The Software Developer's Press Release FAQ - Part 2 of 5

Last month, I described how you can use a press release campaign to increase your software sales. This month, I'll talk about the mechanics of crafting a press release that will present your company and products professionally to the magazine and newspaper editors.

Q: Who should write my press release?

A press release is not an interesting story about your software. It's a well-designed, tightly-written marketing piece that performs a two-stage sales process. First, you have to sell the editors the notion that they have a lot of readers who would benefit by hearing about your application. Second, you have to convince the publications' readers that they should buy your program. And you have to do all of this without resorting to sales hype.

You could write your press release yourself, or you could hire a public relations professional to write it for you. Here are some things that you should consider when making that decision:

Writing Ability

Like most skills, the ability to write press releases is enhanced with practice. There's no magic here. But there are some important guidelines, discussed in this FAQ, that you'll want to follow.

Product Knowledge

You know your product best. This is both a strength and a weakness. You might be too close to your product. Your love affair with a program feature that took you seven weeks to write isn't going to help you write a balanced press release. It may be better if you give the writing assignment to somebody who is at arm's length from the details of your application.

If you choose to hire a professional marketing person to write your press release, be sure that she or he has a background in computer software. If a good writer doesn't know computers, they're not going to produce a good press release.

Competitive Knowledge

Writing a press release is more of an exercise in marketing than in writing. In addition to understanding your product, your press release writer needs to understand your competitors' products and how you want to position your product in the marketplace. Is yours the most powerful or the easiest to use or the best supported or the least expensive or the best in any number of other categories? And how should your press release be written so that your strong points are emphasized viz-a-viz the other entrants in the field? Be sure that your press release writer understands the computer market.

Q: What should my press release be about?

By a wide margin, the best topic for a software developer's press release should be the release of a new application, or the release of a significant new version of an existing program. You can expect some ink if you announce strategic alliances, financial results, officer appointments, contests, and awards. But the bread-and-butter information that excites software editors revolves around new applications that can benefit their readers.

Q: What should I emphasize in my press release?

Use the first sentence to define your software, and put it in context. Use the second sentence to say why your application is different from - and better than - your competitors' products.

Your press release should be consistent with your web site and all of your other advertising and promotion. Use the same positioning to describe your product, and its features and benefits.

You can't pretend that you're marketing a 1-size-fits-all product that will meet every need of every user. You have to look at the universe of software products that includes both yours and your competitors' and ask questions like: Am I the newest product (with the newest technology?) Am I the oldest product (with the most established, credible and bug-free track record?) Am I the least expensive product (so that everybody can afford to buy me?) Am I the most expensive product (and worth every penny?) Am I the most powerful product (with every feature known to humankind?) Am I the easiest product to use (without my competitors' superfluous features?)

Who are your competitors? How are they really positioned in the marketplace? How are they pretending to be positioned? How are they perceived to be positioned? Which of their vulnerable areas do you want to address in your press release? Use your press release to tell the world how you want your application to be perceived.

Q: What writing style should I use?

The way you should write it is the way you would say it to a friend, if you could choose your words carefully. Don't use $5.00 words when 50-cent words will do. Don't use computer jargon that somebody might not understand. Editors aren't impressed by cutesy phrases. Editors are impressed by clarity. Prospects aren't impressed by obscure words. Prospects are impressed by clarity. Editors don't tell their readers about things that they (the editors) don't understand. And prospects don't buy things they don't understand.

Q: Should I use active voice, passive voice, or a mix of both?

Try to write all your sentences in the active voice. Every sentence should be in the format "Subject does something to Object." No sentence should be in the format "Object has something done to it by Subject." Here are some examples of the same thoughts written in both active and passive voice: Always use active voice. Active voice should always be used. XYZ Corp has released Widget. Widget has been released by XYZ.

Passive voice is ideal for confusing people and for avoiding responsibility. Passive voice is good for political press conferences, and bad for press releases: I made some mistakes. Some mistakes have been made. I uncovered some program bugs. Some program bugs have been uncovered.

Most importantly, editors won't print passive voice press releases. (Passive voice press releases won't be printed by editors ). And since editors won't print press releases that are written in the passive voice, they'll either rewrite your press release - which is unlikely - or choose another company's press release.

The bottom line: Use active voice.

Next month, in Part 3 of The Software Developer's Press Release FAQ, I'll give you tips and tricks for formatting your press release. You'll learn techniques that press release professionals use to gain the confidence of magazine and newspaper editors. If you missed last month's introduction to this series of articles, please visit http://www.tucows.com/article/2373.