Generating publicity for your website or brand is one of the most fundamental aspects of a successful strategy. Without a creative and multi-faceted marketing plan, even the best websites in terms of content and offerings can languish in obscurity. With more websites, blogs, businesses and brands online than ever before, you need an effective plan for generating attention.

Hundreds of unique digital marketing techniques exist, but one age-old option that still remains is the press release. Capable of generating mentions for your brand or website in both traditional print media and online PR platforms, press releases are an easy and effective way to add a professional touch to your brand.

As such, let’s look at how you can form the basis for great press releases.

Develop an Action-Oriented Headline

The first few words of a press release can make all the difference in grabbing the attention of an audience. In many ways, writing a press release is similar to writing a captivating blog post: you must snare audiences initially, and this can be done most easily by creating a headline that uses action words and verbs.

Explain in just one sentence what your brand has done or is announcing – all while adhering to this advice. In no time at all, your press releases will be pinging users and readers across multiple platforms while actually being read by these audiences.

Summarize Your Press Release

Making press releases easy to read is essential in ensuring others actually read what you have to say, as the format for PRs isn’t exactly captivating. Many successful businesses and brands use bullet points to convey in just two or three sentences what the entirety of the PR is highlighting.

Given that eyes on digital content ultimately gravitate to the short and sweet, make sure that your summaries do the full press release justice. Again, focus on action words and ensure that audiences won’t regret looking at what you have to say.

Incorporate Quotes

One of the key differences between press releases and news articles is the inclusion of quotes, which adds a layer of professionalism to your content. When representing your brand via a PR, it’s quite easy – if a bit awkward – to refer to yourself in the third person. However, doing this (along with including one or two quotes from you or an associate) is expected in press releases and required by most PR and media outlets. These quotes should obviously refer to the event covered in the PR or reinforce the topic with facts or statistics.

Add Supplemental Information

Last but not least, closing out your press release with additional information and/or methods for reaching out is essential. Just like you’re certainly pinging users with contact information on your website, you should incorporate options for contact in the PR itself (including website, address, phone number and/or email).

Additionally, it never hurts for some PRs to attach various images or videos that are relevant to the theme itself. While most mediums won’t necessarily publish these forms of content directly, they may provide supplemental links where it can be viewed.

Writing a great press release isn’t something that can be accomplished instantly. However, you can ensure that your PRs are taken seriously by the masses by following the four tips above; with these tips in use, your press releases will get the attention and credit they deserve.