Promoting a new app or software – Four tips to create an effective press release
In today’s market overflowing with new apps, and the software-as-a-service (SaaS) segment crowded with new business solutions, it’s imperative to take advantage of all potential marketing channels to reach the intended consumer with the message of why your product is better. To successfully market software you must provide a superior user experience. From a new accounting system to a smartphone app, user experience is key to conversions – they need to try it to want to buy it. A press release is critical to inform journalists and customers about your new product/service. The underlying objective is to attract traffic to a landing page that has all the bells and whistles to convert visitors into users. Promoting a new app or software can be much more easy with a proper press release.
In the ultra-competitive tech industry, a well-written press release touting your product’s unique features can attract high-value media attention
This means the press release needs to describe your product in detail without getting too technical and promote the things about your new app – or new version of an existing app – that make it new, different and better than the competition. Just as important, the release needs to drive traffic to your online sales funnel by detailing the superior and entertaining or educational user experience to be found on your website.
Craft a Short, Information-Heavy Headline
A superior press release will provide all the pertinent information in an engaging manner in 500 words or less. This exercise is key to nailing down your company’s true mission and honing in on the most important user experiences your product reliably delivers. Now, further sharpen your message into a short headline. Use five to 10 words to tell the world what company is releasing what product when and where.
Tout Key Features Your Summary/Sub-Headline
The summary is three lines of type where you further describe your product and its key features. Do not waste words by repeating the information in the headline. Stay away from ad-speak and meek the content newsworthy. This is your chance to hook the reader and make them want to consume more of your content.
Write Newsworthy Body Copy
To gain media attention, every press release must be newsworthy, professional, and accurate. Nobody’s going to publish a press release that simply says, “Hey, we made a thing!” Explaining how that thing is going to improve the lives of the people who use it is how your content attracts attention. Detail the benefits of your new/improved product, touching on unique features to make readers intrigued enough to want to interact with it further. Try to imagine what would catch the attention of readers in your target demographics and what would be compelling or entertaining enough to make them want to keep reading, and click on the link to your landing page.
Use Quotes To Inspire Confidence
Within a quote from a company spokesperson is the only place opinion can be expressed in a newsworthy press release. Your CEO be quoted as saying “We have the best customer service team the industry.” Outside a quote, “best” must attributable, for instance, your customer service was voted best in a user poll. Or, “best” can be replaced with “top-selling,” which is a verifiable statement. Outside a quote it’s imperative you never crossing the line from a press release – which is journalism – and an advertisement. Journalists hate advertisements ineffectively disguised as news.
Since you press release will make claims about the product’s effectiveness or desirability, an excellent way to back up these claims is to use quotes from executives, product developers or users. This approach serves two critical purposes: it gives journalists something to pull out of your press release and use in publication; and it inspires confidence within in your readers.
Finish Up With Company Boilerplate
The final paragraph is the place for the “About XYS Software” section. Although it usually is not published, it can be helpful to journalists who want some company background. Follow this paragraph with media contact information, including name, email, direct phone, landing page URL and main company website address. End with ### centered on the last line, the standard method journalists use to indicate “The End.”
Promoting a new app or software – Next Step:
Just as important as creating an interesting and newsworthy press release is getting it into the in-box of all the right journalists and content curators. Faselis Growth will direct your content to all the right industry and consumer media outlets to help your new product earn valuable media exposure and affordably extend the reach of your marketing campaign.
by Jill McCoomber
