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7 Tips for Making Your Press Release a Success

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Most journalists (36%) still receive their news from the good old press release. As a PR professional, you are responsible for getting the news your client wants to disseminate in front of as many relevant people as possible.

But in 2020 when the usual news topics have been turned on their head, how do you do that?

PR Newswire – a Cision company – released its State of Press Release report which noted that 48% of all releases issued between March and May 2020 mentioned COVID-19.

The report also provided these statistics when comparing 2019 and 2020 news topics:

  • Future events news dropped 56%
  • Trade show news releases dropped by 77%
  • Public safety news increased by 192%
  • Corporate social responsibility releases increased by 118%
  • News about infectious disease control saw a huge jump of 3,140%

If your client’s release is either in a category that isn’t being discussed, or included in a topic that’s likely to get lost in the shuffle, how do you ensure yours stands out?

Here are seven tips to give you an edge.

1. Start at the top with a short, newsy headline. A short and catchy headline is where you capture audience attention. After all, when you scroll through a newspaper, social media platform, or newsletter, what is it that makes you decide which articles to read?

The average headline length for a press release is 88 characters. Keep headlines short and sweet, and if it’s absolutely necessary for a longer headline, ensure the important keywords are in the first 70 characters because this is where Google search engine results and email subject lines cut off.

2. Use strong call-to-action words. According to the PR Newswire / Cision State of the Press Release report, these are the top 10 CTA headline words:

  • Confirms
  • Reveals
  • Proves
  • Launches
  • Empowers
  • Enables
  • Allows
  • Announces
  • Rolls Out
  • Shows

3. Select the right newswire company. At our agency, we have been working with PR Newswire for many years. We have experience with all the wires, but we feel this company has an edge.

Not only do they have superior customer service, their wires syndicate to more outlets than any other. Additionally, they have a service in which editors pay to subscribe to their wires.

It gives those looking for news the chance to eliminate a mass download to their inbox, and it provides search terms. Therefore, when we set up releases to be sent on the wire, we use an option provided by PR Newswire, in which we “code” for keywords and trades. This allows the right people to find the news they are actively looking for to write into their story lines.

4. Pick the right time to send your news. According to Cision, the highest volume of news is sent at 8 AM ET, Mondays through Thursdays with Tuesday being the highest day of release traffic. 52% of copy is sent at the top or bottom of the hour.

So, to stand out from the flood of releases being pushed, yours should be sent either before or after 8 AM ET. If you’re looking to maximize your visibility, the best days are Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday in the middle of the day. Use odd times like 9:05 am, or 1:10 pm.

5. Make content informative and engaging. The average press release according to Cision’s data, is 686 words and readers spent 3 minutes and 39 seconds. But it won’t get read at all if it doesn’t interest the media. This blog post by my colleague Michelle Noteboom provides tips for tweaking your message to ensure the audience hears you – during COVID-19 and beyond.  

6. Don’t rely on the wire alone – pitch away! Hopefully, you’re working with an experienced PR agency who has a great media relations team. I pulled this entire paragraph from Cision’s report because I found it compelling:

“For the first time in Cision’s State of the Media Report history, we asked reporters to share what days they receive pitches most and what days they actually prefer getting them. As many of us expected, Mondays proved to be the preferred day for reporters, and it was also when they got pitches most. However, many journalists reported they were still open to receiving pitches until Friday (a handful even on Saturday and Sunday). As the week progresses though, the number of pitches they receive declines. While their interest in receiving pitches did slightly decrease, the numbers weren’t so significant that it should prevent publicists from reaching out.”

7. Look outside the box for other ways to promote your news. Ensure the client is posting the release on their website. Use your social media team to create multiple, engaging posts for all the client’s social platforms. And if your client is a member or sponsor of any publication or trade organization, find out if benefits include posting corporate news.

New hire announcements, contract wins, and product launches all make for news-worthy events. In the world of health and health IT, we look to publications such as HIStalk, Answers Media and DOTmed, and trade organizations including AHIP, CHIME and the ATA for posting our clients’ press releases.

2020 hasn’t been an easy year. But with a little extra work and attention to detail, you can ensure your press release is picked up and read by as many people as possible.

Guidelines for a Darn Good Press Release Headline

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Editors and journalists get a ridiculous number of press releases in their inbox every day. It isn’t just this week’s news that a press release completes with it’s releases from prior weeks, being re-sent and re-packaged to find new coverage. It’s a tough, competitive world for each press release. Even if you have a newsworthy story, getting eyes on it isn’t always easy. For yours to win, you need a great press release headline that grabs attention, tells a complete story, and makes a reader want to know more.

What is seen first is of utmost importance. Here are some tips for crafting a headline for a press release that maximizes its chance to earn meaningful coverage.

Don’t Clickbait. Do What Newspapers Do.

Baiting people into clicking on terrible stories is a social media norm, popularized by scam websites, gossip rags, and less-than-reputable news sources. And, quite frankly, it isn’t a tactic that works well for educated readers such as those in healthcare IT. While an interesting or fun headline is fine, a journalist isn’t going to be enticed to read a press release unless they know exactly what the press release is about.

Like newspapers and reputable online sources, the headline needs to be a summary of the story, whatever it is. The who, what, when, and where need to exist in the headline. The why is something that can be left for the reader to discover, but the entire “in a nutshell” version of a press release needs to exist in the headline. The selling point of your press release should be its inherent newsworthiness.

Support Your News with Data

If you can, give specifics on your news. If a product showed a 10 percent improvement of patient satisfaction scores in a pilot study, that should be in the headline. If specific numbers exist and they’re impressive, show them off. Burying specifics in the text of a press release is meaningless when the goal of a press release is to earn media coverage anyway.

If you don’t have data, avoid assertive claims. Unless you back them, they shouldn’t be in the headline, since that is just asking for a journalist to press the issue. But when you can, having specific data and numbers is always welcome, since that’s ultimately the meat of any story.

Take an Active Voice

Let me correct what I said above: Product X Shows 10 Percent Rise of Satisfaction in Study. Even if this news is in the past or it’s old news, stick to active voice. Always take the philosophy when writing a headline that this is happening right now. That sends a message that this story is ongoing, worth attention, and hasn’t been covered yet all of which are necessary to earn media coverage.

Don’t Be Afraid to Have Fun

Have you checked the President’s Twitter feed? This is the era of informal communication. The days of a stoic, professional headline for press releases is over. Don’t be afraid to have fun and show a little personality, especially if that’s consistent with your company branding. Even though press releases seem like a formal event blasted through professional channels, they can still be fun. There are no rules here, and creativity is definitely welcome. In fact, a creative, fun headline may help your release standout, especially when a hard news angle isn’t particularly applicable.

Write the Header Last

When I write a press release, I use an ALL CAPs, nonsensical placeholder title, until it’s time to write the real thing. Once the full press release body is written, it’s then that I am able to summarize the story content and get a sense of its tone which is what a headline is supposed to do. It may seem counter-intuitive to work the header last, but it’s an almost necessary part of the press release writing process. A press release headline comes after the story, because if it’s written right, it contains a one-sentence summary of what’s to come.