When Fancy Tricks Ruin A Good PR

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April 16th, 2010 by Susie

An online press release should open with an attention-grabbing sentence. A lot of writers spend a lot of time working on getting the opening exactly right. One famed copywriter recommended spending up to 50% of writing time working on the opening of a press release or piece of copy. All of this adds up to the strong message that a good opening counts for a lot.

What people generally fail to say is that simplicity tends to impress much more than a fancy opening. With all of the pressure on to write up a grabby opening sentence, it can be tempting to try something spectacular. The old cliché of ‘STOP! Now that we’ve got your attention…’ comes to mind here. When you’re desperate to grab people’s attention, it can seem logical to do just about anything. When you write this sort of thing it can get you into trouble when the reader moves on from the first sentence.

Readers react best to a straightforward approach. The average internet user is short on time and even shorter on patience. A well-written opening that simply informs is more likely to encourage them to read on, as long as they’re interested in the subject. If they aren’t, the rest of the press release isn’t going to interest them in any case.

Simplicity is the secret to online press release success. The absolute best opening line is one that lays out your subject neatly. Talk to us at Click Consult about web marketing press release writing. Convey important information first, and worry about wowing your audience later.

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