8 Tips for Writing a Press Release for a SaaS company

Why do you need a Press Release for your SaaS Company?

With a myriad of SaaS companies in the market, the sector is becoming increasingly crowded, and competition is high. There are always new startups, new products, and new ways that experts find to attract customers. Given this, it’s a challenge to stand out from the competition as a SaaS company.

Surely, SaaS software is very useful to their customers, but with the saturation of products in the market, making yours gain traction becomes difficult. It could seem nearly impossible to get your SaaS products to catch the attention of the media, and increasing your outreach needs a better approach. So if you want to attract the attention of the media while blowing up your sales, it’s important to find the right mode of communication. Here’s where press releases come in.

Press releases grant you exposure in the market that is challenging to find otherwise. You get to share your story and get featured without much effort, thanks to PR distribution companies. Sure, it’s important to create unique and engaging content that appeals to your customers, but that’s all you need to do. The rest is your PR company’s responsibility. 

To gain market visibility, you need to think outside the box and attract a larger audience, and press release distribution is your gateway to increased outreach. Through unique offerings, PR companies help you reach your target audience while maximizing your outreach. For example, maybe you want to reach audiences that are not yet aware of SaaS but are more than likely to benefit from your service; a PR company with demographic and geographic targeting options will reach this specific set of people effectively and won’t miss the mark. 

Press releases are an excellent way to communicate to the media and your potential customers without seeming blatant in your marketing efforts; you also get to brag about what your software offers without sounding inauthentic. If you offer superior reporting, security, ease of use, analytical capabilities, or any other feature that make you unique compared to your competition, write about it. Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll gain by distributing press releases:

• • Increased Visibility: Press releases are written strategically to boost search engine optimization (SEO) through backlinking. Therefore, your company website, through SEO and backlinking, will start to pop up in the first few search engine results. This is an advantage, especially if you’re in the starting phases of your business and need a boost. Your tech firm will benefit from brand awareness and gain potential investors.
  • Return on Investment:
    Press release distribution services can cost a lot, but there are plenty of affordable options in the market. Regardless of how much you invest, your return on investment will surely be higher. Along with the benefits of SEO and online advertising, press releases will drive customers to your product pages and multiply your sales. 
  • Build Brand Image:
    Increasing your outreach also increases the familiarity and reliability of your brand. Disseminating factual and helpful information attracts and retains your customers. Along with that, consumer alert releases help maintain your reputation. Alerting the customers about necessary software updates and security breaches helps diffuse crises. Through similar information sharing, press releases grant you control over the news about your SaaS company.
  • Keep Your Customers Updated:
    Along with customer alert releases, you also share announcements about your tech firm via press releases. These announcements keep your customers updated about product launches, events, partnerships, etc.

8 Steps of Writing a Press Release for a SaaS Company

Plan Ahead 

There are several announcements SaaS companies can make by writing press releases. Some of these include product updates, mergers and partnerships, and new hires. You might know your story but what ensures that it’s picked up by journalists is how you tell it. A golden rule for writing press releases is that you should never publish a press release for the sake of publishing a press release. It’s better to make sure that your news is informative and important first. A successful press release requires a breakthrough story to back it up. 

Suppose your company secured funding recently. If it’s much lower than the industry average, it’s best to wait for another opportunity to write a press release. Similarly, unless your new software product provides real value to your customers, wait before publishing a press release. Insignificant updates or commonplace products are generally overlooked. To sum it up, press releases should always cover important information.

Write for the Media and Find a Newsworthy Angle

Although press releases help you reach your desired audience, writing your press release for editors will guarantee success. This ensures that your story will be picked up and shared on a magazine, news article, news website, or other news media. Keep in mind that journalists go through thousands of press releases daily, so tailor your press release to make it stand out. 

You can write a successful press release by finding a newsworthy angle. Some excellent examples include:

• • Local Impact: how is your tech firm impacting the local community?
  • Progress: Is your story elaborating upon the progress you’ve made in solving a specific problem in your industry?
  • Conflict: is your press release addressing a conflict?

Remember, the editor is just the middleman that conveys the value proposition you’re making to your customer. Therefore, using a customer-oriented approach will help you write a newsworthy press release. Ask yourself, what problem does your news solve, what need does it address, or what goal have you achieved, and what are its impacts? Although your press release is mainly written for journalists (as will be discussed later in this article), focusing on the impacts it will have on your customers and your industry is an effective approach.

Follow the Right Template

Press releases are a more formal means of communication, and writers follow the appropriate templates for writing them. Below is how you should format your SaaS company press release:

• Dateline: write the location and date of publication here.
• Headline: keeping your headline concise generates interest. 
• Company Logo: attaching your company logo helps you form a good first impression on your customers.
• First Paragraph: use the first paragraph (also called “lead”) to answer all the main questions of who, what, where, when, why in a to-the-point, informative manner.
• Body Paragraphs: build on your story using quotes.
• Boilerplate: write about your company in this section.
• Call to action: this is the section where you can ask customers to take action. 
• Contact Information: mentioning a point of contact will help journalists and customers reach out to you. 

Sticking to an AP-style format and writing based on the template mentioned above will make it easier for journalists to read through it.

Use Data and Quotes

Your aim is to write an informative and helpful press release that contains authentic and reliable information. Leading with eye-catching facts and figures in the introductory paragraph will engage the reader and make them want to read ahead. 

Similarly, the body paragraphs should include data that backs up your initial statement, and quotes from your organization help humanize your story. For example, a quote from your company’s CEO can elaborate upon what’s unique about your SaaS company, what your company goals are, and how you are incorporating them. Another approach of including quotes is to add quotes from other industry experts in the form of reliable reviews. These build your tech firm’s reputation and also make you stand out from your competitors. 

Promote Sales

Let’s face it, your primary drive to write a press release is a return on investment (ROI). Sure, exceptions like charitable endeavors do exist, and your aim could also be to improve your brand image, but the value of distributing a press release generally comes in the form of a desirable ROI. To market your product properly and promote sales, focus on your value proposition. 

A call to action helps your customer find you and buy your product. No matter the reason you’re writing your press release, a CTA is one of the primary means of driving revenue for your company through your release. 

If you’re writing about new software or a product update, focus on how revolutionary it is and how customers will benefit from it. Writing about minor changes in your SaaS product is not as newsworthy.

Hire a Professional Press Release Writing Service

If you want to ensure that things are done right and your press release is written in a way that ensures press release success, hire a professional PR writer. Some tech firms have experts that can craft up a worthwhile press release. With that said, there’s a major difference between technical writing and press release writing. PR professionals and PR companies help you gain traction with editors and the media. 

Use a Targeted Approach

Targeting your audience using geographic and demographic information helps it reach the right people. If you’re writing a press release, target it towards your desired audience and pitch it to the right journalists. Tech industry executives and journalists working with the tech industry are your best bet at getting heard. You can also use a PR distribution service to help target your approach and effectively reach your target audience.

Distributing using the right networks with a targeted approach will increase your outreach and drive sales. A good idea is to make a media list of editors and reporters that you would benefit from pitching your press release to. Writing a pitch email for your press release can also get your press release in the right hands. 

Time Your Press Release Right

There are two ways that you can time your press release correctly. Firstly, keeping up with market trends and writing and publishing your press release accordingly. Secondly, timing when to send your press release. 

Timing your press release is also a part of your planning phase. Using data gathered about your industry, what your competitors are currently offering, and the like will help you gain to time your press release right and ensure that you have an exclusive story. 

Another factor in timing your press release is when you send it for publishing. Most stories that are sent on a Friday usually get buried, so sending it early in the week is in the best of your interests. Keep in mind that since editors are swarmed with press releases on Mondays, it’s best to send it on Tuesday. 

Conclusion

iCrowdNewswire hopes that this article helped you with writing just the right press release for your SaaS company’s story. In summary, planning ahead and writing with a strategic approach that keeps your audience and goals in mind are the key elements in the success of your press release.