The number-one reason behind most failed press releases

Why do some press releases succeed where others fail? Sure, publicity is competitive, highly so, but there is always an audience for a good news story. And that’s the answer: those which fail aren’t usually very good.

While true, it’s too simplistic to say that good press releases succeed and bad ones fail. We need to quantify, in this context, what good and bad means – because if it can be quantified, it can be fixed by anyone.

While there are lots of measures we can use, I’m going to reach for what I think is the number one reason that poor press releases are objectively so: it’s that the story just wasn’t newsworthy. It was always unlikely to succeed.?

What makes a story newsworthy? First and foremost, it’s the relevance the story has to others. Let’s take a simple example: you hire a new sales director. Unless the director is a celebrity, what’s newsworthy about this? Very little. It’s important inside the organisation, so it feels like news. But outside the organisation, it has little relevance. Which means, the organisation is ‘excited to announce’ but the readership ‘doesn’t care to read’. Are you bothered who is the sales director at the company where you bought your last television, or any product? Not really.

This means that many press releases should never have even been written in the first place. They’re just adding to the sheer noise.

There’s a significant however. The number two reason that many press releases are objectively poor is that the story was newsworthy, but the writer didn’t focus on what could make it so. This is almost always the external impact of the event you’re announcing. In the case of our sales director, this could be because the new hire was to open up a new territory, create more jobs, launch a new product and so on. All of these have an impact on others, and it’s this external importance which makes the story newsworthy.

Exhibiting at a trade show isn’t in itself newsworthy, launching a new product there is. A new product isn’t in itself what’s newsworthy, it’s what it does for others that is. Yet so many press releases lead with ‘XYZ Company to exhibit at …’ and ‘XYZ Company launches version 2 of …’ and so on.

People don’t warm to introspective conversations and perspectives. We warm to people who ask us about ourselves and not those who bang on about their latest exploits.

• Assess the merit of news stories against their impact on the outside world. If the story doesn’t have an external impact, then strongly consider dropping it in favour of one that does. Although some people say “what’s the harm?”, the reality is you can gain a name for vacuous publicity, which won’t help you when you have something to say. Dull stories don’t get picked up by the media, shared, talked about and so on.
• If you feel a so-so story still needs to be written, always focus on the external impact to give it as much life as you can. Explore what the story means to the market and to customers.
• Focus on the five Ws: who, why, what, where and when (plus how) to explore the story’s facts. All news stories should be based on facts, so find these first.
• Think about creating a story arc, from conflict to resolution. For example, for a new product, what problems does it solve? The problems establish the need/conflict, the product delivers the solution/resolution. ‘New software cuts development time in half’ and ‘new software removes the need for expensive hardware’ runs far better than ‘XYZ Company launches new software’.
• Place your greatest effort on stories which have a meaningful external impact and explore the effect of this.
• Avoid writing in an introspective, self-absorbed way. Sure, press releases are promotional, but they don’t have to be narcissistic about it. You get news value from what you do for others – that’s the story. Avoid trotting out the usual phases: ‘XYZ Company is delighted to …’, ‘XYZ Company is excited to …” If the story is exciting, the reader will be excited. Literally telling them to be excited isn’t great storytelling.?

I thankfully discovered, early in my career, that my personal success was inextricably linked to the success of my work. This gave me the confidence to persuade others to kill boring stories and the tenacity to explore what would make a story really work.

Whether a story is newsworthy, and writing a story in a way which brings out its most newsworthy elements, are the most important parts of great publicity. If a story is a dud, it’s dud – it won’t fly. If a story is OK, a good writer can make it great. If a story is great, a good writer can make it outstanding. More than anything else, learning when to walk away from a poor story and how to find the best from any story are the publicity writer’s core foundational skills.?

Is It News?

How to write really great press releases

My book, Is It News? – co-written with Rob Clarke, publishing editor of newswire Learning News – covers the subject of writing press releases in depth. Download an entire, unabridged, chapter from Is It News? ‘Writing compelling headlines’ explains why a headline can make or break a press release – and shows you how to write headlines which sell the whole story, at a glance. Download sample

Training and coaching

Myself and Rob – authors of Is it News? – are available for in-depth coaching sessions for marketing teams and business managers. We cover not only all aspects of writing news stories, but also help you put in place strategies to reinvent your approach to publicity – increasing the success you get from it.

Peter Labrow

Peter is a marketing consultant and the owner of content marketing agency Content Productions. For help with your press releases, publicity or marketing, contact Peter Labrow.

Robert Clarke

Rob is managing editor of specialist newswire Learning News. To publish L&D news stories, contact Robert Clarke.