The news release has become one of the most extensible tools in the realm of communications. First introduced in the early 1900’s, its longevity and ability to morph with the times is truly remarkable. For decades news releases were the preferred tool to communicate with media and were written to meet strict journalistic standards. Today, the simple news release works harder than ever, speaks to more audiences and has the capacity to carry a heavy load in terms of messaging and direct results.
More likely than not, you’ve tapped into the power of the news release to give your company or product a boost in credibility and to help spread the word. However, are you making the best use of your news releases and giving them their due strategic consideration?
Freedom Through the Internet
Once the internet became woven into our everyday lives, it completely altered the nature of news releases. Now freed from their captive role as a tool for the press only, news releases are readily available, directly and unfiltered to the end-reader. News releases distributed through newswire services are blasted around the globe as they are posted on numerous sites and appear in search results from Google, Yahoo, Bing and others.
Like an actor who steps out of character to address the audience directly, the news release is directly speaking to the public.
Of course you know all this – but have you really thought about it? And more importantly, are you crafting your news releases with a strategic eye? Are you leveraging their immense potential, while balancing the message and packaging them to meet your goals?
Step One – Create Your M.A.P.
Once you have considered these 3 simple fundamentals, you’re ready for step two:
Message: What do you want to say? This is where you determine the content for your news release and make a judgment on its merit, relevance and value to your company image.
Audience: Who do you want to reach: customers, prospects, investors, employees, community, channel partners, or industry players? Is this an announcement that has a media market and can best be communicated through the press?
Purpose: What is it you are trying to achieve? Are you promoting a product, gaining corporate stature, establishing a claim by going on record, generating attendance at an event, creating and becoming part of the discussion on a topic, setting the industry agenda, and so forth?
Step Two – Create a Powerful Communications Mix
With your M.A.P. in hand, you’ll be able to easily consider some of the most popular approaches to devising news releases.
Hard news release: You know this one well as this is the most traditional of all approaches. You’ve got a new executive, new product, new channel program, and it is hard news. Who, what, when, why and how are the main elements.
Soft news release: While not as pervasive as the hard news release, the soft news release (also called a perspective or feature release) can be highly effective but requires much more strategy. It is the no news release where you package your story within the context of trends or issues. You write it as if you are crafting a feature story and the sponsoring company (that’s you) is sometimes not introduced until the second or third paragraph. These pieces are great collateral for your key audiences and also serve to promote the issues and how your company should be treated in such stories by the media.
Sidebar news release: Designed to have a long shelf life, these releases support a larger story and can be used by media as a sidebar. Tips, how-to’s, brief histories, etc. are the traditional fare.
Experiential news release: You got it – news releases that include video, photos, illustrations and such. Depending upon your subject, these can be incredibly powerful. And with the popularity of video at an all time high, this is a good way to use this medium. If a photo is worth a thousand words then video is surely worth a billion words.
These three approaches can then be augmented with the latest in techniques:
Traffic building – It is easy to have your news release connect the reader back to the source. Using hyperlinks in the body, your web site or specific page is just a click away. Instant gratification!
Being found – SEO (search engine optimization) for news releases is really not as complicated as many have made it out to be. A mixture of keywords that are relevant to your news and ensuring your news release is posted on a popular site such as GlobeNewswire or Business Wire will do the trick.
Getting Personal – The social news release is now here. We always talk about getting a share of voice and now you can get personal and have a conversation with your readers. Blogs, podcasting, and more are in play and getting people talking (or at least clicking their keyboards!).
Take the Challenge and Get More Out of Your News Releases
There’s nothing better and more cost effective than a well packaged news release to get your story out to those you care most about. The individual news release can pack a punch like no other. And best of all, when you view your releases collectively, over a period of time, the story just gets stronger and stronger.
The mighty news release just keeps getting better. Go ahead… if you haven’t done so already, test out the power of today’s news release.