization or business.
If you are running a business, you need not be an expert in creating press releases. You can easily hire writers for the job. Writing services are available online. They may even offer free press release submission.
So, your job is done – without any hassle or headache.
How to attract media to your content like honey bees to the hive?
Get two things right:
• Headline of your press release
• “Meat” (body) of your content
Headline
John Caples, the pioneer in the application of scientific methods to advertising, had said,” “If you use a poor headline, it does not matter how hard you labor over your copy because your copy will not be read.”
Read the following headlines:
1. “Company XYZ to launch a new anti-wrinkle cream for 40+ women.”
2. “An anti-wrinkle cream that will transform the way 40+ women look”
Which headline is more interesting and makes you want to know more about the cream?
Get your headline right and about 80 per cent of your press release work is done, says a renowned marketing guru.
And then you can easily submit your precious content to a free press release submission site with confidence.
Body
Body of your press release contains the “meat” of your story.
Keep it brief. You aren’t writing a story here. Journalists have no time to read lengthy content.
Because of this fact, a thumb rule of writing a press release is to summarize your entire story in the first para. So, even if the journalist is super busy, he or she will get a complete idea of what your press release is all about.
At times, due to space issues, an editor may chop off your content from the end. If you have told the entire story in the beginning, your content still stays intact.
Two questions that journalists usually ask when they see your press release:
1. Is this of interest to my readers?
2. Is this of value to the community at large?
Your press release ought to answer the questions in “yes.”
Combing back to second headline example of the anti-wrinkle cream press release, a beauty journalist may find value in the content. The cream promises to transform the look of women above 40. People of this age group are usually on the lookout for some powerful creams that can change their wrinkled look.
So, yes, this press release may grab the journalists’ attention.
Why?
Because it promises to “transform,” which is the powerful word here. If you go by the first example of the headline, it lacks interest because the market is flooded with anti-wrinkle creams. Nothing new.
So, before you contact a press release submission service, make sure your press release has:
• A killer headline
• A meaty content
If not, trash it and start working on another.
Resource Box:
Maxnewswire.com offers free press release submission. Log on to the site to know their package of services, which include press release submission service, and pricing.
Mike Smith has hand-on experience in content marketing and affordable press release distribution that’s the reason why his blogs on the subject are educative and easy to understand. Mike has been a creative writer and is focused on the world of content marketing for many years now.