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April 09, 2018

Let's face it, there is a lot to prepare for when writing a news release, (like who to quote from your company, all the points to cover, who the contact will be, collateral to be included), it is easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment and dismiss certain details. Everybody does it at some point because we just want to dive right into the writing.

One of the details you should not overlook is 'who your target audience is.' Determining your target audience may include geographic location, age, sex, interest groups and more. If you have not yet figured this out, we highly recommend doing so before you continue or even start writing your press release; optionally, passing the writing assignment on to someone that does understand your audience.

Determining your target audience will assist in the tone, grammar and potentially how technical you're writing style is. Sending a technical news release to a broad audience that is not technically savvy in your industry may fall on deaf ears or annoy some journalists. If you have a specific audience in mind that is very technically savvy, then using technical specifications and jargon may be appropriate and go against the grain of a 'typical news release'.

Knowing the age group of your readers is also helpful. This may assist in what further channels you select after your news release has been distributed, potentially including social media. For instance, if your product or service is attractive to the late teens early 20's age group, you should probably be including your news release in channels that these age groups are familiar with, like social media. Knowing the age of your audience may also assist in the style that your news release is written. Perhaps if it is written for a younger generation you could have a younger individual that is experienced in news release writing craft your release. If you are a parent with teenage children, you will recognize there are tonal differences between an older mature audience and early 20's.

What about geographic location? Are you sending your news release across America even though your product or service is only sought after in the Seattle area? This may not be a bad strategy as your news release has the potential to be picked up and published online assisting with better local search results and increasing your visibility online. In fact, 24-7 Press Release Newswire has a number of clients that use this strategy and are happy with their results.

Including collateral (documents, images, etc.) with a news release can be critical. Knowing how to cater to your audience can be critical. For instance, infographics may appeal to one audience and not another. For those not familiar with infographics, they are a tool used for data visualization. More information about infographics may be found here. Short videos are also an excellent tool to portray your message however may not be for every audience. Including product images, you can almost never go wrong.