Since the very early 1900’s press releases have remained a key element within the PR industry. However, even though the main purpose of press releases has more or less persisted, throw into the mix quirky PR campaigns, thrilling data-led stories and thought leadership, the competition to stand out to journalists has become much higher.
Thousands of press releases are created and distributed every day, and making rookie errors can ultimately jeopardise the success of your story or study.
The bottom line is, mistakes in a press release can not just cost you the chance of securing coverge, but can tarnish both your client’s and your reputation. To help avoid these blunders, we’ve gathered some of the most common press release mistakes and accompanied these with solutions.
Unclear formatting
Kicking off, we have unclear formatting. Press release formats can differ depending on preferences. However industry best practice dictates that the order should be:
- An enticing headline
- Stand-out information or statistics
- Introduction to study and the client
- Main body of information and results, including high-quality quotes
- Call-to-action (CTA)
- Research sources
- Contact information
- Notes to editor, including a brief overview of the brand
Failing to comply with a consistent and professional layout can certainly lower the initial standard of your press release. These elements can be as simple as checking line spacing, paragraph alignment, text choices and ensuring the structure is clear.
Solution: Having a clear strategy with consistent guidelines across the board will ensure accuracy amongst the team. Additionally, conducting a thorough review process that will allow time to check over work before distributing it to journalists would be beneficial to avoid unnecessary formatting mistakes.
Missing out relevant links
Digitalisation is slowly but surely dominating the online news landscape. Years ago, links would have been non-existent in writing a press release. However, links are imperative to any press release in the current age.
For the release to gain an optimal reach, support SEO objectives, drive conversions and leads and generate brand awareness, the release must include a credible link back to the intended website.
Solution: There is always a space to add a link in a press release. A good way to do this is creating an accompanying blog which includes further information on the research or story. This way, you can successfully and subtly direct the reader to a source of high-quality information directly on your website. Essentially generating new users to the intended website and improving online visibility.
Failure to include contact and ‘about’ information
A key element that can be missed on a press release is the inclusion of relevant contact and brand information. Ensuring contact details are clear for the reader near the end of the press release is a great way to ensure a journalist can get in touch if needed.
A brand summary is also a useful piece of additional information to add to the ‘notes to editor’ space. This can be helpful to give the journalist some quick background knowledge on the brand without taking the time to search for it.
Solution: A quick and simple way to guarantee you’ll always add in this information is to create boilerplates that can be used across each client’s press release. That way, there’s no need to write this every time you create a release.
Forgetting SEO optimization
In today’s digital marketing landscape, creating content which is filled with specific keywords is beneficial for SEO purposes, including the correct use of citations, links, and image descriptions are also important. Likewise, high-quality content remains a dominating factor in producing quality backlinks from high-authority, credible sources.
Solution: Build your press release around the keywords you want to rank for. Conducting thorough keyword research will ensure the highest-quality keyword choices are targeted within the release. However, don’t make the mistake of keyword stuffing. This can appear spammy, and Google could penalise your website and possibly remove it from its index.
Appearing salesly
here’s a fine line between talking about your brand as part of the release and it being the dominating topic. Everyone wants to put their brand on a pedestal, but a press release isn’t the place to do this. Instead, if the release appears too salesy and biased, journalists may be inclined to pass on using the content.
Solution: Be very aware when writing a press release to balance the mention of the brand and the actual news or project. Tell a story with an outcome, and explain what the brand has done as opposed to how fantastic the brand is.
Not making it newsworthy
This seems like an obvious one, right? But actually, this can be a common mistake. Not all news is ‘newsworthy’, and not all company news will be considered worthy for readers.
Solution: Make sure when developing the press release that what you’re writing about puts the ‘new’ in news. It’s vital the content is punchy and relevant and will add value to readers in some way. Amongst the data or information being presented, ensuring the release tells a story and provides an outcome will create a higher appeal for journalists. Keep the facts to the point, tailor the content to relevant target audiences, and create content that will interest specific industry titles and chosen media outlets.
Not personalising the content
When positioning a press release for a specific media vertical, particular audience types, or even for a certain group of contacts. Wherever you can tweak a release to tap into an intended reader directly, instead of sending a slightly broader adaptation, is advantageous.
Solution: Differentiate the content between your intended audiences. Certain press releases may need specific adaptations to suit a target media group or different audiences. For example, a press release which presents unique regional data could be adapted and made more direct to each region with just a few small changes.
Not including media
Including a media attachment within the press release is advantageous. Although not imperative, it’s helpful for journalists. Accompanying media can also add an extra unique quality. If a graphic has been specifically designed to help readers visualise the data within the release, this can help your story stand out from the crowd!
Solution: An image can be a great way to add a unique quality to a press release and can equally intrigue readers. Once a release is drafted, consider what supporting assets would add value to the content. For example, would it be a simple image, an infographic, or even a short video.
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