Why Increasing Brand Visibility Through Press Releases is Important and How a Press Release Headline Plays Into It?

Whether it is to increase brand awareness, generate leads, attract investors, or other objectives, a well-written press release is one of the most effective tools you can have if you want to grow your business or company. New businesses typically issue press releases to increase brand awareness. This can help new businesses reach a wider audience that can be converted into customers.

Brand awareness is built through brand recognition and brand recall. After that, a brand can be at the top of the audience's mind. They will remember a brand for a product category. By publishing a PR with a press release headline, you can spread important information about your company. Do your best to place your press release in a media outlet with a wide reach. At first, it may not be easy to get published in major media outlets.

But at least find one with a wide reach. You can measure it by its rank in search engines. If its website always appears on the first page of searches, it means that its reach is quite wide. This way, people can recognize your brand by seeing your logo, name, slogan, color palette, packaging, mascot, and more. Some companies struggle with writing good press releases and coming up with the right content. Here are 5 actionable ways to make your press releases stand out to the people who matter: your prospects and customers.

1. Write a Compelling Headline & Summary

A press release headline is the most important part of any press release. Second to the title would be the summary. Without a great headline and summary, the piece may not appear in search results. Also, without keywords, other media outlets will not feature the article on their sites. Follow search engine optimization best practices to increase the visibility of your press releases. More often than not, the title is the only thing the audience will see. The way people consume their news today is different than in years past. Most of your audience will skim social media and other online outlets for headlines so make the title and summary count.

Tailor your press release title to your target audience. Then, go through each word, one by one, and evaluate whether it is the best word to use. Write a few versions and variations and ask for feedback. Once you have a handful of options, ask for feedback internally and select the one that resonates the most.

2. Write from Your Reader’s Perspective

It’s easy to think your audience cares about X when in reality they care about something else entirely. A good branding and marketing strategy helps companies truly know what is important to their audience. Any news release should build on what the marketing and branding strategy revealed and be written from your reader’s perspective.

Ask yourself what would be important if you didn’t know anything about your company or your competition. Make a list of questions you would want to be answered. Try to come up with concerns you would have and think of ways to address them with your readers.

Once this preliminary work is done, it is easier to think more like your target audience. Next, you need to tailor your press releases to them and emphasize the things that are most important.

3. Tie Press Releases to Company Goals & Objectives

An effective press release should reflect the goals and objectives of the company. These goals and objectives should also be outlined in your public relations strategy so everyone is on board and knows what they should be aiming for.

When writing your press release, make sure you are not simply reporting the news. You want to state what the news is and then explain why this news is relevant to potential customers.

4. Use Strong Quotes

The use of quotes is important in press releases along with a compelling and eye-catching press release headline. Custom quotes are good and encouraged. Generic quotes do not bring value to the press release. People will read them and not gain any insight outside of the main text. Quotes should highlight something specific and important for the reader.

Quotes must also always be factual and objective. Never say, ‘ABC Company is the best solution provider out there.’ That’s not factual. However, a quote from the CEO can include a statement like, ‘Our clients always tell us we have the best solution available.’

The quotes should be clear and concise, tie in or highlight a company goal or objective in some way, and be of importance to the reader. To get better quotes, consider making a list of questions and interviewing people that you want to quote in the press release. Each time we have done that, we have captured valuable information.

Another thing you can do to make your life easier is to create a quote ‘library’ to store a list of quotes. This can be as simple as a word document with a list of usable quotes.

When submitting the press release, make sure to take advantage of any attachments or images you can add. Many news sites allow you to submit a company logo or a digital marketing brochure. As a reminder, ensure your media contact details are up to date and accurate before you submit your release for distribution.