5 Diagnostic Tests To Troubleshoot An Ineffective Press Release

Posted on 13. Jan, 2012 by Christine OKelly in Press Release Writing Tips

If your online press release distribution campaigns are failing to deliver results, the problems are likely to be found in your press releases. Although the breadth and quality of the distribution site’s coverage plays a role, most of the obstacles to a successful PR campaign are of the writer’s own making. Knowing how to troubleshoot problems is the first step toward resolving them.

With this in mind, we’ll give you five diagnostic tests below that you can use to uncover issues that are holding your press releases back. Are you having trouble getting published? Are you unable to get the attention of influential journalists? Do your PRs seem to have little effect on the ranking authority of your company’s website? The following tests will help you to figure out the problem.

#1) Put On Your Journalist’s Cap

In addition to providing valuable links to your company’s site, your online press releases should draw the attention of journalists and bloggers. These are the professionals who can broaden your exposure by publishing your PRs. The problem is, most news releases are written in a way that turns journalists off.

Follow the timeworn formula of a reporter writing a story: frontload your PR with the most important details. Resist the temptation to withhold the “good stuff” until later. You have approximately 400 words to get your message across, which means there is little time to waste.

#2) Get Out Your Red Pen

A badly-written press release can fail even if the information it delivers is timely and relevant to the reader’s life. Few things convey incompetence more quickly than misspellings and poor grammar. Both erode the trust readers would otherwise have in you and your company. Moreover, journalists are unlikely to publish your PRs if they are riddled with mistakes.

Before submitting your press releases for distribution, review them. Read them aloud. Look for errors. While it is fine to occasionally break established rules of grammar – for example, ending a sentence in a preposition – avoid anything that might tarnish your credibility.

#3) Analyze Your Keyword Usage

The manner in which you seed your press releases with effective keywords has a major influence on whether your PRs have any effect in the search engines. Failing to place keywords that your target audience is searching for in key places is the best way to ensure that your press release will not be found by the people you  want to read it. Oversaturation of the same keyword can send up red flags in the mind of the reader if they get a sense that the release is only for marketing reasons.

Use the primary keyword that you want your press release to rank for in the title. Use it and one or two other important search terms in the summary and in the body of the press release. Then, be sure to also include keywords that you want your website to rank for and create anchor text links to your website from within the press release.

#4) Check The Signal-To-Noise Ratio

Quantity versus quality… this is a trap that ensnares a lot of business owners who leverage press releases to promote their companies. With the help of press release distribution sites, it is easier than ever to send your PRs to hundreds of places with a few mouse clicks. Unfortunately, that tempts a lot of people to sacrifice the quality of their writing just to increase their output.

Think of your ongoing PR campaigns as maintaining a continuous signal-to-noise ratio. Every new release you send either increases the signal, or increases the noise (i.e. static). Ask yourself: which side of the ratio does your most recent PR increase?

#5) Turn On Your Hype-O-Meter

There’s a fine line between facts and hyperbole. Although they seem to be worlds apart, they can blend with each other until it’s difficult to distinguish between them. The important thing is that your readers can quickly identify hype, even if it is camouflaged in a shroud of facts.

Here again, it pays to read your press release aloud. Listen to the words as you read them. If your PR would fit easily on a late-night infomercial, there’s a good chance it scores too high on the hype-o-meter. Tone it down.

The bottom line: if your press releases have turned in disappointing results, it’s time to look under the hood to troubleshoot the problem. Doing so will improve your PR-writing skills, and increase your chances of getting the attention your company needs.

Your Turn!

From your own press release marketing experience, what tweaks have you found either increase or decrease the effectiveness of your campaigns?

Photo courtesy of Chris Schrier via Flickr
Meter photo courtesy of Darren Burnhill