How to Write an Awesome Press Release to promote your online Course
Once you've created your online course, the next step is to spread the word. The best way to do that is to write an announcement in a press release to promote the course's launch.
Press releases are a brief piece of information journalists can base their articles on both online and offline. Therefore, the audience for this type of article are not the people you want to target with your press release and writers who write in newspapers, magazines, and even websites. Be aware of this, and be aware that they shuffle through a plethora of news stories each day. Yours must stand out and be inspiring.
This is a instructions for writing a press release that will make journalists aware of your online course and inspire them for them to report on it:
The 12 parts of a press release online:
In order for the Press Release to consider being read by reporters as well as news outlets, it needs to adhere to a particular structure and include specific components. These are the elements that must be included:
- Headline
- Subheading
- Date
- Location
- Logo
- Company Information
- Summary
- Body Text
- A quote by someone from the business
- More section
- Media Contact Details
- Links as well as social media assets
An example of a professionally written Press Release
In the spring of 2016 the real estate services company called Yardi announced their new online Fair Housing Act course. This is a perfect model of a perfect press release for an online education course containing all of the elements of a successful press release.
The essential elements can be found here They are all used effectively. We'll break it down into subsections.
1 and 2: What Do We Take Away from this Headline? Subheading?
Yardi employed their title in their headline and their subheading. This is that they didn't use it as their title, instead it occupies one word in the space for headings, and Yardi is an established company that provides real estate services.
If you're an established brand be sure to use your brand's name in the headline. If not, you might consider using this space by making smarter use of words.
Here Are Some General Headline Guidelines for Press Releases from Online Courses:
- Your headline should be concise -nine words or less is ideal.
- You can trigger a question to your audience. This will guarantee that they take the time to actually read the Press Release.
- Reiterate the main point within the subheading.
- Make sure to use a word that makes the headline feel newsworthy.
The headline for the press release below contains only eight words. It's ideal. It's brief and the message is clear. The word "new" signifies that it is new information. The heading has all the essential elements of a good headline.
3: The Date Should Be Pretty Self Explanatory
Include the most current date, when submitting online. However, when you email your submissions to journalists or news outlets, make sure to include the words "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE," in the upper right-hand corner of your text to make it clear that this news story is urgent and ready for publication.
4 The following is the Place of Your News Should be
At the beginning of your body text, include the address of your business. City and state are required for US as well as regional news. Include your country as well when you send out international news.
5: Include your Logo on Every Release
This is the most important aspect in Press Release submission as it serves two purposes branding as well as notability. Journalists and journalists who want to know you're a trusted resource for the online course that you're advertising The logo can aid them in remembering you for the next time.
6: This is What to Disclose About Your Company
It is important to reveal all information that you can giving company info which could be all aspects from the size of your firm to the business's owner is. Everything you're able to submit should should be submitted, as you want to be transparent and easy to find. Anyone who is interested in publishing your news will likely want to know more about it, so you can make their job easier by including company information inside your release.
7: How to Write a Summary to Maximize Engagement
The aim of the Press Release summary is to outline your news for easy to read. The summary is what readers is likely to look once they have read the headline. The summary must inform them if they want to read the full announcement or not. If possible, describe it in only 1-2 sentences.
8 Who, What, when, where, and How, and Who Cares?
This is the type of question you should be asking as you compose the body of your press release:
- Who's releasing this course?
- What are the topics that the class will include?
- What time will students be able to take advantage of it?
- What is the location of this firm where is it located, and in which cities are they serving?
- How can the course be accessible?
- In the end, who can benefit by this program?
9: Add A Quote that explains the value of your course
10: The section on About is reserved for the Company, Not the Course.
It is recommended to use the About section in your press release to discuss the company in more detail. When were you founded? What makes your company a pioneer in the field? Answering these questions will give valuable insight to readers as they think about how to best spin the news.
11: Include Media Contact Data
Sometimes the contact information you supply for journalists to call will include the CEO of your company as mentioned in the first part of the press release but larger companies will usually have a PR or marketing person who journalists may contact for questions. If you'd like the media to speak to, this is the person's contact information that should be included in this section.
12 Last but not least, Use links and social Media Assets Wisely
One link that is nearly always included in a press release is the company's principal site. Pages for landing pages may also be added. The online press release can provide you with the benefit of a backlink as well as a place where readers of this release and the articled born from it can go to learn more.
Business Wire is one of the current Press Release submission sites that permits the use of social media resources as well as plain website links. The likelihood is that other websites will comply with the trend. Therefore, if you're incorporating social media assets there's a possibility that you'll require more than just your Twitter account's URL.
Here's a detail of a tweet that was from Yardi's Press Release:
It's not just the right length; it is also the ideal tweet for all of us. Here's why:
- It's complete.
- Relevant.
- It makes good use of #hashtags.
- It connects back to the @Yardi profile on Twitter.
- It is less than 140 characters.
- There is room for the inclusion of a hyperlink.
Each one of these factors is crucial to an effective tweet. Your tweet may or may not bring the attention of your press release or website that's why you need to fully optimise it to have the best chances of successful. Be sure any tweets that you add to your press release have all the attributes listed above.
Online Tools to Utilize When Creating Your Press Release
It is possible to write all this stuff on your own using the guidelines presented above however, using online tools will help you write it much more easily. Test these tools, and then use the ones you enjoy to create the new press release.
- Portently's Headline Generator - Your headline is the primary component of your entire press release. If you do not nail it then your press release may fail. Utilize your Headline Generator to come up with witty ideas, then modify them to be appropriate.
- the Headline Analyzer of CoSchedule The Headline Analyzer is a no-cost tool that analyzes your headlines in order to ensure that are viral-ready. It's actually designed for blog posts but the grader is very useful to analyze all kinds of headlines, and will work well for press releases.
- Title Capitalization - If you're like me it's difficult to remember if your should capitalize certain terms in titles or headline. When you have this problem take a look at this no-cost Title Capitalization tool.
- Instant Press Release In this section, you are able to sign up for limited use of a tool that will help you generate a perfectly formated press release. All you need to do it enter the information, and it will be done automatically for you.
- Hashtagify - Whether or not you choose to publish your announcement via Business Wire, or somewhere else, you will probably be tempted to tweet about it anyway. Make use of Hashtagify to find out what your most popular hashtags for #niche may be.
- Social Mention to see how people are engaging with your news and tweets, take a look at the real-time search engine for social media and analysis tool.
Distribution of your Press Release to major news sites
When you've completed your Press Release (one which includes all twelve elements outline previously!) to promote your online course The next step is to release your Press Release to journalists as well as news outlets. An established service that will help you with this for you is PR Web. As a payment they'll distribute your Press Release to every major website as well as search engines on the internet, making sure that it is in the hands of journalists and consumers who are interested in it.
Marry McAleavey is an elearning enthusiast and content specialist at Essay Service. She is constantly striving to achieve new heights through the marketing and promotion of content.
Press release screen shots sourced from: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160524005001/en/Fair-Housing-Yardi-eLearning on June 7, 2016.