How to write an efficient email press release

It’s good practice with email newsletters to write a strong subject line and put a brief summary of the matter in the body text with a link to the full text which is stored on a website. The same is true for press releases sent by email, although almost no-one does it.

I was reminded of this when I received the following press release from Cambridge Consultants (a cool reseach company):

In order to fill the large gap in the market for cost and performance sensitive ASIC processors, Cambridge Consultants has developed XAP4, a brand new 16-bit RISC microprocessor IP core. XAP4 is aimed at ASIC designers who currently use larger and more expensive 32-bit processor cores and where an advanced 16-bit core would offer both optimal performance and a reduction in cost.

To see the full story please see

http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/news_en159.shtml

The subject matter is quite technical but the principle is clear and would work for most kinds of press releases. The brevity of the summary forces them to concentrate on the key points (“optimal performance and a reduction in cost” to my mind) without any waffle.

From my perspective as a reader it is an efficient use of my time. I can scan this in a couple of seconds and decide if it is going to be useful to me. If it is, the call to action is very clear and I can go to the website.

This approach also has the merit of making it easier to track the READERSHIP of the email rather than the DISTRIBUTION. You can send out a million press releases but if no-one reads them, you might as well not have bothered. However, Cambridge Consultants can track the number of people clicking through to the webpage and see what percentage of recipients are actually following up on the story. Once on the landing page they could also have contact details and other PR collateral.

Data-driven PR. Now that would be a first!

Related posts:

1. The curious non-death of the press release
2. What’s the best way to follow up an email press release?
3. Write press release headlines that make sense
4. Press release Frankenquotes
5. Unintended press release disclosures