REUSED Why Your Press Release’s Success Depends on Just a Few Words

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You’ve written perhaps the best press release of all time. Your company, Teddy Bear Clothes Incorporated, is announcing the release of their brand new Harry Potter tie-in line of teddy shirts, and you were tasked with getting the word out to the papers and television stations. You pulled your hair and smacked your head and stayed up all the live long night and finally chiseled the thing down to perfection.

Bleary-eyed, you realize right before you turn it in that you’ve forgotten the headline! What to call it? Crap, you’ve only got five minutes left. You throw one together and quickly send it along before press time.

After a brief nap, you wake and read your press release again. You gasp in horror as you see the headline: “Harry Potter Teddies.” Images of confused women with Daniel Radcliffe’s face on their nightwear dances through your head as you try to correct things. But it’s too late. The papers and stations have all rejected the piece. Sales plummet, you lose your job, and the company folds within a year.

Is It Really That Important?

It may be a bit of an exaggeration, but only a little bit. The headline of your press release can and will make or break the entire page. It’s guaranteed to be the first thing anyone reading it sees. And when a tired, grumpy journalist at the Townsville Journal is looking at his 800th press release that day, if your headline is less than 110% awesome, he will skip over it without a thought.

hate writing press releases

The headline is your first impression, like a handshake with the journalist. If you have a great headline, it’s like a nice strong friendly handshake that makes them want to know more. If you have a “limp fish,” they are put off and fail to read any further. If you have a bad handshake, then you’ve basically just kicked the reporter in the shin and walked off.

The good news is, the art of the great headline can be learned! There are a couple good tips to follow if you want to make sure your hard work isn’t completely skipped over along with the thousands of other press releases that go unread each day.

Make it a Flashing Neon Sign

What is the absolute core story of your press release? Say you were in the situation of that writer in the opening paragraph. Should the focus of his press release have been that the company has started selling teddy bear shirts with Harry Potter on them? Or was it more important to your audience to note that the company was awarded official merchandise capabilities which might lead to further expansion for the business?

Another important point is to get across the most amount of information with the least amount of words. The less time an exhausted reporter has to spend reading your headline the better. Get in, wow them, get out. For the above example, the writer could maybe consider, “Teddy Bear Clothes Inc. Announces Partnership with Harry Potter.” Harry Potter merch is big news, and that’s sure to grab some attention.

If you’re still having trouble after tons of edits and redos, try seeking further help. Hire a freelance writer until you get the hang of it. There’s even a website you can try: ereleases offers a headline tune-up service for FREE as long as you limit it to one a month. There is simply no excuse for a bad headline anymore, so get out there and put your best handshake forward!

This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (https://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in affordable press release distribution. Download a free copy of the PR Checklist – a 24 point list of Press Release Dos and Don’ts here: https://www.ereleases.com/prchecklist.html

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A very smart person once told me to spend as much time or more on my headlines as I do on my content. I have never stopped taking that advice whether it’s a press release, article or blog post.

Reply

The other reason for carefully crafting your press release headline is for SEO (search Engine Optimization) purposes. In other words – with online news services that include google news and other online distribution in their services, your release headline can drive traffic to your site directly – as well as generate stories in the media. Some business sites pick up business releases and reprint them as is.

So spend a little time keeping your end reader in mind – write for the reporters, but think keywords to – what would someone type into a search engine to find this type of info. If you can balance the two – you are way ahead of the many who slap a headline on at the last minute as noted above.

Cathy Larkin

Reply

Brad & Cathy,

Love the tips. I also believe it’s worthwhile to complete your press release and then go back and attempt to write a killer headline after the fact (which often means scrapping your original headline). Regardless, remember to keep it factual and concise.

Mickie

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