How to Write Press Releases - Best Practices for Content that Gets Found and Shared

The fall news cycle is full of stories that are competing for readers’ attention and clicks. Politics, weather systems, football scores, quarterly earnings reports, the latest entertainment buzz – your news is competing against all of the content on the internet, not just your competition’s news or other news in your industry. How can you make sure that your story rises above the din and gets in front of the right audiences when there’s so much competition for attention? Although different types of press releases have different needs, they all have one thing in common. They need to be engaging.If you want your press release to be discovered – by search engines, journalists, customers or investors – your entire press release process needs to be focused on providing an engaging experience for your audience.On their own, an eye-catching photo, interesting headline or robust distribution aren’t necessarily going to save a press release that has been carelessly planned and executed in other ways. From beginning to end, you must be thorough and consistent.The following four steps will get you started when crafting a press release that cuts through the clutter and makes a lasting impression.1. Identify how your press release fits your audience’s big picture.Your audience isn’t a nameless, faceless crowd. They are customers, writers, and analysts. What are they buying? What are they sharing? What are they writing about? Use this insight to serve up press releases that fulfill these needs.Understanding your target audience will also help you identify the best way to reach them. Determining the right distribution method—whether that’s a broad, general interest newsline or a more targeted, niche option—is going to get your news in front of the people who will care about it most.Your news release will have a built-in audience if you identify key players who will take your release to that next step by sharing it, writing about it, or acting on it. That means better search results and better discoverability. 

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