The Anatomy of a Press Release
All press releases have some common components: the headline, the body, company information, and contact information. For an iPhone and iPad app press release, you will want to have a headline, body, company website, and a link to your app. An example of an iPhone app press release is shown in Figure 9.4 and includes all of the previously mentioned components.
Housepiant 411 iPnone App Announces New update
Scottsdale. -Z Jan 12,2010 in iPhone
[prHaccom| Camp Verde, A/ - JAJUIF i nterprises. LLC today announced thai an upgrade to its hesl-seiling indoor housepiant consultant application. Housepiant 411 (TM)vl.i.fof the IPhone and IPod Touch, is now available Tor download on Apple s App store, in us newest version of this best-selling aw, Housepiant -411 hat added 20 now houseplanls to its database bringing the total to 70. Search torrns have also been expanded to indude ttie degree of difficulty of plant care, making the tool more versatile for any experience level. An entirely new section on plant propagation has been added and is appropriately linked to indMrtual plant screens
Housepiant 411 creator and indoor plant «pert Judy Feldstoin commented, "We've broadened die scope of our coverage tor indoor plants in this release, enabling literally millions oi homeowners and businesses lo ohlain accurate adrtce for the care of many of the moat popular indoor plants. Housepiant 411 is a limes a^ng and money saving app allowing you to quictty diagnose existing indoor plant care concerns and to Select the best plants prior to purchase for your particular indoor eri'.i i onment based on ternperatoi e and lighting lecotnmeridalions."
iPhone and lF'od Touch users hate a simple yel powerful tool al ineir disposal lo help diagnose plant problems and restore the health otlheir indoor plants. As in the original version, this app goes well beyond just prodding indoor plant recommendations. Don t see a particular plant In the app or still haw questions'7 Housepiant 411 irtdudes the inaedibly populai "Ask Judy" fealure allowing you to send an email to HouseplantConsutt with a photo of your plant and your question. The experts at Housepiant Consult will promptfy get back to you with the answer to your indMrtual plant problem
Housepiant 411 features indude.
* Browse 70 houseplants in alphabetical order
' Search Tor recommended houseplants based on lighting requirements, ease or care, plant usage, suitability Tor offices, nowenng. and those that clean the air.
* Create unique lists Of your favorite indoor plants for Mure i eference
* Get help for any plant question with the 'Ask Judy" feature
* F ind numerous links and articles, lips and indcs Tor plan! care with Ihe push of a lew buttons
Device Requiiements.
* iPhone or iPod Touch 3.0 or later
Pricing and Availability:
Housepiant 411 is 54.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through Hie App Stole in Ihe Lifestyle category.
Housepiant 411 Qrt.1) Purchase and Download
HouseplanlConsult is your personal online plant arMsor F minded by a profeaslonal plantscaper and infenor plant designer with lib years expeitence. HouseplantConsutt provides as.iee to thousands or indoor plant owners in homes and offices around trie won a through its popular iPhone App. Housepiant 411 and its "Ask Judy" eledionic request line. Copyright (C) 2010 JAMF Enterprises, LLC. All Rights Reserved Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
When using one of the online organizations to launch and distribute your press release, you can write up the press release using Word and then you simply copy and paste into their online forms. We will discuss several of the more popular online PR firms at the end of this chapter.
The format for an iPhone and iPad app press release is fairly standard. Once you have created one press release, you can use the same layout for other press releases you may create in the future. The biggest challenge of the press release is not the layout but writing the creative copy to convey your message. This is where the key values that you identified in Chapter 2, "What Makes a Winning iPhone/iPad App?" will come in handy. You will want to use those key value statements in either the headline or the body of your press release. Table 9.1 shows the elements of an iPhone app press release along with each section's characteristics.
Figure 9.4 An example of an iPhone app press release.
|
Table 9.1 iPhone and iPad App Press Release Components and and Chacteristics | |
|
Components |
Characteristics |
|
Headline |
Eye-catching, 20 words or fewer |
|
Summary |
Builds off headline, two sentences |
|
Body |
Supporting content, two to three paragraphs |
|
Contact Info |
Your website, link to iTunes App Store |
Writing Your Headline
Your headline is the first component of your press release and will be displayed at the top of your press releases' webpage. The headline is where you attract the reader's attention and entice them to read on. This sentence or two must be crisp and provocative. This is your hook to get the reader pulled in. If you fail to capture the reader in the headline, the chances of them reading on are slim.
You also want to make sure that you are using keywords or phrases in your headline that will be picked up by search engines. These keywords will help your press release to be pushed along when prospects perform a search. For example, the phrase "new iPhone/iPad game" or "new iPhone/iPad app" works well to help your headline to be picked up by Google, Yahoo!, and others. Here are a couple of examples of good and not so good headlines:
Not so good headline:
"iPhone Developer Announces New iPhone Game" Good headline:
"New, Highly Interactive iPhone Game RasterBlaster HS Math Hits iTunes App Store This Week"
Not so good headline:
"Scientific iPhone/iPad App Ready to Sell on App Store This Week" Good headline:
"Science4School Group Releases New Chemtastic iPhone/iPad App for High School Students on App Store"
Not so good headline:
"New iPhone/iPad App Helps People with Their Bills" Good headline:
"New MoreMoney iPhone/iPad App Helps People Manage Their Finances and Save Money Instantly"
Hopefully you see the differences between headlines in the three examples. You have to approach writing the headline from the standpoint that your reader knows absolutely nothing about your app. Often when writing, we take leaps in our explanations because our minds tend to fill in the blanks. You must assume that your reader will not fill in any blanks about your app. You must clearly state what you're announcing.
Use the name of your app in your product announcement. If someone does a search for educational games, for example, your app's press release and product website are more likely to show up because you have seeded the search results.
Notice that your headline should not be lengthy. Most headlines are 20 words or fewer. Again, this will challenge your writing skills to see how crisp you can be in creating a headline that is eye-catching and includes your app's name, your brand's name (if you have one), and some keywords to help those search engines find you.
Your headline must also be a lead in to your summary which will be discussed in the next section. The headline is the setup for the entire press release. Your reader must be able to grasp immediately the essence of your announcement so that they want to know more about it and will read on, at least to the summary section. If you can get a reader to read the headline and the summary, they are most likely to read the body of the press release as well.
Summary Copy
The next step in writing a successful iPhone and iPad app press release is to create a powerful summary statement. The summary builds off the headline and is two to three sentences that succinctly cover what your press release is all about. With your headline and summary statement, your reader must be able to grasp all the key information about your app and why this is a newsworthy announcement. If you can get your audience to read these two pieces of information, you are well on your way to having a successful press release.
The summary does not need to repeat the heading, but you can add some additional flavor about your app and why it's game changing for your reader. For example, you can include the name of your company or brand if you didn't already do it in the headline. You can expand on the headline by adding more detail about the app and its importance to your reader. You want to highlight unique characteristics of your app or explain a new angle on an old problem. In the headline, you are announcing to the world that you have a better mousetrap. In the summary, you're basically explaining why you have the better mousetrap.
Keep in mind that you also want to include keywords and phrases in the summary statement that you believe will be popular with search engines. Again, write your press release with an eye toward how someone might search for your app and make sure those keywords are being used in your headline and summary. These keywords include iPhone, iPad, iPhone and iPad apps, game apps, educational apps, lifestyle apps, (any App Store category that fits your app), App Store, iTunes, Apple, smart-phones, mobile phones, and so on.
Using several examples from the previous section, we now add summary statements to them:
Headline:
"New, Highly Interactive iPhone Game RasterBlaster HS Math Hits iTunes App Store This Week"
Summary:
"RasterCorp expands its lineup of iPhone game apps by adding a new interactive math game geared to high school students. RasterBlaster offers four levels of play incorporated into learning modules for algebra, geometry, and trigonometry."
Headline:
"New MoreMoney iPhone/iPad App Helps People Manage Their Finances and Save Money Instantly"
Summary:
"MoreMoney takes the hard work out of shopping and budgeting by helping you build your own shopping list with prices automatically imported through bar code scanning. Take the MoreMoney app with you to the grocery store, scan items you typically purchase and see your total before you get to the checkout line!"
The summary should also serve as a transition to the body of your press release. Again, the headline should link to the summary which should link to the body of your press release. Remember to give the reader more information than you gave them in the headline. A press release is designed to lead the reader down a path of wanting to know more and more information about your app.
Continue reading here: Cross Selling and UpSelling
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