Your brand can solve many problems. How do you tell people about it? A well-written press release can help your brand reach new audiences and become more visible online. This guide will walk you through creating an effective press release that will promote your brand and attract new customers.
Identify a problem your brand can solve
Start by identifying a problem your brand can solve. The idea you choose will be the foundation of everything else. Find something relevant to your brand, something you can solve for customers, and something that makes sense for your company’s goals. If you meet these criteria, you have yourself a winner!
Once you’ve identified a problem worth solving for customers who want it solved, write down some ideas about how exactly you could start solving it—and why they should work with YOU instead of someone else.
Explain how your brand has created a solution
The second step is to detail the solution and how it works. You can explain what makes it different from other solutions, but don’t make this section too long. Keep your reader’s attention by getting straight to the point here.
In this section, you also want to explain why your brand has created this solution and how it benefits customers or potential customers.
For example, if you’re introducing a new brand of dog food, then you can explain how it’s better for your customer’s pets. If you’re launching a new app that helps people find parking spots, you can explain how it works and why this product is helpful in their everyday lives.
Tie in information and data from trusted resources
Just as brand names can help promote your press release, so can the information and data you use. If a publication is interested in publishing your news, showing them that it has been researched thoroughly with facts and figures from trusted sources will add credibility to your claims. It also makes your product seem more trustworthy, which could get them to notice what you’re doing even more than some flashy graphics or catchy titles would have.
Use sources that are credible and authoritative:
- Government agencies provide reliable information about issues that matter most to policymakers at all levels of government. You don’t want think tank reports; go for government studies instead!
- Universities often research hot topics like climate change or renewable energy development. Find out what kind of research they’ve conducted recently—that’s where you’ll find good data points!
- Major publications, news organizations, magazines, and newspapers publish influential articles on essential issues daily! Make sure these publications cite their sources, so people know who backs up what they say (very important).
Create a blog post and use it as a source for the press release
If you have a blog, write a post that will add additional information and value to the press release. Create an interesting article with valuable content, then link the press release to your blog. This is important because it shows you are not just writing a press release to get more traffic to your website. You’re creating something that will help people learn about you and provide entertainment value in return for their time reading it!
When linking these two pieces together, make sure they flow naturally. The link should add supportive content that gives the reader more insight.
Keep it simple
Keeping your press release short and sweet (no more than 600 words) is important. If it’s too long, journalists won’t read it; if they don’t read it, they can’t write about it. To keep things simple, use the inverted pyramid writing style. This means you start by stating the most critical information at the top of your press release—think the 5Ws: who, what, where, when, and why. Then add details as you go down through each paragraph until you reach the bottom of your article.
You should craft a compelling headline that captures attention immediately so readers will want to learn more about what your company or industry has to say about its latest news or announcement. A good rule of thumb is that headlines should be between eight and 12 words long; after all, brevity is one of journalism’s greatest virtues!
Finally, I would highly recommend including a quote from someone senior within your organization or an industry expert who will speak authoritatively on behalf of their respective group’s stance on whatever issue may arise in the piece. This is a great way to add credibility to your content and strengthen your objective tone.
Conclusion
Press releases are a great tool to add to your marketing arsenal. They can help you reach new audiences, gain credibility, and build relationships with journalists and editors. But if you’re not careful, they can also backfire on you by looking too salesy or coming across as spammy. To make sure that doesn’t happen to you:
- Identify a problem your brand can solve
- Explain how your brand has created a solution
- Tie in information and data from trusted resources
