1. Press Release Writing Tactics: 2014 Update
February 2014

2. Introduction & Overview
What we’ll cover:
 Today’s digital
media realities
 Real world
examples with
tactical highlights
 Extreme press
release makeover!
 Q&A

3. Is your PR content:
Published in a responsive
design environment?
Created with small
screens in mind?
Useful for journalists who
are developing content
their audiences (who are
also demonstrating these
characteristics?)

6. The research starts online, and it starts with search engines.

7. However, social is more
important than you may
think and these
numbers indicate.

8. SearchMetrics

9. Social media popularity absolutely informs search
engine rankings & drives overall online visibility.

10. People consuming your content on mobile devices
are ready to act.
Source: iAcquire

11. Digital media realities:
1. Your messages are competing
with people’s coworkers, spouses
and the Internet’s cutest kittens baby
animals for attention. [But we are
consuming more digital media
throughout the day, so you have a
better shot at getting our attention.]
2. Content that isn’t read won’t
have a shot at conveying branding
or building awareness.
3. Social media popularity
dictates a lot of what we see.

12. Some other things we need to re-think:
 Timing
 Objectives
 Visuals
 Measurement
 Timelines

13. Timing: is the launch dead?

14. Social sharing is an outcome.

15. CVS fueled social sharing & extended news coverage with a
snappy headline, great CEO quote & lots of visuals.

16. Quotes can humanize a brand and create social traction.

17. The role of the visual is myriad:
 Visuals get people to read
your story
 Good visuals can drive news
coverage
 Fuel social sharing
 Increase visibility on search
engines & social networks
 Find audiences where text
alone cannot (Pinterest,
YouTube, Instagram)
CNN ran b-roll from CVS on its web
site.

19. Press releases can do more than generate media. They
can generate leads. You just have to pay attention.

20. Unequivocal
headline
Multiple visuals
including a
demo
Call to action!
Download here!
SocialRadar

21. Writer anticipates
reader questions
Bullets and bold
highlight key
points
Social links invite
interaction

22. An experiment
In November, I issued a handful of press
releases to promote blog posts published
on Beyond PR
(http://blog.prnewswire.com.)
The objective: Develop a better understanding of how links
functioned in press releases.
Method: One unique, trackable URL was embedded in the
second or third paragraphs of the press releases.
Here are the results.

23. Press release with a trackable URL embedded

24. Hundreds of sites syndicated the story – and the
embedded link

25. To date the URL has generated 443 clicks.

26. Since November, the press releases issued to
promote blog posts tallied 1,500 clicks on the
trackable URLs embedded in each.
These are new readers we otherwise would
not have reached.

27. EXTREME
MAKEOVER
Press Release Edition

28. Before:

29. Provocative headline draws
readers in. Subhead adds
more detail
Lead paragraph starts with
an interesting statement, not
boilerplate.
Bold font and provocative
section heads draw readers’
eyes in, and build more
attention.
Restrained use of links
directs readers to a specific
call to action.

30. All boilerplate
material, event
information and branding
(except the mention in
the subhead) are moved
to the bottom of the
release. The highervalue real-estate at the
top of the message is
solely devoted to gaining
and keeping reader
interest.

31. Readers’ eyes move over a web page in an F-shaped pattern
Source: Nielsen Norman Group

33. F the press release!
By which I mean this: structure your
content to fit the path your readers’
eyes naturally take as they scan a
page.
(Not that any other thought popped into your
heads. Certainly not.)

34. Every element of your message needs to drive to your objective, e.g. driving
traffic to a web site, getting people to register, or inspiring media coverage.

35. Ask yourself why you’re using
each word and phrase in the news
releases you write …. and be sure
the answer is “To gain and keep
reader attention and direct them
toward a specific action.”

36. Headlines
Write the headline you want
to see on the article in a
target publication.
Write a headline that is
interesting enough to tweet.
Is Chip and Pin the Answer to
Retail Security? SecureState
Offers Advice for Industry
After Massive Target and Neiman Marcus
Breaches, Retailers Look to Tech to Solve their Woes
CLEVELAND, Jan. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In the days
following news that Target's compromise was much larger than
originally reported, affecting 110 million customers opposed to
70 million, retailer Neiman Marcus announced that they too
were hacked. What followed was a rash of security and retail
experts offering up chip and pin technology as a solution to this
problem.

37. Links:
No extraneous links. You don’t need a link to your
company home page in the first sentence.
Employ links strategically. Links should not dilute
the reader’s attention away from the message’s
mission.
Never ever ever link to the same URL more than
once within your message. Never.
Links are a reader service, not an SEO trick or
means to drive traffic to a web site.

38. Structure your message to keep and retain interest.
 Don’t put anything that could slow down your reader between
the headline and the action you want.
• Dump the speed bump! Keep boilerplate where it belongs!
 Use bold text to highlight and set off paragraph heads within the
message. Be sure the paragraph heads call attention to specific,
interesting information.
• Tip: use them to highlight different topic angles or facts.
• Another tip: envision them as tweets.
 Use bullet points or a numbered list to highlight related tips, facts,
etc. and to break up endless blocks of text.
 Embed a link to a video or other interesting asset two/thirds of the
way down (after your original call to action) to refresh reader interest
if it’s flagging, and to provide more relevant information.

39. Thank you!
Twitter: @sarahskerik
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/sarahskerik
Blog: http://blog.prnewswire.com/author/sarahskerik