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awesomtech-blog · 8 years ago

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9 ways to improve the ROI of your press release

1 - Stop thinking it’s all about you

2 - Know why you’re sending out a press release in the first place

3 - Be interesting

4 - Be on top of the news cycle

5 - Mind your language

6 - Don’t nag

7 - Treasure what little space you have

8 - Not all coverage is created equal

9 - Own what you earn

There are plenty of opinions out there as to how to write an effective press release.

What’s the core message? Who should be quoted? Who should it be sent to? When should it go out? What to say in the headline, kicker, email-body, first and second pars?

But as any experienced journalist will tell you, the majority of press releases they receive are of no interest whatsoever.

In fact, a sizable proportion are so off the mark as to invite scorn, derision, and worst of all ridicule, especially when an agency representative actually calls a journalist about that press release that’s already wasted part of their valuable time.

I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve been in a newsroom laughing with my colleagues about this or that press release that has come through revealing the sender obviously didn’t have a clue.

More on that later.

So, here’s my top 9 tips on how to craft a press release with maximum impact and appeal, that gives you the best chance of being picked up.

1 - Stop thinking it’s all about you

A press release should be thought of in terms of what the media would find important and / or interesting at a particular point in time, rather than something a company thinks is important to say.

Of course, there are always going to be companies that command media attention no mater what they’re announcing. If you’re not sure whether your brand has this kind of power, then it probably doesn’t.

In which case, just because you think you have something to say, doesn’t mean an editor or journalist will care. In other words, try to stop thinking abut your press release as being about you.

2 - Know why you’re sending out a press release in the first place

What does your client want to say?

Does the announcement pertain to something that will affect change? Examples include a new product or service offering a better, cheaper or faster way to do something. Does the product have major implications for the market it occupies, such as taking market share from key rivals?

Can the announcement be used as a means of having your client be part of a current conversation? In this example, it might make more sense to angle the press release in terms of what a client’s CEO – or other senior executive – has to contribute to any conversations, and then couching an actual product announcement in this context.

As anyone who’s worked in PR will tell you, sometimes a client will simply decide to send out a press release because they want media attention. “Rival company X has been all over the news lately so we need to get a press release out there. What should we say?’, is a common statement that reflects common misconceptions about the media.

Another example is when a local subsidiary decides – or is instructed – to distribute a global announcement to local media. Often, it’s quite difficult to do and requires proper thought and consultation with local staff (marketing, sales, product development) but most importantly local customers and other local spokespeople to give the story context.

It can be a very bad idea if you’re merely sending out a global press release with a local dateline. See below ‘Be on top of the news cycle’.

3 - Be interesting

An important question you need to ask is what is it about your announcement that a journalist and / or an editor will find interesting? Often this is different to what you or your client thinks is interesting.

A great example is when a company has conducted research in its own core markets. This happens all the time and is often an important means to gain important insights into the effectiveness of current strategies and how to improve upon them. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the press will be interested.

For starters, what many companies don’t understand (and this is especially directed at marketing and communications professionals) is that good journalists typically spurn research that’s not genuinely independent. It’s hard enough for a commercial organisation to position itself as an authority about anything anyway, and spruiking your own research certainly won’t help unless it is.

On the other hand, your client’s senior managers can be the hook you need, depending on their CV and / or personal communication skills. Is there an opportunity to present someone as an influencer?

Try to secure the most senior person representing your client to speak with journalists in your jurisdiction. Also try to source at least one local customer prepared to be quoted in the press release, and ideally to speak to journalists on the record as well.

If you haven’t bothered to take more than a cursory look at what a particular journalist, editor or publication is writing about, then you don’t deserve their attention.

Accepting this is a crucial first step: journalists don’t care about who you think you are. More on this below under ‘Mind your language’.

4 - Be on top of the news cycle

Journalists have traditionally been ‘time-poor’. But now with the rise of the internet, 24/7 news and social media they have become ‘time-starved’.

Make sure you understand the areas your target journalists are interested in. What they’ve been writing about will give you a pretty good idea of what they might be interested in the future.

Also consider how busy your target journalists are likely to be covering current events / announcements. And try to get an understanding of what features / long-form stories your target journalists might be writing about too.

And always remember that journalists are not all that concerned about where they get their information, provided it’s useful and factually-correct.

Adopting these principles will also help you make a global press announcement relevant to the media you’re targeting.

At the end of the day, if you’re unable to provide a local angle for a global press release, you and your client are better off not to send it out at all. And FYI, simply changing the dateline doesn’t cut it.

The dateline is usually the first information after the headline and stand-first that indicates the origins of a story:

SYDNEY, 24 April, 2017 -

But if this is the only ‘localised’ information, your release is likely to be ignored, while planting doubts in the mind of the journalist / editor as to the sincerity and authenticity of your client. In other words, achieving the opposite result to that which was intended.

So think carefully about the different options

But there are several ways for you to turn that global announcement into something that resonates with the local media. Here are a few:

- Ask the client whether there are any local customers that might be willing to be quoted and / or interviewed to comment. This will make is easier for the journalist to understand the announcement in terms of their readership.

- Try to frame the press release in the context of current events. For instance, you might have a client announcing a new version of accountancy software shortly before the start of a new financial year.

5 – Mind your language: Bad words, Headlines, kickers and ‘quotes’

Journalists and editors generally have a reputation for being cynical, jaded and rude.

And to a certain extent that’s fair. But what’s often left out of conversations about PR and the media is that they receive an inordinate number of press releases on a daily basis, most of which will be dismissed as irrelevant, opportunistic, or both.

Bad words

One of the key reasons for this is overuse of words that good journalists try not to use. Here’s my list of the worst:

- Excited – Journalists generally don’t warm to anyone who is excited, especially people selling things.

- Pleased / Happy – Not a definite no-no, but you need to be careful. It’s sufficient to simply say ‘Company X has appointed / released / delivered, etc

- World First: Unless you’re 100 percent confident in making this statement, don’t.

- Leading – A good journalist will be able to ascertain what exactly you are ‘leading’ in.

Of course, if you’re able to include content that verifies your claim, by all means use it. This might be a comment from reputed analysts watching your market, or a testimonial from a current or recent client.

Also, try to use the ‘active’ instead of ‘passive’ voice. In active voice, the subject performs the action of the key verb.

Eg, WidgetTech has bought GadgetCom

‘Passive voice’ is when the noun of an active sentence becomes the subject.

Eg, GadgetCom has been bought by WidgetTech

If you’ve got something to say that genuinely warrants a press release, tell it as straight as possible.

Headlines and kickers

Headlines have two primary functions: to carry the core message; and to capture attention. The best headlines do both, while being entertaining as well is a rare feat.

The best editors can take hours, even days, to find the perfect headline for stories so don’t be discouraged if you’re not happy with your first few attempts. Just remember, the better your headline the more likely your message.

The ‘kicker’ refers to the words that appear under the headline - as you’re accustomed to see in magazine articles – designed to provide a short snappy summary of what the story is about. It’s not essential that your press release have a kicker, however, the process for crafting them is similar to that you’ll use in writing the subject-line of the email carrying your press release.

Quotes

Another important consideration is how your spokespeople are quoted in your press release.

I’ve seen time and time again press releases that place inverted commas around words that a normal person wouldn’t actually say, don’t actually mean anything or both.

Don’t think of it as an exercise in ‘padding out’ the press release. Rather, the ‘quotes’ in your press release are just as important for supporting and conveying your message as anything else written in your release.

If done well (ie. omitting the words noted above), a journalist will be far more likely to reproduce the quotes in their actual story, making it occupy more space (‘lines’ in digital and ‘column inches’ in print) and with more mentions of your brand name.

6 - Treasure what little space you have

The email subject line is your most important real estate when broadcasting a press announcement, as this is where a journalist decides whether to even open an email or not.

Next is the body of the email. This should provide a short, sharp summary of the announcement, who is available to comment and at what times. You might also include attachments such as of supporting information like independent research. This should all be explained succinctly in the email. And never attach images to a press release email. Simply note that they are available upon request.

Another thing that will help an editor to more quickly digest what your release is about is to short bullet points, either above the man text of your press releases or in a separate breakout box, usually about a third of the way down on the right.

Also important to get right is the ‘boiler plate’, which is the description of what your client does at the very end of the press release. This should be written in a more prosaic, matter-of-fact way that makes it easier for the journalists to understand, and convey to their readers, what it is you actually do.

7 - Don’t nag

Don’t ever ring a journalist about a press release. This is one of their top pet hates.

By all means, send a follow-up email. But don’t bother a journalist on the phone unless you already have a good relationship with them, and / or you know for sure it’s something they would want to know about and you believe they may have simply missed it.

It’s a mistake that agencies frequently make, made worse by the fact it’s often a junior who’s given the task of following up with a journalist, which invariably adds to their typically long list of tasks and frustrations, in some cases doing damage to your brand.

8 - Not all coverage is created equal

Achieving positive press coverage is no mean feat, especially in today’s dynamic and noisy digital media environment. Not only does it send a strong message to your existing and prospective clients and the market, but it can also capture the attention of other journalists who need to be on top of the news agenda, including what their rivals are reporting on.

But before a company starts congratulating itself for ‘getting in the media’, it’s important to understand what that coverage might achieve.

Trade publications targeting specific professional groups likely to have positions of influence within an organisation’s target market can be an effective means of diving sales.

In these cases, it’s important that you do everything you can to control the message. Why would this audience care about your announcement? How does it help them do their jobs better?

Ensuring that your target editor / journalist has all of the important facts and arguments pertaining to your announcement will ensure that, while it may not be thousands - or even hundreds - of people that read the story, those that do will have the information they need should they be in the market for what it is you offer.

That said, it’s becoming more common for trade publications to turn press releases into small stories just to fill space, either online or in print. Often they are consigned to the bottom of newsletters, web pages and margins of magazines and newspapers, which typically garner less attention. This is important to note for companies paying external PR agencies to get them in the press. Some coverage can be of relatively low value.

Positive mainstream press coverage on the other hand is the holy grail of media, as it can tick all of the boxes for media coverage, alerting prospective and existing customers in your market, triggering envy within your competitors, as well as capturing the attention of the wider media. It’s also more likely to be shared.

Getting your brand name out there in the wider public domain can be a very powerful means of promoting it, say as an ‘employer of choice, or a leader in corporate social responsibility. Maybe you’re looking to attract investors and / or new business partners. Or you want to tell the market about something that separates you from your rivals.

So before you stamp your press release as having been a success, be sure to consider where and in what way was coverage achieved.

9 - Own what you earn

One of the biggest wasted opportunities with traditional public relations strategies was the lack of follow-up.

Once coverage was achieved, an agency would pull together all of the clippings, send a report and then that signaled the end of the campaign.

Perhaps the client feels if a journalist goes to the trouble of writing a story about them they’d get back in touch if they wanted to write another.

These days we refer to positive media as ‘earned content’, now among the most-valuable marketing assets a company can possess, and exactly the sort of content companies should be using to feed their various social media – as well as traditional – channels.

Keeping this in mind will help to maintain everyone’s attention after the ‘holy grail’ of press coverage has been achieved, and how that coverage might be used to generate more web traffic, more enquiries and ideally more sales leads.

This will make it much easier for companies to understand their ROI when it comes to spending on PR and communications.

And lets’ face it, that’s something most organisations need a little help with.

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awesomtech-blog · 11 years ago

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Video drives clickthrough, engagement and sharing, says Comscore

Marketers who use video in email get better clickthrough, longer engagement, increased sharing, better conversion rates and ultimately greater sales, according to industry analyst ComScore. The group’s recent customer survey revealed 71 percent of consumers feel that video is the best way to bring product features to life.

One of the biggest hurdles for marketing executives seeking budget for corporate video is the thorny old question of who will actually watch it. However, with the rise of large-screen mobile devices, faster mobile processors and zippy mobile broadband networks, the potential audience for video is growing dramatically.

According to the Virginia-based digital analytics firm, 72.1 million US smartphone users watched video on their devices at least monthly last year. This is expected to rise to 86.8 million — more than a quarter of the US population — this year. Looking at mobile devices and desktops combined, Americans each watched an average of 19 hours of video just in the one month of December 2013, ComScore reports.

An emerging body of research reveals some fascinating insights into human behaviour around video.

For instance, online jewellery retailer Ice.com found that shoppers who chose to view video converted at a rate 400 per cent over those who did not. The company also attributes a 25 per cent drop in product returns to more buyers viewing video before loading up their carts.

Retail industry news site Retail Touchpoints recently published its own research, reporting that shoppers who viewed video were 174 per cent more likely to buy than viewers who did not.

And New York-based market analyst eMarketer report more than 50 per cent of 25–54-year-olds share video online. Well might we say: forget word of mouth.

The fact that consumers are increasingly making decisions about in-store purchases based on their experiences online adds further weight to the argument for quality online video.

Emarketer reports that online video is the fastest-growing ad format, increasing over 50 per cent in 2012 alone, with the world’s top 50 retailers all moving quickly to add product and other sorts of videos to their marketing arsenals. But despite the evidence that video can greatly bolster email campaigns, the firm notes only one in four marketers are actually using the medium in this context, with over 40 per cent of them citing the lack of available content as the key barrier. Compounding their frustration, over 50 per cent of marketing professionals worldwide cite video as the content format delivering the best ROI.

While most marketers would probably be surprised at the scale of video’s influence with online shoppers, the idea that well-made and entertaining videos of products they’re thinking of buying should encourage them to splash is a bit of a no brainer.

But for those companies facing the challenge of better marketing for more complex goods and services, there’s something leading psychologists have been saying for half a century that has particular resonance today.

The pointy heads were right

50 years ago Allan Paivio, Professor of Psychology at the University of Western Ontario, developed dual-coding theory, which basically says that when information is delivered with audio and visual data, the recipient has two distinct channels to draw on when retrieving it. He maintained that the combination of video and audio results on average in an audience retaining close to 70 per cent of information after 72 hours, compared with just 10 per cent when information is presented as text.

For those marketing executives and bean counters locking horns over whether to make a real investment in video content, that’s definitely something worth remembering.

About the author

David Binning is the founder and principal director of AwesomTech Public Relations and DB Media, a digital content production house.

- See more at: http://which-50.com/blog/2014/july/11/video-drives-clickthrough-engagement-and-sharing-says-comscore/#.U-gS0PmSwiU

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