3 Worst Press Release Writing mistakes are ironically the ones that happen to be the most frequent ones as well. In the US alone, there are now 10 PR professionals for every single reporter or journalist. On average, about 3500-4000 press releases are distributed daily in the US.
With such a huge volume of PRs being distributed daily, you need to be pixel perfect with your press release. Here are the 3 worst press release writing mistakes that you should avoid.
Personal Promotion
This is by far the most common mistake we have seen in a press release. While press releases are a great promotion tool, they should not be used entirely for self-promotion. Inherently and logically, press releases are announcements made by businesses. The intended audience is either your customer base or a related business. In either case, promoting your self-image beyond the stature of your business would fail the purpose. It is alright to include a paragraph about yourself or your contributions to the industry in general, but the overall theme and flow of the press release should be focused on the business and the important announcement that you wish to make by distributing the press release.
Targeting the wrong audience
Again, one of the most common mistakes. It is easy to get sidetracked and start going in a completely different and wrong direction. A little research into the target audience such as their demographic information, interests, etc would prove instrumental in creating perfect press releases for the intended audience. While writing a press release, pay attention to the business and what its core audience is. At the same time, it is imperative to take into account the distribution channels that you are going to use. For example, if you wish to distribute a press release on Yahoo Finance, you have to take into account the kind of audience that visits the Yahoo Finance pages.
Making a press release too long or too short
The perfect length of a press release remains elusive to many PR pros. Make it too short and you would leave your audience confused towards the end, too long and people would almost inevitably drop off somewhere in the middle. The key is to build stories around your press release. Captivating the attention of the readers is important. The flow of information should be consistent. Your headline is the most important part and this is what grabs the attention. The first paragraph should give away the important information first- not the entire content but just enough to keep the readers hooked till the very end.
Related: 5 Worst Press Release Writing Mistakes You Should Avoid