In companies with an active PR (public relations) program, your press releases may be the most frequently updated professional content you produce.  If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you know that a key component to effective inbound marketing (where prospects find you when they are looking for your products and services) is to create and publish lots of content.  For instance, we’re trying to attract marketing people and business owners to HubSpot, and we write this blog which targets that audience with related information.  So, how can you leverage your press releases for additional content?  In addition to publishing the press release on your own website, you can often re-write it a bit and end up with a great blog article.

Tips to Turn a Press Release into a Blog Article

1. Pick the right press releases.  A press release about some company accomplishment might not be that interesting as a blog article.  But, a customer case study might be really good, as well as any news releases about industry trends, survey data, etc.  Avoid the “we sold our 100th customer” story and focus on the “a survey by Company XYZ indicates industry growth will be 18% next year” type of story.

2. Remove promotional content.  Most blogs are not successful if they are a shameless pitch for your company.  Many press releases are, in fact, a shameless pitch for your company.  If your press release is telling the world how great you are, it either needs to be re-written or it is not a good candidate to be turned into a blog article (see point #1).  The most successful blogs are informative and do not have an overt sales pitch.

4. Add key learnings or key takeaways.  Press releases are usually pretty factual.  Blog readers love lists, summaries and actionable content.  This means your writing needs to be very scan-able, and its a plus if there are step by step instructions to follow your advice or implement your suggestions.  (For instance, like this list of ideas for re-using press releases on a blog.