Don’t Overlook the Press Release in Your Marketing Strategy

Welcome to my daily content highlight. Today I’m looking at press releases — often overlooked in favour of newer marketing fads — and how they can work for your business.

The Press Release: A Quick Review

Writing a press release is a strange task. As copywriters, we’re taught to think about customers, think about the language they’re accustomed to hearing, think about how the product we’re writing about appeals to their wants. 

A press release, on the other hand, is there to get the attention of a professional writer/editor — a very different audience. It’s there to fill the space in their publication. 

With a press release, we’re trying to give the editor a ready-made story — something that will appeal to their readers. For us, that means finding an interesting angle on what is often an everyday occurrence (a new product release, for example) and wrapping up in a package that delivers maximum information in minimum words. 

There’s also a question of exposure. How many people do you want to reach? Is your product an industry-specific tool that will change the lives of a few hundred engineers? Or is it a new chocolate bar? Or a life-saving piece of medical equipment? These questions help us think about the language we should use and the details of the story our editor’s audience will care about. 

How to Approach the Press Release — An Example

A new tennis racket is coming out. If you understand much about tennis rackets, you’ll know the technology hasn’t changed all that much in that past 5/10 years. This particular racket is made of basalt rock and graphite, and it’s ‘used’ (same look, different racket) by an ATP top 10 player. It’s essentially a different paint job on last year’s version. Other rackets use the same material but no one is pointing out the basalt rock’s vibration dampening quality (this could be our angle for differentiation). We know that it’s going to cost £200+ so it’s well in the enthusiast range. 

We’ve got some questions for the racket producer — where does the basalt rock come from? How does the vibration damping help players improve (with details)? Have any ATP stars playtested the racket, and if so what do they have to say about it? Can we offer playtests for interested buyers?

We might target editors at sports magazines, but we’ll probably see better results if we reach out directly to tennis clubs (and their pro shops) and push for coverage through their weekly/monthly emails/newsletters. We could also approach websites like Tennis Warehouse — these guys produce tons of content on rackets and often partner with brands for documentary-style videos. Most importantly, we know our target audience goes here for information; it seems like a perfect fit. Remember, we’re looking for the maximum amount of relevant exposure.

We could also look for TV coverage by tying the product in with a nation-wide health drive (“over 60s who suffer from tennis elbow get back on court”???). But does this route make sense? You could get huge exposure, but will the audience be relevant? Our enthusiast market doesn not seek their racket information from the national news. It just doesn’t fit. 

Similarly, the sports/health magazines will certainly have a few tennis-enthusiast readers, but we’ll have to compete with other press releases for coverage (more effort) in magazines that are too generic. 

Why You Should Care About Your Press Release 

Companies large and small can benefit from dedicating time and resources to press releases. When done right, they arguably provide more value than any paid ad ever could. You’re getting your message pushed out by a reputable publisher to the right audience; it’s an advertorial without the spend, with trust built in. 

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