Do you want a way to build the authority of your brand by forming relationships with journalists that cover your industry? Perhaps you have a new product launch or event that needs to be publicized.
Although social media and content writing has its place, these methods are better at reaching consumers instead of news organizations.
Read on to learn how to choose the best press release writing service for your business, and how you can tell the difference between good and bad press release writing!
What is a Press Release?
It first helps to know the difference between a press release and a regular piece of content marketing. Press releases aren’t meant to act as marketing material for your company. Instead, they should read like an article you can read in the newspaper or magazine with timely, relevant information that would interest readers.
Press releases are often written for:
- New product announcements
- Hiring announcements
- Event announcements
- Company mergers
- Rebranding
- Opening a new office
- Receiving awards
You can see that all of these topics have a specific, timely subject. Generating interest, authority, and brand recognition are all the byproducts of a great press release but not the goal.
Writing a Press Release
You’ll want to make sure that the company you hire to write your press releases knows how to write them properly. Press releases are often only a page long and are written so that each word has an impact on the reader. Here are a few of the elements that a good press release is often composed of:
Eye-Catching Headline
The headline is often the difference between whether you’ll grab a journalist’s attention or not. Good headlines are descriptive and also contain action words and clear language that isn’t bogged down by technical jargon.
Convey Value
Right after the headline, the first paragraph of a press release often conveys the value of why journalists and their readers should care. This describes the who, what, why, when, where, and how of your announcement.
Interesting Quotes
The best press release also contains a relevant quote to help contextualize the topic and make it more interesting to readers. These quotes are often from stakeholders of the business, owners, founders, or project leads.
Visual Variety
Press releases also benefit from having a visual variety to keep the reader interested. Facts and figures should be broken up into easy to read, bulleted lists. They can also include photographs, media, or infographics depending on the topic.
Concise Conclusion
The last paragraph of the press release should wrap up all of the facts and figures of the paper into a tidy conclusion. However, this shouldn’t be the place where you introduce more statistics and figures. This can also be where the main successes of the business are highlighted.
Press Release SEO
An added benefit to regularly writing press releases for your business is that they can be archived on your website. Not only does this act as a timeline for all your achievements, events, and changes within the company, but it also helps boost your website’s search engine optimization (SEO).
Focusing on SEO will help your website rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) for the relevant keywords. Over time, your website will receive a regular boost in traffic without any paid advertisements needed.
Press releases can be used for SEO in several ways, such as:
New Content
Press releases can give you more content ideas based on the quotes, infographics, and statistics they contain. You can create longer blog articles based on any number of these details.
Backlinks
Backlinks are links to your website that other websites post. This helps build your website’s authority in the Google Algorithm. News organizations have more “link juice” and can provide quality links to your press releases on your website.
Anchor Text
Your press release can also contain links to different articles and sources. The anchor text of these links can also be a keyword that you want your website to rank for.
Press Release Distribution
The next step that a great press release distribution service will handle is the distribution of the release itself. It’s possible that journalists are receiving dozens, if not hundreds, of press releases a day. They will completely skip over your business if they believe it’s not relevant to their readers.
With this in mind, a valuable service will know how to use hyper-targeting to ensure that the press release is going to industry-specific journalists that find the content relevant. Some press release services even have relationships with journalists and media distribution lists that make it far more likely that your press release will be read and used.
It’s also important that as your press releases are being emailed to the relevant journalists that concise cover letters are being written at the same time. These cover letters help pitch your press release and contain a clear call to action as well as contact information.
The Best Press Release Writing Service Knows Your Brand
As you can see, the best press release writing service is one that takes the time to get to know your brand. By knowing the industry your in and your target audience, they can write your press releases with that audience in mind.
Afterward, your press release will be distributed to journalists within your industry so that the likelihood of them using your release in their publications is far more likely.
Ready to begin your press release writing and distribution journey? Take a look at our quality writing services today!