Press Release Writing – Can You Repurpose Old Press Releases?
Generally speaking it’s not a good idea to repurpose an old press release. By repurpose we’re talking about the old-school way of changing just enough words in the content to make it look original in the eyes of the search engine spiders.
There’s no benefit to doing this with the press release and you will harm your reputation with media outlets and journalists by regurgitating the same information over and over. However, there are some ways that you can make use of an old press release and get more mileage from it.
- Social Media Facts and Information.
Take a look at an old press release; are there key pieces of information in that release that are relevant to your audience today? For example, you might look at a press release you issued last month and notice facts and statistics that were reported in the release. That information might make a 140-character tweet. You might also create a quick image to convey that information and share it on Facebook.
You can do the same thing with the quotes in your press release. Take a look at your old press releases. Are there quotes from customers or industry influencers that you can share on social media? Again, you can share the quotes as a series of tweets, or you might make an image with each quote and share it on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest.
- Use It As A Template.
Old press releases can also be used as templates for future press releases. Take a look at the press releases you’ve issued in the past and sort them by two categories: the first category would be your most successful press releases; the second category would be press releases or similar types of news or information.
For example, you might find that you have five press releases that were very successful, and each of them talked about product launches. You can create a template product launch press release from these old press releases.
- Reuse Successful Key Features.
One way that you can repurpose old press releases is to copy the key features that were successful for you in the past. For example, you might have headlines that were very successful for you in the past – you can repurpose those headlines in future press releases by simply changing out a few keywords. The same is true for intro paragraphs and for your call to action. You can repurpose the sections in future press releases.
Finally, keep in mind that you can reuse the same press release structure that you have in the past. If you find a system that consistently provides the results you’re looking for, you can create a press release template from past releases. However, the old school way of repurposing content by changing 50% of the language isn’t a good idea. It won’t help you achieve your goals and may in fact harm your reputation.
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