Is Your Ego Ruining Your Press Release?
The rules for a press release haven’t changed over the decades. The purpose, however, has changed over time. Today, a press release can be leveraged to achieve a number of business building goals. Use a press release to establish credibility and authority in your industry. You garner media attention and to build awareness for your organization. There is also the possibility of leveraging social media press releases to grow your audience.
While there are a number of goals or objectives for your press release, the fundamentals remain the same.
And what’s the most important component of a good press release? It has to be newsworthy and interesting. Your ego can get in the way of both of these essential press release ingredients.
Is Your Ego Getting in the Way of a Newsworthy Press Release?
How can your ego get in the way of a good press release? Well, one of the fundamentals of a press release is that it is newsworthy. This means that the content is relevant and timely to your audience. For example, Joe Smith gets a promotion at ABC company. They issue a press release announcing the promotion. Not newsworthy. Sure, maybe Joel is a bigwig, and everyone’s super-excited that he’s been promoted, but your audience doesn’t care. If, however, Joe Smith’s promo is bringing change to the consumer experience, then that is relevant and newsworthy to your audience.
You have to stop thinking about what is important or press release worthy. Start thinking about what your audience and reader will feel.
It doesn’t matter what you think. The only person that matters – and this is true for all content marketing – is your reader. Let go of your ego and what you think is important and get into your reader’s mind.
Is Your Ego Getting in the Way of an Interesting Press Release?
Beyond the actual information and how it’s presented, you also want to make sure that the press release is interesting. To accomplish that you can use quotes, facts, and data, as well as images and graphics. Quotes, facts, and data are where people often let their ego block them from creating a truly compelling release. It’s not enough to put in a quote that you think is good or credible. Look more for quotes that are relatable to your reader.
Ask yourself what value the reader will gain from the quote. Does it add interest? The same is true for any facts and data you present. Don’t simply plug in a fact to make it “look good.” Add data and facts that matter to your reader. It can be a simple difference.
For example, you can say obesity rates have increased 10%, or you can say, 6 in 10 people are now considered obese. One of these facts is much more relatable to your reader than the other.
Press releases, while formal in structure, still have the important task of connecting with your reader. Make sure that you take yourself out of the equation. You’re not writing for yourself, you’re writing for your target audience. What’s important, interesting, and newsworthy to them?
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