Under Valuing Press Releases
In ShoeMoney’s blog of 25th May he states that press releases are overrated, but is this really the case? I believe that there are many press releases that won’t be read but it’s not because they are yet another press release that landed on someone’s desk, or in their email in-box, I think it lies more in the content of the press release itself.
Internet marketing today is fixated on the 5+ page-scroll-down-forever-and-you-eventually-find-what-they’re selling kind of letter. Perhaps this does work on websites where people have searched for a particular item and this letter presented itself. To copy and paste this into a press release however is where the press release value disappears.
People who glean press releases looking for news worthy items, or products to try and recommend, do not have time to read 5+ pages to find out whether or not they’re interested. They will scan the first page of the press release and if the information’s not there, they’ll move onto the next release in their pile.
Don’t blame the press release for the lack of feedback from it, blame the person who didn’t have the commonsense to realize that sending a press release requiring a staple to someone who receives hundreds a day isn’t a smart idea!
Bring the press release down to the basic facts – what it is, who needs it, and where can you get it, and if you’ve actually thought what your USP (unique selling point is) all the better – and then send that press release to the media who are targeting your demographic, not to the world at large!
It’s not the press release that over-rated, but rather the belief that anyone can write one!
This post was written by Jack Prime. Jack is also one of the three orginal writer on Coffee Pop and has written lots of different articles on the topic of permission email marketing.
