3 Ways to Rethink Your Press Release - with rethinking strategies

You can feel like you can hear it as soon as you hit the ‘send’ button on an email you sent a reporter that contained your lasted press release; the all-encompassing laughter when said reporter opens the email and sends you a response. Or worse, they don’t respond at all.

Reasons Why Press Releases Aren’t Taken Seriously

3 Ways to Rethink Your Press Release © adiruch / fotolia.com Either way, you feel like that reporter isn’t taking your press release as seriously as you hoped -- if at all – even though the subject matter it contained wasn’t meant to be a joke. You feel defeated. It’s hard not to when you were trying to be serious and that’s not how you are being taken.

Though it might be hard not to feel like you’ve been knocked down, try not to get discouraged, and instead, take it as an opportunity to learn a lesson. There’s a reason – or several reasons – whey your press release isn’t being taken seriously. There are a number of reasons why your press release might not be taken by the parties you have sent it to the way that you intended for them to take it. Some of the top reasons include:

• It’s not newsworthy. The whole point of a press release is to highlight pertinent, trending news. If your release isn’t newsworthy, it stands to reason that it isn’t going to be taken seriously. If you are sending your press release to a reporter, why would he or she share it if it isn’t news?
• It wasn’t edited. A press release is supposed to demonstrate your authority in your industry. If you didn’t take the time to edit it and it’s filled with a bunch of grammatical errors and typos, then it shows reporters that you aren’t an authority. They want to report on the most authoritative news. A sloppy, unedited press release is anything but respected.
• It doesn’t make sense. Another reason why your press releases may not be taken seriously is because they just don’t make sense. You’ve crammed all of your information into the press release, but in a manner that is confusing and difficult to follow.
• It doesn’t contain key information. A press release has to contain all of the most pertinent pieces of information. If you’re opening a new store, for example, it should include the name of the shop, the location, the date it will open, the time, and what it has to offer. If you leave any of these tidbits out, reporters aren’t going to find it very valuable.

Rethinking Your Press Release

​Fortunately, you don’t have to be the laughing stock of the entire office when you sent out your press release. By thinking outside the box and taking the time and effort to make your press release shine, not only will you grab the attention of your email recipient, but you’ll also grab the attention of your targeted audience.

In addition to making sure that you attend to the information highlighted above, here are three simple, yet highly effective ways that you can rethink your press release and make it a smashing success… and in turn, boost the success of your business, too.

1. Make sure you’re concise. Make sure your press release is concise and to the point. You want to include all of the most important information, but you don’t want it to drag on. The longer your press release is, the less readable it is because, let’s face it, the general public has a pretty short attention span.
   The shorter your press release is the better. It should be no longer than two pages, though one is preferable. Attend to the most important points right in the first paragraph so that readers will quickly understand the point of your release. This will increase the changes that reporters will actually take the time to read through the entire document.
2. Press Release © Zerbor / fotolia.com Make it Newsworthy. Yes, this was one of the points mentioned above, but it really needs to be addressed as a way to rethink your press release. Why? – Because too many people simply don’t ensure that their releases contain information that is, well, news. Instead, they regurgitate the same information that has been said over and over again. Before you send out a press release, ask yourself if the information it contains is something that you would want to know if you weren’t associated with the company. If you can answer ‘yes’ to that question, than send it out! If your answer is ‘no’, then you need to rethink the topic of your press release to make it more newsworthy.
3. Make it stand out. Lastly, you want to make sure that your press release stands out. Remember: journalists receive dozens of press releases a day. If you want to make sure that you’re doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, you have to make it pop. How can you make your press release stand out from the crowd? Include hard facts, quotes and statistics when and if applicable. This will add validity to your release. The more authoritative a release is, the more attention it is going to draw. You can also add charts, graphs and any other pertinent images that correspond with your content and add value to your press release. Remember: the more valuable a press release is, the more likely it will grab the attention of the journalists you send it to – as well as your targeted audience when your piece is published.

Writing a captivating, engaging press release that reporters will take seriously might seem like a difficult task. However, if you just rethink the process instead of over thinking it, you’ll have a much better chance of getting noticed, being picked up, and being published.

And of course, your entire goal is to have your press release shared with the public so that you can improve your reach, attract more attention, and boost the success of your business.