Volkwagon’s Golf VII wins the European “Car of the Year” award. Belkin signs a deal to sponsor a professional cycling team. Clothing giant H&M starts a program to collect used clothing for recycling. These are just three examples of topics used by successful companies to issue press releases. How are they similar? They are all good news that publications want to publish and readers want to read.
Marketing agencies are always on the lookout for promotions for clients. And publications are always looking out for news. Worded well, good company news will nearly always be printed. The question is how to get the news from your client and what to do with it, once you have it. Here are some good content marketing tips related to preparing press releases:
- Persuade your client to send you good news whenever it happens. Prepare a guide for them to show what you’re looking for, follow up regularly, and you will always have good content to work with.
- The good news will have the added benefit of letting you track the effects of your own marketing efforts on the client’s behalf. If your client is shy and doesn’t want a lot of publicity, you can posit the request as a way to measure their return on investment (ROI) for your services.
- The good news can be turned into a press release for the company—for publication or posting as “News” on their website—and double as a success for you to post on yours, especially if it can be traced to a campaign you carried out.
- A press release coming from good news can be profoundly encouraging to a company. If they like what you write, you can ask for a related testimonial for your own website.
From Good News to Press Release
Let’s say you have identified a publication with readers who are potential prospects for your client. You check their guidelines, check your files, and talk to your client. Together you choose a recent company event.
As the company’s marketing agent, you know who in the company to ask for more information, what kinds of questions to ask, and what is likely to have triggered the event that resulted in good news. You gather the who, what, where, when, and why about the event and consider it.
What is the main impression you want the reader left with? The company’s success? A company to watch out for? One with concern for the community? How is it growing? Answers to these questions will help you choose a tone for the press release, and know which facts to emphasize.
When writing the press release, follow the guidelines of the publication, writing it in standard press release format (or hire a professional writer). Main facts first, details later. Keep it positive. Remember that good news in a sagging economy will position your company as successful. Good news can be well worth reporting.
Susette H is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
