Tips to Increase Engagement for Your Press Release
There are a variety of goals for a press release. You may want to drive traffic to your site. Your primary goal may be to get media coverage. Or your goal may be to boost awareness of your brand. Regardless of your goal, the more engagement you have with your press release, the better your results. When writing and planning your next press release, keep these tips and tactics in mind to increase engagement.
- Write for Your Audience – Whether your audience is your existing customers, prospects, or the media, make sure that the “news” you’re sharing impacts them and is relevant. What do they value? How does your story connect with them or affect their lives? Make sure that the content in your press release connects with the people you’d like to engage with.
- Include Search Optimized Images – People engage with content that has images more than twice as often as content without. Don’t believe it? Try issuing a press release without images and then one with images. You’ll see the difference. We’re a visual society and prefer content that includes images. Make sure your images are relevant to your news and that they’re optimized for search.
- Leverage Video – Your audience loves videos, and it’s a perfect device to use in a press release. And did you know that reporters and journalists are more likely to cover a story if the press release contains video? You can link to longer videos and embed short videos right into your press release. Short videos should be less than three minutes long. Use a service like Vimeo or YouTube and make sure your press release distribution service supports embedded video.
- Leverage Social Media – Distribute your press release on social media. You can use the social media features and functions that a press release distribution service offers. You can also add press releases to your social media page. Add a “media” tab to your business page. When sharing the release on social media, make sure to use the hashtag #press release so people know what to expect and can readily find your release in a social search. And make your release shareable so readers on other channels can readily share your content across other channels.
- Engage – When someone does share your press release, or likes or comments on it, comment, engage with them. Thank them for the share or the like. Respond to their comments. You’ll receive more engagement when you interact with others.
Finally, and maybe it doesn’t need to be said, but make sure that you’re writing a quality press release. It should be newsworthy, address the 5W’s (who, what, where, when, and why), and it should have a solid headline.
Plan your press release with engagement as one of your objectives. These five tips will help you get the most out of your release and help you achieve the goals you’ve set for it.
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