How short should your press release headline be?

1. Don’t let your head get cut off by Google.

Best practice: Keep release headlines to 55 characters or fewer.

Why: Google’s search results display only the first 63 characters of your headline. Longer, and your headline will be truncated on search engine results pages. To avoid getting your head cut off on Google, keep headlines to 55 characters or fewer.

How are we doing? According to an analysis of more than 11,000 releases issued over BusinessWire wire service in a 31-day period:

• The average press release headline weighs in at 120 characters.
• Some 79% of releases have headlines longer than 65 characters.
• 2% of releases have headlines longer than 300 characters.
• The longest headline was 2,141 characters long. That’s a story, not a headline!

2. Don’t let your head get cut off by social.

How will your headline look when it shows up on Facebook, Twitter and other social sharing sites?

Best practice: To avoid getting your head cut off on social media, aim for 55 characters or less.

3. Don’t let your head get cut off by mobile.

Best practice: Limit headlines to fewer than 40 characters

Mobile apps and websites often truncate long headlines. To avoid getting your head cut off on mobile apps, follow the Associated Press’s guideline: Keep your headline to 40 characters or less.

4. Don’t get your head cut off by humans.

You have only a few seconds to reach mobile audiences before they swipe left or leave for another site. They want to scan at a glance, not study for a minute.

Plus, long headlines get lost below the fold or take up too much valuable real estate on mobile screens.

Best practice: To avoid getting your head cut off, keep your web head to 8 words or fewer, according to research by The American Press Institute.

But online, shorter’s better. My personal preference is web heads of 6 words or less, or about 30 characters.

Off with your head

Hey, all those extra words aren’t worth losing your head over. So when writing for mobile audiences, write headlines to go. Keep your head short.

But not too short. Google “prefers” headlines of at least 5 words. The shortest headline in Schwartz’s review: 18 characters. That’s not enough room for long-tail keywords or phrases — or to satisfy Google.

And … what’s the right press release length?
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Sources: Andy Bechtel, “Writing Headlines for Digital and Mobile Media,” Poynter News University, Dec. 5, 2013

Eric Ulken, “Writing Online Headlines: SEO and Beyond,” Poynter News University

Eric Ulken, “Writing Headlines for the web 2010,” Poynter News University, July 29, 2010

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Having trouble nailing that “business casual” tone you’re aiming for? Try reading your message aloud — after a friendly greeting or phrase:

“Good morning, honey! In regard to the subject account mentioned above, please find the enclosed statement.”

“By the way, Bob, let’s figure out how we can leverage our bandwidth to incentivize our team to envision an impactful B2E interface, enterprise-wide. I think we can tee this up as a strategic synergy.”

“Long time, no see! The re-writing of the vocabulary of intemporal Irish heritage is a possible vector for submissions on the condition that this transposition is resolutely anchored in the 21st century through a contemporary lens that absolutely avoids drifting into the vernacular.”

“Hi, everyone! I’m so glad you could make this meeting today. We’re going to discuss a very important topic — how we can redefine B2C partnerships, target collaborative infomediaries, harness 24/365 Web services, engage plug-and-play e-commerce, drive proactive models, scale robust experiences and engage transparent models so we can facilitate out-of-the-box ROI. Who’s with me?!”

“Hey, did you hear? This position & objectives are a new addition to the stable of existing Global Lubricant Solutions (GLS) functions. The role participates in the development of the ChevronTexaco Global Lubricants Innovation Solutions Vision and drives cultural change with associated front-end strategies and concepts that eventually become customer-facing differentiable Integrated Solutions.”

I call this the “Hey, did you hear?” test. If your copy sounds like the adults in a Charlie Brown special — “Wah Wah Wah Wah” — after a simple greeting or phrase, chances are, your copy is too stiff, bureaucratic and jargon-filled.

Fix it.

____

Gobbledygook courtesy of: Golden Bull-winning direct mail letter from the Crafts Council of Ireland

Web Economy Bullshit Generator

A job opening announcement at Chevron, published in The Chicago Sun-Times

Hey, did you hear? Is your tone conversational? Then you’re on the right track.

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When Rachel McGrew, manager at Osborn Barr PR, wrote a press release about a client product, she didn’t rely on the PR 101 approaches she learned in college. Instead, she reimagined her release to write for the reader, not for fill-in-the-blanks PR conventions.

Write news releases for the reader, not for fill-in-the-blanks PR conventions.
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“We received way more coverage than we expected,” McGrew said. “We targeted several major national agriculture publications, and the release was picked up by all of them.”

Here’s how to write a press release that focuses on the reader:

1. Write about the reader in the headline.

We think the topic is the topic. But if you want to get read, make the reader the topic of every story.

Do focus your headline on what the reader will get out of the product, service, program or idea:

Farmers: Pen-and-paper crop scouting becomes obsolete

Don’t announce that you’re launching a new product, service, program or idea:

Rev!Co introduces new mobile crop scouting application

Bonus points: Grab attention by calling out to readers in the headline.

Reboot the release: Focus on the reader, not on PR 101 approaches.
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2. Introduce the product in the deck.

The deck, that one-sentence summary after the headline, is soon enough to focus on the product.

Do introduce and define the product and summarize what it will do for your readers:

New mobile application Rev!ID scouts, syncs and saves

Don’t mention partnerships, use hype words (revolutionize) or otherwise gaze at your navel:

Rev!ID Partners with SST Software to Revolutionize Crop Scouting

Bonus points: Rhetorical techniques like alliteration (scouts, syncs and saves) make display copy more eloquent.

3. Show in the lead.

One key to grabbing reader interest in the lead is to show instead of tell.

Do illustrate the problem you’re solving with your product, service, program or idea:

In 2013, tractors can practically drive themselves, and farmers tweet up to five times a day. But crop scouting is still done with pen and paper. This technology gap in the ag industry costs farmers and retailers time and money.

Don’t tell about the product, peppering the first paragraph with your brand name:

The new agriculture crop scouting application, Rev!ID, hit the market last week with a revolutionary approach. Rev!ID is a mobile all-in-one tool that allows crop consultants, growers, retailers and field scouts to work independently or together from a single program. Rev!ID is the first mobile app that allows you to scout more than 300 crops and track/identify over 1,500 issue types.

Bonus points: At 40-words long, the final lead is much more accessible than the 61-word “don’t” version.

4. Tell in the nut graph.

Now that you’ve grabbed the readers’ attention by writing about his needs, explain how you’re going to solve that problem in the second paragraph, aka the “nut graph“:

Do write about what the reader will get, not about what you are selling:

Now crop scouting joins the digital age, thanks to a new software solutions company, Rev!Co. With the company’s scouting application, Rev!ID, farmers and their retailers the can electronically scout and record common crop issues. In real time. …

Don’t write about the partnership or pat yourself and your colleagues on the back with adjectives like innovative and influential:

The use of mobile technology in the field continues to rise, and Rev!ID joins forces with some of the most innovative and influential information technology companies in the world. Among them is SST Software, the leader in agriculture information management.

We think the topic is the topic. But if you want to get read, make the reader the topic of every story.
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5. Focus on people, not things.

It’s the rare reader who cares about what went into the sausage. Instead of focusing on the technology, show your clients using the product, service, program or idea in the field.

Do write about people doing things:

Users can take pictures of scouting events with their mobile device, create field-specific reports and email results to retailers, applicators and growers.

With this tool, users can cross-check photos and diagnoses from the palm of their hands.

Don’t write about the technology behind the stuff:

Rev!ID leverages the power of the SST agX issue and crop taxonomy data. In addition, a revolutionary feature is Rev!ID’s field boundary integration.

6. Use creative techniques.

Creative elements help readers “see” your point.

Do use metaphor, alliteration and other creative devices:

Rev!ID also uses its own “Wiktionary” photo and reference tool to harness the power of groupthink.

Don’t rely on just the facts, ma’am:

With Rev!ID, we integrate a retailer or consultant’s existing SST Summit field boundaries so the scouting information is captured on one set of field records.

7. Lift ideas off of the page with display copy.

News releases still look pretty much the same way they did when Ivy Lee invented the release 106 years ago: like one long river of gray text.

Do make your release more scannable with subheads …

Rev!Co partners with SST Software

Geared for success

… and callouts:

With its powerful tools and timesaving functionality, Rev!ID enhances the value of field scouting in the 21st century.

Don’t leave out the display copy. Readers don’t want to wade through a river of unbroken text.

Read the full release, before and after.

How can you reboot your release to increase interest and coverage?

Reboot the release: Instead of focusing on the stuff, show people using your product, service, program or idea.
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