By Nettie Hartsock
We all know that white papers are primarily written to educate and attract new customers. But you should not forget that white papers can also attract journalists and media coverage about your company. This attraction and coverage can bring you more customers.
The following are some tips to follow when sending out press releases associated with a new white paper’s publication on your site or its addition to a white paper library.
1. Just the facts, ma’am - Keep the facts concise. Bulleted lists, an easy-to-read style, are much more effective than long paragraphs or excerpts from your groundbreaking white paper.
2. Pitch, pitch and re-pitch - Think about doing a couple of different releases about your white paper with different angles targeted at different verticals. For instance, if your product works exceedingly well in both the legal and financial arena, then come up with two releases that highlight specifically how it works well within those arenas and target your release to the publications that cover those in-depth.
3. Keep it to a page - If you can’t say it in a page, a journalist can’t pitch it in less than two minutes to his or her editor. What this means is keep your release down to a page. Journalists regularly scour wires for good topical stories to pitch in their hurried and often harried conversations with editors. They have to pitch quickly, and so does your release to garner their interest.
4. Address the who, what, where, when and why - All of these questions might not come into play for a white paper release. On the other hand they may, especially if you’re doing a webinar or podcast in conjunction with the white paper release. Make certain you list all the pertinent information for the 5 W’s.
5. Relevancy is key - Keep the release relevant to your audience. Keep it simple and don’t use a lot of high-tech jargon or flowery phrasing to build up the release.
6. Congruency in messaging - Keep your message aligned with the white paper content and topic coverage. For example, if your white paper is highlighting ways for companies to capitalize on search, make certain your release focuses around search as its core.
7. A top “X” list - Use a “Top 10 List” for a headline or sub-headline and then spell out the top issues covered in the white paper. For example, “The Top 10 Tips for Securing Your Network.”
8. Make it compelling - Remember, your white paper release should serve as the abridged version of your white paper. Pick out the most compelling content in your white paper and highlight it in a short, bulleted style for your release.
9. Context, context, context - Provide historical data, trends and an analyst contact for the reporter to draw on.
10. Contact, contact, contact - Provide direct spokesperson contact information so the reporter can reach someone quickly. You might even want to provide a ready-made quote about the paper and its impact that a reporter can use without contacting you.
A final piece of advice: DON’T GIVE UP! One of the fundamental things I tell people about getting coverage in the media is to always “pitch and swerve,” what that means is don’t give up on the first press release. Keep repurposing your pitch directly to editors and journalists, and tell them why this white paper and its contents mean something to their readership.
About the Author: Nettie Hartsock is a veteran journalist and writer. She specializes in writing powerful case studies for companies and her Professional PR advice blog can be found at http://www.allbusiness.com/blog/ProfessionalPR/2975292/.
