DOES THE PRESS RELEASE STILL MAKE SENSE IN A DIGITAL PR STRATEGY?

Yes.

The press release should not be regarded as a marginal tool, but is an integral part of the activity.

To say "the press release is dead" is profoundly wrong: perhaps we should say that the old concept of the press release for some businesses (e.g., startups) and in some industries is obsolete.

The communiqué, in fact, is simply a medium, but what matters is WHAT is written within it and HOW it is written.

This is precisely why it makes no sense to classify the press release as something to be trashed at the outset.

It all depends on how we use it and what we write inside it, how we tell the story of our project.

Let us then focus on how to write and expose, the focus that communication should have, and the keys to reading, also paying special attention to the title and the first paragraph.

And let's not forget that a press release written in the right way and conveyed in the right way, to the ideal target audience, can turn into not only the opportunity to get published in a media outlet, but also the opportunity to get new conversions (in the coming days I will post some case studies that I hope will be useful).

Here are 6 suggestions:

LET'S AVOID THE BUREAUCRATIC

If we want to tell about our entrepreneurial project, we avoid using "bureaucratese," the classic institutional and congealed forms: "OCTOBER 23 - MILAN - The CEO of company X declares etc."

NO!

Let's just try to focus on being able to communicate WHAT we do, HOW we do it, WHAT problem we solve, WHO we are, what numbers we have, what our goals are.

FOCUS AND FIRST PARAGRAPH: DESCRIPTION OF OUR PROJECT

If we are developing an innovation through our work, the main content of our communiqué must be precisely the explanation of this innovation.

Everything else will be "something more," but the journalist's attention will go to that information, because if he or she does not know you yet, it is the main parameter of evaluation.

"SHOW, DON'T TELL"

Forget formulas like "we are the market leaders," "we are the best."

Let's show the media and journalists that we really are the best (if we are), but without explicitly saying so: let's write and communicate the numbers we have (e.g., users/sales/turnover), let's let them talk about what our achievements were.

- This is the technique "show, don't tell" which is often applied in creative writing, but also comes in very handy in press releases -

And if we are still far from occupying a prominent position in the market, let's focus on something else (besides the main topic: that is, the explanation of what we are really doing and what problems we are going to solve): the entrepreneurial story? The fact that we are going to hire professional figures?

THE IMPORTANCE OF NON-SELF-REFERENTIAL PRESS RELEASES

In addition to self-referential press releases (which speak exclusively about our company), we always try to flank non-self-referential communications.

For example, if we operate in tourism and have data on hand to analyze (perhaps regarding a specific geographic area), it might be useful to try to reprocess this information to derive informative content to give to the media (obviously citing our company as the source).

- and here the more curiosity we can extrapolate, the better -

It has to be content that does not say "how good we are," but that positions us as an authoritative voice in a particular field.

This approach also helps us to develop a digital pr strategy in the long run (and today, at a time when any news has a very short 'life' indeed, it can be really useful).

INSERT CONTACT INFORMATION AT THE END OF THE STATEMENT

Don't forget to include our contact information at the end of the release so that the reporter can contact us quickly if he or she needs more information.

IF WE HAVE A VIDEO THAT TALKS ABOUT OUR PROJECT, WE INCLUDE THE LINK IN THE RELEASE

It often happens that journalists also request a supporting video, and including this information within our communication is extremely important.

Do you have a business or project and want to understand how Media Relations can help you? 

Contact us: [email protected]

RESOURCES: 
FREE PDF: "How to Contact Journalists: http://bit.ly/2HAuHY7
PR SCHOOL: https://prschool.it/
YOUTUBE CHANNEL (digital pr and media relations): http://bit.ly/2pVSVo7