Press releases aren’t dead yet. They’re still an effective tool to generate publicity for cannabis businesses for a number of reasons. Not only do journalists look for and want press releases to help them write stories, but press releases also offer search engine optimization benefits and more when they’re distributed as part of a strategic content and social media marketing plan.
This summer, PR Newswire conducted a survey to gain insights about press releases from communications professionals across diverse industries and released the results this month in its 2024 State of the Press Release report. Within the data are press release trends that cannabis businesses should know. Integrating these lessons into your publicity strategies could lead directly to more publicity and brand exposure.
Send Enough Press Releases Each Year
According to the data in the 2024 State of the Press Release report, 37% of surveyed organizations send five or fewer press releases per year. 24% of organizations send five to 10 per year, and 21% send 11 to 25 per year. The rest send anywhere from 26 to more than 100 per year.
The data shows there is no perfect number of press releases to send each year, but results from a different PR Newswire report released earlier this year, 2024 State of the Media, provides some insights from journalists to guide you.
In that study, 79% of journalists said they want to receive press releases from companies, and 68% said they think press releases are the most useful type of content that communications professionals provide to them.
Bottom-line, don’t be afraid to send another press release, but do make sure you’re sending relevant releases that journalists actually want to cover.
Write Better Headlines and Include Multimedia
As part of its research process, PR Newswire analyzed press release data across its platform and provided recommendations to help businesses get better results in the future. According to the 2024 State of the Press Release report, three key opportunities related to headlines to keep in mind are using action verbs, considering character count, and using artificial intelligence.
Action verbs can actually generate more views of a press release according to the data. Some of the action words used in press release headlines that correspond with a large number of page views include: announce, launch, acquire, reports/reported, expand, unveil, named/names, unveil, join, appoints/appointed, celebrated/celebrates, and reveal.
In terms of headline character count, the data shows that press releases with headlines between 51 and 75 characters get the most views followed very closely by releases with 76 to 100 characters. Therefore, try to keep your headlines between 51 and 100 characters.
There is a significant drop in views for headlines using fewer than 51 characters. The drop in views for press releases that have headlines between 101 and 150 characters isn’t as great as the drop for headlines with fewer than 51 characters, but it’s still best to stay within the 51-100 range. Try to never exceed 150 characters because views will plummet.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a hot topic in content creation these days, and 26% of communications professionals who responded to PR Newswire’s survey are using it to help them write press releases. Of those respondents, 49% say they use AI to write press release headlines.
With that in mind, test AI for your headline brainstorming and writing and see if it can help you come up with creative, action-oriented headlines within the 51-76 (or 100) character count to get the most views for your releases.
The report shows you should include images or photos with your press releases. Only 37% of survey respondents said they always include multimedia in their press releases, and 12% said they never include images, videos, or photos. That’s a big missed opportunity because 72% of journalists reported in the 2024 State of the Media report said they use the images provided in press releases while 34% use data visualizations and infographics and 33% use videos.
Develop a Broader Distribution Plan
Writing a press release is just the first step. You also need to distribute it. Even if you’re sending it out through a news distribution service, you should still send it directly to journalists who cover stories like yours. However, don’t just send mass, generic email messages to any journalist you can. This is exactly what journalists don’t want.
According to the data in the 2024 State of the Media report, 77% of journalists will put you on their block list if you spam them with irrelevant pitches. Instead, 68% of journalists say the most important thing you can do to get their attention so they actually consider covering your story is to send relevant press releases that show you understand their target audience.
Don’t stop there. Repurpose the content in your press releases to promote the stories across channels and platforms. 83% of respondents to the 2024 State of Press Releases report said they promote their press releases on social media. Interestingly, this is more than the 69% who promote them on news distribution services like PR Newswire or Business Wire. 61% promote their press releases on an online newsroom on their websites, and 43% promote them on their websites but not in a newsroom. Nearly one in 10 (9%) promote their press releases through paid placements (e.g., native advertising, sponsored content), and 11% distribute them to journalists and others directly through email and databases.
Overall, 92% of communications professionals reuse the content in their press releases on other channels to get extended reach and visibility:
Post parts on social media: 48% Write blog posts and articles: 37% Turn release into a video: 10% Other: 5%One simple press release can turn into so many different things and travel so far. It doesn’t take long to write one, but the effects can be far-reaching, so always create a full distribution plan for every release.
Key Takeaways for Cannabis Businesses
Press releases are underutilized by cannabis businesses. Whether yours is a business-to-business or business-to-consumer company, you can effectively use press releases written about newsworthy topics to raise awareness of your brand, products, and services. Then, leverage the content in your press releases to distribute the stories even further. The brand visibility your company can get from press releases can lead to significant growth and sales in the future.