The reality is that content is king – content that your database of clients, past clients and prospects want to read. Unfortunately, most companies miss the mark with their e-press releases. If your content falls in this category, it can have a negative impact on future open rates.
To help you craft and award winning e-press release, we have listed below a number of tips and suggestions to help you create an e-press release that is not only read, but also motivates your target audience to visit your website or take action.
11 Tips To Writing An Effective e-Press Release.
Tip #1) Create Content That Educates Your Target Audience: Your content needs to be value based – but it is critical to present it in an educational format.
Tip #2) Explain How You Can Solve Their Problems, Frustrations And Annoyances: The content you use should solve someone’s problems, frustrations and annoyances by giving them educational reports – an understanding of a particular product or service feature or access to a tool so they can make a better buying decision when buying what you sell.
Tip #3) Write A Subject Line That Motivates Someone To Open The e-Mail: First, e-press releases should come from your company, not a person. Second, your subject line should let the reader know this is a press release. A typical subject line may look like this: “FW: Press Release [insert subject matter here].”
Tip #4) Write An Inside Headline That Benefits The Reader: The headline within the body of your press release should tout a particular benefit to the reader. Use key words like “announce,” “strategies” and “professional” to motivate readers to learn more.
Tip #5) Write A Sub-Headline Within The Body Of The Content: There are two types of people who will read a campaign: Those that skim (about 80%) and those that read in detail (about 20%). Therefore, you need to make sure your content includes sub-headlines as it gives the majority of readers the complete story just by reading the headline and sub-headlines.
Tip #6) Insert A Picture To Add Another Dimension To The Content: Give your e-press release that extra level of attraction by adding a relevant picture to your campaign.
Tip #7) Write Your Content As A Third Party Person: When writing your campaign, write it as a third-person would write it, avoiding use of the word “we” – substitute it with your company name.
Tip #8) Add Quotes From Someone At Your Company: We always like to add a quote by the president of a company – it just gives the reader a level of personalization and confidence.
Tip #9) Add Hyperlinks To Your Website: Hyperlinks are a huge opportunity to get traffic to your website. But, the key is to add the link as a separate line in the copy – if you bury the link in the copy, most people will skim right over it.
Tip #10) Add A Hyperlink(s) To Download A Special Kit, Video, Whitepaper, Etc.: This is a hidden secret that many marketers forget to add in an e-press release. Let’s say you wrote a press release on a buyer’s guide in your industry. Add a visual image of the buyer’s guide that serves as a hyperlink and an additional hyperlink in the copy that reads, “Click here to download a free copy of this special buyer’s guide.”
Tip #11) Keep Your Content Brief: Remember, your press release should be a snippet of information. A good rule of thumb is having 200 to 350 words, as it will take the average reader 50 to 90 seconds to read.
Execute Summary:Although these tips may seem obvious, many marketing people tend to emulate the writing techniques used by a Fortune 500 Company. Remember, you are not Pepsi, Coke or GM so don’t try to copy what they do. Why? The answer is simple. They don’t care if their e-press releases are successful as they measure their “marketing success” based on their U.S. market share. For them, this is just another campaign to get off to their PR firm. 
