Corporate news and press releases tell more about the company than the words in their texts. The quality of the news section on the website redesign is one of the indicators of the corporate culture, the qualifications of the company’s management, and the desire to take into account the generally accepted standards of written design of news materials.
Wise is the one who knows not much, but the right thing. Not any corporate news is intended for publication in the mass media. Some press releases should be left on the site, others should be sent to a narrow base of experts, and only some of them should be presented to the general public.
Press-release is corporate information, which is intended for publication on external resources. The press release differs from the company’s news by the fact that here the information is more important and the requirements to the design of the material are higher.
What is a press release?
The traditional definition of a press release (the company’s press release) has partially lost its relevance. First of all, the press release is usually intended not for print media, but for electronic publications of various formats. Secondly, a press release is not always an information message for the media.
The company’s news is prepared first of all for the clients, taking into account the interests of the clients and the company’s development strategy. But any person can read press releases. Both the interested student and the director of the state department responsible for supervision of the company’s activities. That is why it is important to provide both the message and the quality of information.
The press release is prepared according to the rules and templates adopted by the company, taking into account the standards set by major international brands when publishing their news. There are no strict rules, but there are recommendations to follow.
In terms of design of the material, the recommended blocks of the text of the press release are as follows: title, lead paragraph, indication of the date and place of the event, description of the event or process, explanation of the topicality of the topic, speaker’s quote, reference about the company, contacts of the press service.
Target audience of press releases and corporate news
The target audience of a company is people who are connected or may be connected with the company’s business and may bring it money. They evaluate the company’s services and products described on the website and in private reviews.
A press release is published on the company’s website. Additionally, the text, which has been prepared according to the template, is sent out to the editorial offices.
If it is not a sensation, not paid advertising, agreements on publication were not made and the text does not need to be urgently made available to the public, it is not paid attention to.
Hundreds and thousands of unseen press releases hang in the mails of media observers. And due to overly active mailing, it is possible to get into the spam folder as well.
It is believed that it is possible to increase the chances of publication by calling after the mailing, follow-up. It not absolutely so.
This means that the main platform for the publication of the press release is the company’s own publications (website, corporate media). With their help, the information becomes available to customers – the main target audience.
Clients are interested in the services and products of the company, its unique trade offer, the advantages of its brand and business. Therefore, the press release should draw attention to the proposals that the company promotes in the first place.
For example, the tender procedure hardly takes into account the activity of the contractor in the media and its press releases.
Therefore, news materials should be closely related to the company’s business, provide useful information for potential customers and be a continuation of messages that the company wants to convey to its customers.
Info Reasons for News Preparation
Depending on the size of the business, development strategy, marketing promotion costs, the company will generate news in several or many thematic areas. Among the main information reasons are the following:
informing about a new product or service, a brief description of its qualities and advantages as compared to its analogues;
Qualitative or organizational improvements of the company’s client services;
Cooperation agreements with new partners and large corporate clients;
Entering new markets, starting work in new directions, opening new branches;
participation in external events (conferences, exhibitions, seminars) as a speaker, as well as a participant, if the company has paid for the participation of employees for the purpose of their training;
Corporate social responsibility projects, including charitable activities; reporting on human resources appointments and resignations in management, as well as significant changes in staff numbers;
Investments in new projects, acquisitions of competitors and partners working in related business areas;
conducting socially important research, publishing market research results;
Report on marketing campaigns being prepared and conducted;
Reports on the financial condition of the company, including annual reports;
Important internal corporate events: anniversaries of the company, its products or services, obtaining licenses and international certificates;
statements by the company’s executives on changes in the corporate style, implementation of innovative programs, assessment of market problems in the sector;
Crisis communications: refuting rumours and slander of the company, comments on pressing issues.
Press releases and news of the company, unlike the author’s publications in the media, are written by specialists of the company. Therefore, the thematic diversity of the news section on the website allows us to draw conclusions on how the company is developing.