5 Tips To Market Your LMS With A Polished Press Release

5 Tips To Market Your LMS With A Polished Press Release
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Summary: The press release has always been a quick and easy way to launch a new product. How can you revamp this typical medium to really push your Learning Management System?

How To Market Your LMS With A Polished Press Release

The standard script for a product or service launch is to call a press conference and release a pre-printed statement. Sometimes, the press release is submitted online with no live event to accompany it. It’s a useful tool and remains popular because it’s cost-effective and results-driven. It allows room for detailed product specs and offers a tangible reference point. However, from the consumer perspective, press releases can seem dull and uninviting. They often get skimmed over and are soon forgotten. Is there a way to make yours stand out? Here are 5 top tips to market your LMS product with a memorable press release.

eBook Release: Build The Buzz On A Budget: How To Promote Your LMS Online And Boost Profits
eBook Release
Build The Buzz On A Budget: How To Promote Your LMS Online And Boost Profits
A useful tool for Marketing professionals in the Learning Tech industry who want to make an impact.

1. Start It Off Right

The first thing anyone notices in a text-based piece is the headline. The norm with press releases is to use something dull and straightforward. While this may summarize your concept, it will prompt readers to skip right past it. What you want is a descriptive line with a twist, something that makes consumers stop, think, and read further.

With a press release, you can use a longer headline than other forms of writing. Up to 15 words are allowed, so use them well. Instead of just saying that you have a new LMS, tell readers what it can do for them. For example, "Excite your workforce with a fun new way to acquire corporate skills" or "Improve your memory with 5 minutes of eLearning every day".

2. Find The Right Angle

From a corporate perspective, a press release is "free publicity". You’d like to cram in as much information as you can. But from a consumer perspective, several questions need to be answered before they spend any time on your article:

  • Have I heard this before?
  • Is it different?
  • Is it relevant?
  • Why should I care?

Put yourself in the client’s shoes and craft a story that responds to each of those elements. It’s not enough to simply tell them you have a new LMS. They need to know how it’s unlike other LMS platforms, and why they should care about it. Frame it as an informative, entertaining news story rather than a brochure or contents' list. You could present it as the simplest way to achieve their training objectives or offer your presser as a method of achieving their long-lost resolution to "encouraging lifelong learning among their workforce". The right angle not only catches readers’ attention, it also convinces the publication to print your presser.

3. Keep It Short And Sweet

A press release is often one or two pages long, but that’s not as much room as you’d imagine. Within those two pages, you have to get your consumer invested in your LMS. Then you must list its benefits, and possibly its price. You need to include some background information about your company, and you might even need a course outline. You have to do all this without losing your readers' attention. The trick is to be concise. Use short, clear sentences, and sprinkle in relevant statistics and quotes to break up large batches of text. Where possible, you can include visuals, or even present the whole press release in the form of an infographic.

4. Don’t Be Salesy

The difference between a press release and a brochure or sales pitch is the tone. Pressers are framed as news items, so they need to be informative and entertaining rather than salesy. As tempting as it is, avoid the hard-sell approach. Tell your readers how your LMS solution will help them, rather than asking them to "buy now". You may want to mention a special offer or sale. This "free ad" may seem like the right place to do it, but you have to approach it in the right way. For example, don’t tell them to "purchase in the next three days while stocks last". Instead, you might say the price has come down in honor of your company’s anniversary. Mention the price drop in passing, focusing more on the anniversary. You might also include a colorful graphic in the presser. Better yet, include a website on the press release and mention a free promo code. On the website, place a prominent "how you heard about us" form. Reward readers who found you via the press release.

5. Proofread Everything

Many companies pay less attention to their press releases than they do to other ads. After all, in regular ads, premium prices mean any mistake is costly. With a free press release, it’s tempting to slap something together with minimal effort. Remember though, that customers don’t care if you paid for the ad or not. They just care about the impression it makes and the accurate information it provides. If your press release has typos, factual errors, or silly mistakes, it will influence how the consumer perceives your LMS organization. Look through the press release several times to be sure you haven’t irked any grammar gurus. Check your contact information as well, to be sure it’s up to date.

Press releases don’t have to be dreary reading. Jazz yours up and garner some excitement for your LMS product or upcoming launch event. Write the right headline to grab and hold your readers' attention. Make your press release worth reading by finding a relevant news angle. Be concise, avoid hard-selling yourself, and check for mistakes. If you can get your readers to share your press release with colleagues and friends, you’ll know you’ve done it right.

Is your LMS marketing strategy achieving results or is it proving to be more problematic than expected? Download our free eBook Build the Buzz on a Budget: How To Promote Your LMS Online and Boost Profits to discover more tips to research your target audience and craft the perfect sales pitch. We’ll also show you how to use content marketing, PPC ads, and affiliates to your advantage, as well as how to create an accurate budget for your LMS marketing campaign.

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