From idea generation to drafting with granularity and pitching for coverage, there’s more than meets the eye to press release success
In the age of short attention spans, immediate streaming of content, and glitzy influencers on social media, the humble press release might not be one of the sexiest ways to share brand messages – but it can be one of the most powerful in the B2B arsenal when deployed correctly. As a direct tool to communicate company growth and momentum to journalists, there’s nothing better than a press release.
But one stat in the recent Cison 2024 State of the Press Release stopped us in our tracks as the reported top press release challenge is that 38% of organizations feel they are not generating anticipated media pickup.
That’s certainly not an issue the IBA team can relate to from our coverage metrics! So, let’s zero in on key takeaways for planning, drafting, and pitching (not just distributing) the perfect press release:
1. Build a trusted corporate narrative
Before B2B marketers initiate a press release they need to question what they are looking to achieve.
And that doesn’t just mean thinking about the subject matter of the release, every press release has a hidden agenda. The press release demonstrates industry and tech leadership with product announcements, customer, and vertical market success with order stories, and new hires to demonstrate company growth – it’s not just all about announcing revenue figures, an order, or a product.
Press releases continue to be a key source of trusted information on company by journalists – they’re the main way journalists can get an understanding of what a company is and how it operates. In the Cision report journalists shared that “maintaining credibility as a trusted news source” is a top challenge. The report cites that “because press releases are sent directly from brands… they provide an antidote to the misinformation spread on an increasing number of online channels” as well as AI generated ‘general’ content.
2. It’s all about ideas and granular messages
Once the rationale for a press release is established, it’s time to get out our digital pen and paper. Press releases need to be composed to clearly communicate a message – first to a journalist, the gatekeeper who has to think the story is worth running, and second to their readers, i.e. the end audience a B2B organization is targeting. This doesn’t mean cramming in every new functionality in a product announcement, or every module a new customer has selected in a win release – brevity is key.
The headline, subheads, and first paragraph of a press release are prime real estate to lay out the key messages in the story and lay out your wares for the journalists to increase the chances of them publishing it. It’s like setting up a fly-fishing line with a mixture of flies to catch a targeted selection of fish, get the right keywords and hot topics in there with the story laid out in simple terms, and you maximize your coverage haul. But get it wrong and you’ll be going home empty handed!
Journalists will make a publishing decision in seconds. With most receiving hundreds of releases to their inboxes every day, no surprise then, that short snappy headlines work best. The Cision report found most page views come from releases with headlines between 50-100 characters.
3. Don’t undermine with AI
What is surprising – and quite worrying given the importance placed on headlines – is that headlines are the top area respondents use Gen-AI to aid press release creation! No wonder the stats show they are disappointed with release take-up. One of the key strengths of Gen-AI is its ability to generalize – to summarize text in a very general way. The exact opposite of what the heading in a press release is trying to do.
Gen-AI has got generalized marketing speak down to a T, but it’s PR professionals who still hold the creativity required to entice bites and coverage from what is a human audience. We’re now seeing a number of media houses across North America and Europe – from nationals to business and technology publications – asking for transparency for any copy that’s been through an AI generator.
At IBA we are often heard to say internally “I see the words, but what do they mean?!” After this, did the world change or trundle on as normal? In a Gen-AI world, the words we choose are more important than ever – there’s more here on how words and copy composition impacts journalist perception of companies.
4. Outreach strategy: Newswires make noise – personal makes placements
Finally, when the release is drafted and ready to go it’s time to get the message out there.
While naturally the Cision report draws strong conclusions about the power of newswires, relying on PRN syndications alone does not get real eyeballs on key company announcements. Yes, newswires are good for background SEO and a legal requirement for large publicly traded organizations, but getting key company announcements into outlets read by prospects and customers goes a layer deeper.
The report established journalists are looking for content from trusted sources. That means you. That means B2B organizations need to take time to carefully target release pitching direct to the inbox of relevant journalists as the results can be access to an equally targeted audience of their readers. Witness IBA pitching a piece of client research as a series of four media alerts to four key industries which resulted in over 25 news items in target trade outlets!
The state of the press release in 2024
The days of the press release are far from over and they still have a crucial role to play in any modern marketing mix. And with a change in mindset and approach, it needn’t be a struggle to generate coverage if they are crafted and deployed correctly!
Jamie Kightley is Head of Client Services at IBA International.
