Have you ever spent a lot of time on a press release? You labor over word choice and phrases, have it edited and re-edited, only to find that once it’s out there—it doesn’t get shared? It’s a common struggle for businesses and nonprofits who know that their release contains valuable information, if only people would see it.
There are a few simple ways, however, to make your release shareable and you won’t have to spend time laboring over any of them. Let’s take a look at some to get started:
- Make it Twitter Friendly—Twitter is the place for the latest news and updates so when you are writing your press release, be sure to include your Twitter username. Plus associate a few “click to tweet” phrases with important information in your release like a quote or a statistic. Don’t forget to tweet out your press release on the day you release it and let journalists know that you are available for questions on Twitter.
- Images—Studies have shown that a press release with images, infographics, videos, and other multimedia are more likely to get shared than plain press releases. Be sure to include images in with your releases, as well as links to your videos or other content. You can also add a link to your Flickr account so writers can find high quality images easily.
- Post Your Release—Post your release on Facebook, Google+, and have a link in your bio on Instagram as you send out images. Announce that you will be available for any questions to make it easy for people to find you.
- Easy to Read—Standard press releases are hard to read to on mobile devices, so change up the design to be responsive no matter which platform they are reading it on. You can also increase the font size of your release so that it’s clear on the smallest phone.
- Use Hashtags—Journalists use them and so should you, especially on Twitter. When you are tweeting your release, use a variety of hashtags to call attention to yourself. Just make sure that the hashtags you’re using are actually relevant to the material in your release.
- Share Buttons—Many press releases follow all the rules of being shareable, except actually including share buttons. Be sure to include these in your release for all the networks that you are active on.
- More Information—If your press release is one in a series done on a specific topic, include a “For More Information” link to your other press releases. Be sure that the others still have social share links, are mobile-friendly, and contain images.
Have you had success making a press release shareable? Talk to us about what you did differently in the comments.
This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (https://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in affordable press release distribution. Download your free copy of 8 Shocking Secrets Press Release Distribution Firms Don’t Want You to Know here: https://www.ereleases.com/free-offer/secrets-pr-firms-dont-want-you-to-know/