Crafting an attention-grabbing press release headline is the key to getting noticed in a sea of content. It’s not enough to simply announce your news; you need a captivating headline that compels readers to click and read more.
But what elements make a press release headline successful?
In this article, we’ll explore the eight factors that can make your press release headlines stand out. Join us as we dive into the world of press release headline writing and discover the factors that can make your news grab attention and drive engagement.
The competition for attention
When writing press release headlines, it’s important to recognize that the competition is fierce, and creating top-notch content is the best way to stand out. In the process of developing a press release, there are some critical elements that require your full attention. With the right approach, a press release provides an opportunity to deliver information in an engaging and objective manner.
In order for your press release to be featured in reputable publications, you need to start with a quality headline. This guide will cover the factors you need to consider when creating your press release headlines.
8 factors to consider when creating press release headlines
1) Utilize keywords
Search engine optimization plays a crucial role when you are creating a press release. After all, you write your press release in the hopes that people in your target audience will find and read it. If it’s not visible online, then this is unlikely to happen. Luckily, you can boost your press release visibility with the right keywords.
When writing a press release for your brand, keep in mind that your competitors are also doing the same thing. How well each of you optimizes your press release will dictate which one is more visible to prospects during organic searches across search engines.
If you choose the right keywords, your content can get ranked on the first page. However, SEO doesn’t just play a part in the contents of your press release. You need to optimize your headline as well if you really want to boost the visibility of the entire press release online. The right keywords can help you rank ahead of your rivals on search engines like Google.
2) Develop a newsworthy story angle
A press release allows you to write about anything. A press release supports different types of news stories, whether you’re making an announcement about a new hire or upcoming product launch. In spite of its effectiveness, before you rush into writing a press release, you should think about whether your story is actually newsworthy.
If you have good writing skills, you can make any content sound newsworthy with a headline that makes heads turn. For example, a celebrity’s food preferences is the most irrelevant part of their career. However, a good headline can turn this into newsworthy content. When you’re writing your headlines, think like the paparazzi and add a little spin to make it appealing.
However, as a startup owner, honesty is crucial to your business, and you should avoid embellishing or being dishonest for the sake of getting clicks. Ultimately, your level of honesty determines the credibility of your brand. Therefore, you should avoid creating misleading headlines. While it’s important to develop newsworthy stories, you don’t want to risk losing public trust in the process.
3) Avoid fluff
For goodness’ sake, you’re writing a headline, not the next Great Gatsby. Keep your headlines brief and direct. After you’ve written your press release, review the headline and fix where it needs tweaking. Shorten it where possible and cut out any extravagant language.
Furthermore, you should approach your headline the same way you approach your social media captions. We write our social media captions to be engaging for people with short attention spans. You need to treat your headlines the same way.
According to experts, readers have the attention of a goldfish. For this reason, you should steer clear of any lengthy descriptions in your headline. Keep it brief by condensing words and using powerful verbs that create vivid images in the reader’s mind. Remember, the role of your headline is to generate interest. The role of the body is to support your press release headline with statistics, quality information, and facts.
4) Create a sense of urgency
One way to capture a reader’s attention is by creating a sense of urgency. This is the same approach that local stores use to hype their sales. For instance, let’s assume you need a new sofa in the future. While you’re not in a rush to get it at the moment, you’ve seen that a local furniture store has put some on sale with a 30% discount. To instill a sense of urgency, they declare that this discount will only last one week.
Suddenly, getting this sofa becomes an emergency because you want to get them while they’re still at this great price and still in stock. Thanks to this marketing strategy, you end up buying the furniture right away. After all, good sales don’t come around often. When writing your press release headlines, you should leverage the same approach. Instilling some urgency in your headline can compel your readers to read the rest of your press release and take action (this could be in the form of buying your products, signing up for your newsletter, or even making an advance order for an upcoming product).
At the same time, you should be strategic when you’re using urgency in your press releases. If someone clicks to read the rest of the content and finds no justification for the urgency, they’ll get irritated. This feeling will no doubt affect their perception of your product.
5) Highlight the usefulness
There are a few crucial factors to account for when you want to write a good headline. They’re also known as the U’s of headline writing. These include useful, urgent, ultra-specific, and unique. Remember that readers value their time. For this reason, you need to create a press release that’s worth reading all the way to the end.
When your content ends up being a fluff piece, this can irritate the readers and make them dread and even filter out your future posts. And if they can’t trust your content, what are the chances of them even considering your services or products? That being said, the headline must share the necessary information. While giving away everything right away is not recommended, make sure the readers at least have an idea of what to expect.
6) Get inspiration from other press release headlines
You need a unique press release headline. Unfortunately, in the copywriting world, there’s a fine line between unique and downright weird. While you want to capture attention, try not to create headlines that are too far out there. If you need inspiration, then you should review press releases with effective headlines. By studying top-performing press release headlines, you can get inspired to write something unique for your own.
7) Keep it unique
You may get tempted to borrow bits and pieces from your boilerplate content if you’re struggling to create a press release headline. After all, you’ve already perfected your boilerplate and it accurately describes what your company does. However, borrowing content from your boilerplate is a lazy move that your readers will pick up on. Additionally, since your boilerplate is designed to be more formal, it’s unlikely to engage your readers and give them any reason to read the rest of your press release.
If you use formal boilerplate content to craft your press release headlines, many readers will scroll past it without opening your press release to review the content. However, if you create a unique headline, then you can evoke a sense of curiosity in your readers. So much so that they will be eager to read the content below the headline.
8) Make it ultra-specific
An ultra-specific headline is forthright and lacks fluff. With this kind of headline, it shouldn’t take the reader long to decide whether to click the link or not. While the content may have tons of facts, don’t highlight all of them in the headline. This may confuse your readers. Instead, be ultra-specific to capture their attention.
While specificity is a bonus, you should make sure you are not relying on background information about the company to craft your headlines. Don’t quote complex industry jargon either. The headline should immediately make sense to a reader whose interacting with your company for the first time.
With such a headline, the reader will recognize what you are offering and take the necessary steps afterward. Even without reading the rest of the press release, they should understand your offer and visit your site right away. If your headline is not specific enough, then it will only confuse your audience. A confused audience is unlikely to linger so that they can make sense of what you’re trying to say. Rather, they will promptly move on to the next thing.
Writing press release headlines might seem like an overwhelming task, and validly so. After all, your press release headline will make the difference between a reader who clicks on your press release or scrolls to the next distraction. The good news is that by meeting the 8 requirements above, you can start writing engaging press release headlines today.
How Pressfarm can help you create powerful press release headlines
While learning to write effective PR headlines is achievable over time, sometimes this can be overwhelming when you’re the same person running the day-to-day operations of your company.
Luckily, if this is the case, you can simply outsource your press release writing and reduce the burden on your to-do list. If you need help with this, reach out to the PR specialists and expert writers at Pressfarm. In addition to helping you write a striking press release headline, the experts at Pressfarm can also help you develop content for the press release itself, and optimize the press release for search engine visibility. Beyond that, the Pressfarm team can help you distribute this press release widely, thereby putting it in front of your target audience.
In addition to press release writing and distribution, Pressfarm offers clients media kit design services. With an eye-catching media kit, you can capture a journalist’s attention during your targeted pitching or convince a potential customer to convert into a paying customer. By developing custom media lists for you, the experts at Pressfarm can also help you connect with the right media professionals to tell your brand story.
Finally, the Pressfarm team also submits client details to startup directories within their network. By doing this, Pressfarm can increase your brand awareness and boost your online visibility.
If you need help with your effective PR headlines, content creation, and publicity efforts, one of Pressfarm’s packages could be exactly what you need.