How do I make my copy stand out in a flooded copy world?

One thing is for sure, there are a lot of companies issuing a lot of press releases which seem entirely to say nothing at all. Sadly the issue at hand has a lot to do with a term I used in the previous sentence; press release. A press release is a misnomer, it is something of a fake to use a boxing term.

One thing I recommend to all of my clients is to get in the habit of saying news release. While this may seem a matter of terminology I see it as much more. By using the term news release we are forcing the client to ask themselves, what is the news here? Why does this matter? Who does it matter too?

I also recommend setting a hard cap on how many news releases the organization will issue during a set period of time. This solves a number of strategic issues. For one thing, this serves as an exercise it what I would call message discipline. What do we need to say? How do we need to say it? Who do we need to say it too? This practice in self discipline is a great tool in how to manage your brand and how to speak to your audiences in a professional and refined fashion.

Another way to make your copy stand out in the market place is to know your audience. I have seen too many pieces of copy that are watered down because they are supposed to serve the needs of an overly diverse group of market segments. A news release is targeted towards the news media and as such can not be watered down to be some type of sales tool. It may have uses when dealing with customers or potential customers but that is not whom it is designed primarily for. Good copy is designed for a target audience. It's not some catch all and lazy way of approaching the market at large.

Lastly, good copy stands out because it tells a story that someone wants to read. I remember reading an interview with Russ Meyer, the director who did a lot of B-Movies who said "the critics hate me, the public loves me. Who are you going to believe?" The point here is that if you are going to write great copy, use it to tell a story that your target audiences are going to want to hear. Yes you will be informing them during the process, but you will also need to tell them a story they will want to hear so that you don't lose their attention and have them quickly forget about you in all that white noise that is out there.