Communications is one of those disciplines that touches pretty much all aspects of a business: thought-leadership, branding, media relations, reputation management, earned media, social media, content marketing, lead generation and so much more.
PR can even boost your SEO.
In a demand generation strategy, your communications team and their press release expertise are essential for success.
As Corporate Communications: Demand Generation’s New, Indispensable Resource points out, “Press releases can be used to engage an audience beyond journalists, including prospects, customers and industry influencers, often exactly the audiences that marketers want to bring into the larger demand-generation framework.”
But your standard press release isn’t going to do the trick.
To promote a blog post, white paper, or other piece of marketing content, the entire press release must be reconsidered.
Traditionally, press releases have focused on sharing company news with journalists and earning media coverage. In contrast, a press release written for prospective and current customers must sell (for lack of a better word) readers on the need to click over to the content you’re promoting.
Content marketing releases must tell convincing stories, convey topical authority and convert. Pay attention to these 12 things when writing a press release for your demand gen content.
1. Audience: You’re not writing a content press release for journalists. Your target audience includes potential customers and influencers – the same audience as the content you’re promoting. Write directly to them and focus on what they care about. Don’t know where to start? Answer these 15 questions to uncover your audience’s needs.
2. Purpose: Like any good writing, start your content press release with “why” the reader should care about your topic. Hook them before telling them how your content will help.
3. Headline: Press release headlines should always be concise; however, it’s especially important with content marketing press releases. Keep it short and snappy like a strong blog post headline – easy to tweet and intriguing enough that readers will want to click it. Check out Do Your Headlines Measure Up? for headline writing tips and examples.
4. Brand name: Your brand has authority; be sure to mention who the content is from. Do this in the headline/subheadline or the first mention of the content title in your press release’s body.
5. Calls to action: CTAs can be a major missed opportunity in any kind of press release, but if you are promoting a piece of content, this miss will absolutely defeat your press release’s point. Learn how to write compelling calls to action with our CTA quick tips.
6. Link placement: Offer a link to your target content in the first or second paragraph. Many people don’t read more than a few lines of – well, anything. Give them an opportunity to click through to your content early on in the release. And don’t forget to use a link that properly tracks conversions and attributes channel performance.
7. Discoverability: Make sure your press release will be found by the audience you seek. The rules of wise SEO apply here like any other content written for the web. Follow these 5 rules for content discoverability to give your release an extra boost.
8. Give something away: Your press release should set the stage for the valuable content you’re promoting. Offer a couple of good nuggets — insights or tips – that are related to the in-depth information your promoted content provides. But…
9. Don’t give all of it away: The goal is to get your audience to click on your content link and convert. Give away just enough information that you leave them wanting more.
10. Visuals: Supplement your press release’s story with graphics and other multimedia. It’s been proven again and again that people are more likely to view and share content with images. The same has been shown for press releases, with a mix of multiple images and video making the biggest impact.
11. End with a reminder: Because readers may overlook your first call to action, include at least one more mention of it. The last thing in the body of your press release should be a link to the content you’re promoting.
12. Distribution: Last but not least, carefully consider your release’s distribution options. Remember, you’re writing this for your target audience, not traditional media. A premium web distribution is likely the best option; however, this guide to picking the best content promotion tool can help narrow down your choices.
Done correctly, press releases can play an important role in a demand generation strategy by creating awareness, reaching new audiences, driving traffic and converting leads.
By providing information and content that your target audience seeks, your corporate communications team can help marketing impact the bottom line.
To learn more about PR’s critical role in demand generation success, download PR Newswire’s paper Corporate Communications: Demand Generation’s New, Indispensable Resource.
Author Victoria Harres is vice president, strategic communications and content at PR Newswire. Her team leads social media, PR, creative and blogging for the brand. Vicky was the original twitterer on @PRNewswire and continues to be part of that crew. If she’s not at her desk, you’ll likely find her in the garden.
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