Amidst all the marketing strategies small businesses leverage to achieve their growth goals and stay competitive, press releases seem to be the most overlooked.
One of the reasons for this is that most small businesses are too caught up with strategies that fuel their lead generation, customer acquisition, and business development efforts.
However, press releases have a huge role to play when it comes to boosting a business’s brand awareness, traffic, and overall competitive edge. Also, getting your press release on authority publications like the Associated Press or Businesswire is a great return on your marketing spend.
Companies usually share a press release to make news, attract attention, and create a community. However, press releases can be leveraged to achieve different business goals.
In this post, we will share types of press releases with examples to help your business get the attention it deserves.
So, let’s begin.
Strengthen Your Brand Awareness with These Press Releases
Here are the top 7 press release types you must include in your media list to generate publicity.
1. Events
Event press releases are written to inform the audience about an event your business is planning to host, sponsor, or attend. The event could be a charity initiative or a community gathering.
An event press release should pique the interest of its audience by sharing a newsworthy story. Further, it should carry interesting copy and imagery to get people excited about the event.
When it comes to creating an event press release make sure you address the 5W’s + 1H of journalism, namely who, what, when, where, and why + how.
- Who is announcing the news?
- What are they announcing?
- When will the event take place?
- Where is this taking place?
- Why should the audience care?
- How should the reader participate or register for the event? OR How is the company going about it?
Besides, your press release should share why your event is worth participating in or attending. The objective of this press release is to intrigue and drive attendance.
2. New Technology
If your product circles around innovations, the technology press release can help in not just creating noise around your offerings but also attracting technology investors. This type of press release carries information on the new technologies the business has invested in. Plus how it solves customer problems.
While it’s tempting to share every piece of product detail in a technology press release, avoid doing so. Your press release should be scannable and concise. Offer plenty of opportunities to link to product pages, company overview pages, and data sheets. Learn from these press release examples to create a release that’s more readable while portraying your strong commitment to SaaS technical excellence.
To write an effective technology press release, create an engaging headline that conveys the end benefits to the reader.
Good Headline: Neoteric Invests in AI and cognitive computing for Its Client AppOrchid
Better Headline: Neoteric Invests in AI and cognitive computing for AppOrchid to Build AI Models Visually and Substituting Programming.
Secondly, journalists are constantly looking for the announcement. So, it’s best to stick with the 5W’s + 1H we spoke about earlier.
Finally, remember to add validation like quotes from beta users or R&D engineers. Business development leaders or the top management can share how investing in this technology is impacting customers and fitting into the overall company strategy.
3. Product
A product press release is used to announce a new feature in the product, a brand extension, or a new product launch. It usually talks about why the product is different from the competition, giving people a reason to invest in the product. By highlighting the product’s striking features, you are giving your new representatives (PR professionals and journalists) reason to write about the product.
Here are a few quick tips to write a product press release.
- Begin with a captivating headline. Keep it short. Use action words like achieved, capitalized, delivered, empowered, and integrated among others to evoke an emotional response from people.
- The first paragraph should convey the product value. Remember that your audience is pressed for time. Make sure you include the 5W’s + 1H we discussed earlier in this post.
- Include quotes from top officials, spokespeople, or key company stakeholders to emphasize the core of the announcement.
- Share your boilerplate in the end. A boilerplate explains what your company does, its size, and key operating locations and shares details of your website and social profiles. Your product press release is incomplete without the boilerplate.
Journalists are constantly looking for stories that their readers will appreciate. Thus, a product press release is a huge value-add that entices readers to their article and persuades them to try the product.
4. New Business
A new business launch press release announces new ventures that could be addressing a gap in the market or a competitor’s offerings. This should tell the audience all the information related to the new business opening.
Small businesses planning to expand should leverage this form of a press release. Begin with the name of the venture and share the location and date of the business opening. The body should include an overview of what the business does and the gaps it will address. Plus, why it’s different from the competition. You may also add a few executive quotes to share the firm’s vision.
5. Awards
If your business has received a prestigious industry award or recognition, showcase the accolade through an awards press release. Sharing such news can strengthen your position in the industry and attract the attention of investors who can support your venture, especially when it’s scaling.
Here are a few elements you should include in your awards press release.
Name of the award. It sounds obvious but sharing the name of the award your company has received will help your readers understand its significance.
Moreover, offer context for the award for those readers who aren’t familiar with the strength and significance of the award you’ve received.
Share the reasoning behind your award. You’ve received an award, but why? Was the technology used in the product outstanding? Did your product help solve specific problems? Include a few sentences on the judging process to tell your readers that it wasn’t just a flippant win.
Avoid bad-mouthing competitors who didn’t make it. Your winning is enough for your audience to know that your company is better than the competition.
Express gratitude. Don’t forget to mention the critical role your team, investors, and customers played in making this award possible. This will go a long way in showing that your company upholds values like humility and team spirit.
6. New Hire
New hire press releases are especially important for small businesses because it helps build credibility as a sought-after employer. Moreover, if the business has an influential person on its team, it builds trust in their expertise.
Remember to highlight the responsibilities and priorities of the person in the new role. Sharing such information in the press release allows customers and investors to relate to the new hire and understand the role they will play in addressing their pain points.
7. Partnership
If you’ve been negotiating a partnership for months and it has finally come through, a press release can help you make it official to the public. The primary purpose of a partnership press release is to update your audience on the upcoming changes and how they will affect them.
One thing that you need to remember here is that like you, your partner will have a customer base. Hence, you need to create a press release that appeals to both audiences. Focus on aligning your values. Use this opportunity to delight a new set of customers (your partner’s customer base) with the features, services, or experiences they’ll get access to.
Summing Up
Whether you are announcing a new product in your existing line or partnering with a firm to introduce a groundbreaking technology, press releases can help you get the word out. Regardless of the type of press release you use, they prove to be great tools to attract attention to the business, build credibility, and gain a loyal following.
We are sure the press release types discussed above will help you generate publicity for your small business, steering it towards the fast track to success.
