Captivating an Audience

As I continue to read Share This, social media news releases were brought up.  Social media allows individuals to stay current on breaking news and other events happening in the world through the numerous channels.  Share This brought up elements that should be included in order to publish a successful release.  In order to be a good press release, it needs to be based on facts and have a well-targeted audience. 

After the content has been established, a headline is key in order to captivate the audience.  Personally, I think this is crucial to creating a good news release.  People will often skim the headlines before they decide which article to read.  If the headline isn’t short and captivating, it probably won’t get very much attention.  The headline should tell a story, as well as contain keywords that allow the article to be searched.

Another element that is critical in creating a successful news release is the introductory paragraph.  If done right, the audience should already be enticed based on the headline.  Because of this, you don’t want to let your audience down with the content.  The introductory paragraph should express the main message while answering key questions.  You don’t want the reader to get bored and stop reading.  By having a strong introductory paragraph, the audience will want to finish reading the release to learn all the details of the event.  I know if I am reading an article and get bored, then I typically will not continue reading the story.  By starting with a strong headline and introductory paragraph, the social media news release may get read in its entirety.