{"id":38177,"date":"2019-10-21T10:10:42","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T15:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicityhound.com\/?p=38177"},"modified":"2024-05-15T14:53:46","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T14:53:46","slug":"7-outdated-press-release-tips-and-rules-to-ignore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/marketing\/7-outdated-press-release-tips-and-rules-to-ignore\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Outdated Press Release Tips and Rules to Ignore"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you learned how to write press releases in college, you might be following rules that are hurting instead of helping your chances for publicity and website traffic.<\/p>\n

My free updated course,\u00a0 89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases<\/a>, covers each of these in detail.\u00a0 Here’s a quick summary of tips you may have learned years ago that you don’t need to follow anymore.<\/p>\n

1. Write only for journalists.<\/h2>\n

Truth is, journalists hate press releases because so many publicity seekers write them so poorly.<\/p>\n

So why do we bother at all? Because a well-written release, when used in conjunction with a compelling pitch, can result in media interviews. If journalists aren’t interested, your press release and the pitch are history. Here’s an explanation of the difference between a press release and a pitch.<\/a><\/p>\n

The same release meant for a journalist who might promptly ignore it can live forever online and pull traffic to your website. That includes sales pages, your store, a catalog, or a page that offers an enticing freebie in exchange for an email address.<\/p>\n

Today, we write primarily for consumers who don’t know us. Many have a specific problem. Looking for answers, they type their questions into the Google search box. Google delivers a list of relevant websites that can help them. Write your press release correctly and it might show up in search.<\/p>\n

2. Use the phrase FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.<\/h2>\n

You often see this at the top of many press releases, and it signals that it’s OK to “release” or share the information.<\/p>\n

Forgot it. Today, readers assume that if it’s a press release, the information is meant to be read and distributed to the masses.<\/p>\n

3. For major news, embargo the release until a specific time and date.<\/h2>\n

This will really make you look clueless. If you don’t want news made public, don’t publish it online.<\/p>\n

Today’s 24\/7 news cycle, and stiff competition between media outlets and websites, almost guarantee that no one will honor the embargo, especially journalists and sites that curate news and want millions of clicks.<\/p>\n

Here’s what PR pros and journalists have to say about whether the embargo has a place in modern PR.<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Write in the inverted pyramid style.<\/h2>\n

This was the rule when we wrote only for journalists. It meant keeping the most important information in the first paragraph and the least important in the last paragraph.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If a story was too long for the allotted space, an editor could cut it starting from the bottom, thus ensuring that the vital facts wouldn’t disappear.<\/p>\n

Today, the art of storytelling makes releases come alive. But it’s difficult to tell a compelling story when you’re too busy cramming most of the important facts into the first paragraph.<\/p>\n

5. Don’t promote a product or service.<\/h2>\n

This rule was meant to stay in the good graces of journalists who frowned on self-promotion.<\/p>\n

Because we don’t write solely for journalists anymore, feel free to promote in ways that help your audience. They include:<\/p>\n