How to Improve Credibility and Authority with a Press Release
There are many types of content that can help improve your business credibility and authority. These two characteristics are important because they not only help establish your brand and reputation, they’re also buying triggers. We buy from people who believe to be credible experts and authority figures in their industry.
A press release is a useful form of content for many reasons. One of the more powerful reasons is that it can be used to improve credibly and authority. However, not all press releases accomplish this goal. There are clear and distinct characteristics of a professional press release that achieves this goal.
#1 Make Sure Your Release is Newsworthy
A press release that is written on a topic that appears to be irrelevant to your audience, and not timely or important, will be received as fluff. You can actually harm your professional image if you publish press releases that don’t have a newsworthy focus. “Newsworthy” means that the subject offers value, is timely, and is relevant to your industry and audience. For example, if you’re launching a new product or announcing the publication of a book, that’s newsworthy content.
#2 No Hype
Take a look around the web and you’ll find many press releases that read like sales pages. They are packed with offers, all caps formatting, and calls to action that implore readers to take action now. Hype is not news and it’s not appropriate for a press release. Stick to the structure and format of a professional press release. Answer the 5 W’s; who, what, where, when and why, and provide company contact information.
#3 Supporting Facts and Company Quotes
One of the ways you can demonstrate the newsworthiness of your release is to identify a problem in your industry. You can support the observation of the problem by finding supporting statistics. For example, if you’re launching a new book about dog training the problem you might identify is that 50% of dogs are surrendered for behavioral issues.
Other supporting facts and quotes can support your product or information as the solution. You might use quotes from customers or from people within your company. Continuing with the dog training book example, the author might be quoted as saying, “all it takes is 10 minutes a day and any dog can become a valuable and welcomed member of your family.”
Finally, make sure that your press release links are working and that your release has been proofread. Small mistakes can detract from the professionalism of the release and affect your credibility and authority.
