By Jill Kurtz
Online Career Tips Editor
The press release is a tried-and-true way for people and organizations to share their news. It is easier than ever for anyone to publish releases via blogs or free distribution services like PRLog, which increases the competition to get a release noticed. With that in mind, there are several ways to increase the impact of a press release.
First, your release has to be about news. It’s that simple. There is no other valid reason to issue a press release. Neglecting to include valid news in a release will deter people from paying attention to your organization, so be sure to only issue releases with relevant news.
When you do have news to share, here are some ways to draw attention to your press release and get more engagement:
Pay attention to the words. Avoid organizational lingo and focus on using the words that your audience and customers use. Content must be meaningful and useful to your audience members if they’re going to share and amplify your message.
Be trendy. Research the topic of your release on Google and in social media. Make your release relevant to what people are talking about now.
Use links. Your press release should be a launching pad for a deeper dive into a topic. A great release has supporting website links, videos, images, etc.
Go beyond words. You need to have more than three paragraphs of text in order to engage. Use images to extend the reach of your messages into channels like Pinterest that require a visual element. Content that is visual is more likely to attract attention and be shared.
Make social sharing easy. Encourage on-the-spot social sharing. Include ShareThis or another social sharing tool on the website where you publish your release. If you have the option, pre-populate proposed nuggets for sharing.
Focus on the headline. Write a tweetable and sharable headline of 100 characters or fewer. Make every word count.
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