Use Press Releases To Boost Awareness

Press releases have been known to launch entire businesses and bring in the cash, even when the company has virtually no money to spend on marketing. And, while you’ve probably seen lots of information on how to write a press release, there are a number of tricks to make your press releases more compelling and to increase their chances of getting published. Press releases—when done right—are powerful marketing weapons.

The first thing you need to remember about writing press releases is that they must contain factual information. Tie your press release to a recent or upcoming news event, or write about a major announcement from your company or organization that will draw attention.

Second, you must keep the message short. Make the press release just long enough to tell the facts of the story. Remember that it’s not a sales pitch or an advertisement, so it needs to communicate the point with as few words as possible.

Third, remember to broadcast press releases frequently, because effective press campaigns are ongoing, with an annual schedule of regular broadcasts to media outlets. Most publicity experts agree that one press release per month, usually broadcast around the same time each month, is the minimum.

Fourth, use the power of internet distribution to amplify your press releases reach. Using a service like PRWeb to distribute your PR will make sure your release shows up at places like Yahoo News, Google News and many more places online. We’ve had a press release displayed in over 30,000 places from this service. Here’s how it works…  
 
Media outlets look for news and stories that will appeal to the widest possible audience. The more your press release speaks to a wide variety of readers, viewers, or listeners, the more likely it is to be covered by media outlets. Not only that, but once you are featured in the news, the more you’ll attract new prospects to your products or services.
 
No matter what your product or service, your press release should be written so that both the editor and the ultimate reader or listener want to know more about the news you’ve provided. Include your contact information, additional newsworthy tips, photos, and short quotes that might lead an editor to interview you or compel a reader to respond.
 
Before you start writing, though, consider what you’ll do when editors and the public do respond. How will you field inquiries from editors or websites? What additional information will you have ready to email to them? What will you sell to people when they respond? These are all questions that must be answered before you launch your press release.

9 Elements

Randall Blaum and David Scotland at Marketing Experts International have identified 9 elements that need to be included in every successful press release.
 
1. Write “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” in all caps in the upper left-hand corner, just under your letterhead.
2. Headline and subheading.
3. Dateline. Write the city and state/province from which your press release is being issued.
4. Lead paragraph. Get right to the point in the first paragraph.
5. Main text or body. This is where you develop the message more fully.
6. Recap. Restate the main message of your release, including event information or product launch information.
7. Company boilerplate. List general information about you and your company (or a personal biographical statement if you are a consultant or a solo entrepreneur).
8. Contact information. List your contact name, title, email address, and corporate web address and phone number.
9. End or next page information. To end your press release, type the symbols ### in the center of the page after your last line of text. Or to indicate that another page follows, type the word –more - bracketed by hyphens.

For more on web based PR - I recommend PRtraffic.