Amplifying Your Press Release With Assets

One of my guilty pleasures is watching animal videos – because who doesn’t love otters having fun in the water or cows playing with balls? The captivating power of photos and videos should also be considered when creating a press release.

When your company wins a contract, achieves a major award or releases a new product, you might find it important enough to warrant a press release. To grab the attention of a journalist, consider adding a photo or video.

In the same way an image captures your attention on social media, an extra photo or video (an “asset” in industry jargon) in a press release will get the attention of the media. In fact, Amendola’s release partner, PR Newswire (a Cision company), reports that adding an asset to a release will increase your media coverage by 600%.

But gaining media coverage is just the start.

In the words of Bonnie Raitt, let’s give them something to talk about

A press release contains the information you want to share – but why not give readers more? By inserting a link in the release, you can take them to a landing page on your website where they can learn more. Too often, however, such links and calls to action are pushed to the last paragraph.

Best practices call for no more than three hyperlinks in any one press release. Therefore, consider linking to your corporate website only in the boilerplate and not in the first paragraph. The aim is to provide the journalist with as much information upfront as possible before they click on your website to learn more about your company and products.

As for your call to action, a picture (or video) is worth a thousand words. To maximize your reach, create a unique asset to place in the right-hand column of the press release, next to the first paragraph.

Creative assets to consider include:

• A headshot for a new hire
• An infographic or a link to the first page thumbnail for a case study.
• For an award, an image of the award or a photo of the person being awarded
• If you have won a contract, add the new partner’s logo or a photo of their headquarters
• For a new product, include a screenshot or video of the product’s dashboard.

Adding an asset to a release currently increases the cost of your release by about $400 – but the return could be great if it increases your press release impressions by 600%!

Here’s an added benefit: Once you have created these assets, you can re-use them for other marketing initiatives, such as within newsletters, reports to stockholders, social media, collateral during tradeshows, and much more.

One last tip: As soon as your press release is ready to hit the wire, upload it to the “news” page on your website. Avoid frustrating journalists (and clients and prospects) who are looking for the latest company news, only to find releases from six months ago. Instead of linking back to the PR Newswire version, load the news directly to your website to ensure readers stay on your site.

Keeping your news site fresh and your press releases captivating may earn you a  thank you from the press, clients and prospects!