How To Write The Perfect App Launch Press Release

Practical tips for the best app press release ever.

An app launch press release, I must admit, is one of those mobile app marketing strategies that are seemingly shrouded in mystery.

For instance, you may have heard that it’s just like any other product launch press release. And then there are those that argue that an app launch press release should follow a special format and syntax to get published by journalists.

Some even believe that you don’t need journalists or media houses – that you can, instead, write an app launch press release without any standard rules and then distribute it on social media.

Well, guess no more! You’ve found just the right resource to not only debunk all these mysteries but also teach you the tricks to writing a perfect app launch press release.

Now, as you get started, you’ll notice that this is no ordinary press release guide. I’ve been a mobile app marketer and PR expert for over a decade now, specializing in both pre-launch and post-launch campaigns. In total, I’ve had the chance to work with more than 3,300 mobile apps – many of which commissioned me to write and distribute press releases before, during, and after their App Store launch.

As such, you can bet I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. So, you might want to follow along as I reveal:

• The benefits of writing and publishing an app launch press release.
• How you should format your app launch press release.
• The ideal press release template for your new app.
• Where you can get your app launch press release published.
• How to distribute your app launch press release to potential app users.
• The ideal press release length, word count, and tone.

I get it. This might seem like a lot of work at first – and probably not even worth the effort, as there are many other alternative marketing tactics you could have in your app launch strategy.

But then again, is that really the case? Are press releases truly relevant to new mobile apps, or would you rather invest in other promotion channels?

Let’s find out…

Table of Contents

• Is An App Press Release That Necessary?
• 5 Tips For Writing The Perfect App Launch Press Release
  • #1. Define The Target Audience
  • #2. Stick To The Point
  • #3. Write Neutrally
  • #4. Optimize For SEO
  • #5. Follow The Recommended Format
• 6 Top App Press Release Distribution Services [Free and Paid]
  • Paid App Press Release Distribution Services
  • Free App Press Release Distribution Services
• Key Takeaways

Is An App Press Release That Necessary?

Sure – at a time when tech and social media are providing app developers with many PR options, press releases might come off as a bit dated and old school. So, why should you even consider it for your new app?

Ok, a press release – for the sake of clarity – is an official statement that an organization writes and releases to the public. The term itself comes from the fact that such announcements are typically released to the press to gain media coverage.

But, make no mistake about it. While press releases are traditionally intended for newspapers, magazines, and other journalists’ publications, it turns out that public relations professionals additionally publish them on their company’s blogs, social media pages, and websites.

Consider, for instance, this press release from Apple.

You can think of it as some sort of an app launch press release, as Apple used it to announce the rollout of the Apple Arcade service.

More importantly, though, you should note that it wasn’t exclusive to the company’s website. Apple, instead, distributed the write-up to various tech journalists, who then took it up from there and ran news articles on the story.

Here’s one of the subsequent media publications, written by CNBC.

Now, what does that tell you about mobile app press releases?

Well, for starters, it’s pretty evident that they are still one of the most reliable gateways to extensive PR reach. CNBC alone managed to spread Apple Arcade’s story to millions of readers in just weeks, as its digital platform receives an average of 84.9 million unique visitors per month.

Then get this. According to research conducted by Pew Research, 89% of Americans get their news from such online sources – while newspapers, even at their lowest, still manage to reach more than 24 million Americans on a daily basis.

Now, that’s a readership you cannot afford to ignore, especially when you take into account the high stakes that accompany a new app.

You see, when you launch a product, you need to announce it. At a time when the Google Play Store is rolling out close to 100,000 new apps per month while the Apple App Store is stretching beyond 34,000, its exclusive PR strategies – like distributing an app launch press release – that’ll give you that extra edge over your competitors’ campaigns.

The goal is to create awareness while gaining the interest of bloggers, reviewers, and key influencers in your app’s domain. And as it reports the release of your app, an app launch press release additionally gives the developer the benefit of controlling the initial impression the app gives to the intended audience.

But, don’t get me wrong. I’m not encouraging you to drop other app launch promotions for a press release. Rather, I’m barely suggesting that a press release would be a great supplement to your app launch strategy. You can count on it to set your app apart from its unpublished competitors.

Besides, it goes with saying that a press release is one of the cheapest methods of winning public recognition. Most of the well-established media platforms don’t charge even a dime to run a story about an interesting product launch. On the contrary, they depend on such news pieces to keep their audiences engaged.

Another thing you’ll like about app launch press releases is their unmatched ability to boost your credibility. While the levels of trust in news media differ from one country to another, the press has always been at the top globally in terms of reliability. Social media, on the other hand, is widely perceived to be a less reliable source of news.

So, in simple terms, you could say that getting your story published is one of the quickest ways to build your app’s credibility. And not just among prospective app users – even app investors are profoundly influenced by positive media coverage. The more your app launch is documented by media houses, the easier you’ll find it to win over investors.

There’s just one problem – getting published doesn’t come easy. While it doesn’t take much to post your app launch press release on your website and social media channels, getting the story through to journalists requires some finesse.

Here are 5 proven tips that’ll help you hit the ground running.

5 Tips For Writing The Perfect App Launch Press Release

#1. Define The Target Audience

Before you even begin drafting the app launch press release, you need to have a good idea of who you’re trying to reach out to. This is where you define your target audience in terms of the media markets you’d want to pick up your story.

For instance – if your new app is only launching regionally, it won’t interest the same media publications that a global launch would. Similarly, you can’t expect sites that focus on love and relationships to feature an article about a gaming app. They’d rather discuss a dating app.

And so, with that in mind, you ought to conduct sufficient research about where you can get published, what you can publish, plus the accompanying press attributes.

You can start by reviewing the interests of various journalists, their areas of focus, editorial strategy, and maybe even the coverage trends of different media platforms.

It’s also advisable to put yourself in the audience’s position, and then adjust your content ideas based on their interests. And while you’re at it, you might want to keep in mind that journalists only go for stories that resonate well with their readers.

But, don’t stop there. Try to even establish how best you can reach out to the most appropriate media companies. While some journalists primarily rely on their mailboxes for press release proposals, others make an effort to scan the interwebs for newsworthy press releases.

Twitter, in particular, happens to be an all-time favorite for many – as up to 27% of journalists rely on it as their primary news source, while only 3% get their press releases from a commercial newswire.

If you choose to publish your app launch press release on social media, you don’t have to abide by the standard rules. Newswire and email press releases, on the other hand, should be written formally but in an engaging and interesting manner.

#2. Stick To The Point

Now, don’t get me wrong. “Engaging and interesting” shouldn’t give you the license to randomly add fancy phrases to your app launch press release. Your focus here should be pitching the purpose and launch date of your new app – not just showcasing information for publicity’s sake.

So, resist the temptation to provide every piece of information you consider relevant to your app.

The trick, rather, is to keep it short and simple. Write the mobile app press release concisely while carefully choosing your words. Whether it’s a new version of an old app, new features, or maybe new pricing, the title, and body of the press release should get straight to the point.

Every single phrase and word used must be there for a reason. Always mention the app name and app developer outright, as well as the type of app and the purpose it serves. Extras like the company’s background are best reserved for the boilerplate, which should be strategically placed right at the end of the article.

When you’re done writing, you might want to edit the document while keeping an eye for any clichés, overused words, or redundant cliches that unnecessarily prolong the press release.

The final word count of an app launch press release should be around 400-600 words. If it comes short, you might have left out critical details in your write-up. Then a long article, on the other hand, would wear out your readers, forcing them to opt-out mid-way through the text.

#3. Write Neutrally

The perfect press release should be written as if it were an objective news article, but in a way that promotes the strengths of your app.

The goal is to grab the attention of third parties as a credible source – so that they commit to the article, eager to find out more. Write the entire narration in third person point of view, and keep it as “neutral” as possible – even though journalists know that the party writing the press release stands to gain the most from its success.

Instead of blatantly promoting yourself, find a way to highlight the app’s central features without sounding biased. Every single thing you pen down should be based on plain facts about the mobile app’s capabilities. And if you make a claim, ensure that you back it up with relevant statistics, coupled with proper citation.

#4. Optimize For SEO

Don’t get too caught up with what journalists and third parties demand that you forget to look out for your needs – top among which is search engine optimization.

Remember, before it’s even distributed to journalists and media publications, your app launch press release will first appear on your website. And just like with any other piece of content, you can go ahead and strategically capitalize on the app press release for SEO.

But, be careful not to drastically change the intended message. You should, instead, introduce just minor tweaks like relevant keywords, headings, and tags. What’s more, consider collaborating with authority blogs for the sake of publishing high-quality backlinks to your app launch press release.

Such moves will progressively push you ahead of your competitors on the search engine results pages. Then combined with other SEO tactics on your site, they’ll get your ranking high enough to be noticed by more journalists, influencers, and prospective app users.

If your press release has great SEO, it will drive traffic to a blog and increase the likelihood that your audience will find your press release, even if they aren’t subscribers of the blog it’s posted on.

With that audience, attention comes more media coverage, article features, social media shares, and backlinks. All these will repeatedly have a compound effect on your SEO and app credibility.

#5. Follow The Recommended Format

Never mistake a press release for a regular news article. To give journalists something they’ll be familiar with, there is a structure that needs to be respected.

It involves the correct use of standard press release rules and syntax, so journalists and bloggers can quickly scan the story for key elements. They should be able to find what’s unique and newsworthy about your app right off the bat.

Dave Woolridge, the author of The Business of iPhone App Development, has provided a pretty neat press release template that you could easily apply to your app write-up.

Journalists too should have an easy time with it, as the structure allows them to quickly scan app press releases to see if they’re newsworthy or not.

Here’s an illustration showing all the sections, accompanied with relevant explanations…

App Launch Press Release Template

Please note, at the very top of the press release, you can indicate, “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” if you’d like the press release to go live right away.

Otherwise, write “UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL”, and then complete it with a specific app launch date. This is a way of telling the news editors to hold off the story until the actual release date of your new app.

The app launch press release write-up, on the other hand, should follow the following format:

A) App Icon and App Name

This is where you state the name that you’ve chosen for the new app, and then accompany it with an appropriate app icon. On other types of press releases, however, it can also be your company, depending on what the press release is focusing on.

B) Subject Line

Grab your reader’s attention by summarizing the app press release in an engaging way, while evoking emotions with your wording.

Try to include something unique about your app, but keep it all simple, factual, in active voice, and within the 100 character limit.

The basic questions you should be answering here are; What’s the name of your app? Which app store is it being released for? Why should readers be excited about it?

C) Summary Line

This is a one-liner that complements the headline, giving more details about what makes your app unique.

Invite the audience to read on by providing brief but captivating pointers on what they should expect, without forgetting to cover the basics of its functionality.

In other words, why would bloggers want to spread the news about this exciting new creation?

D) Introduction

This is the first paragraph of the article body. And just like we’ve seen with other news pieces, it should begin with the date and location of the press announcement. Start with the location, followed by the date, and then insert a hyphen to separate all that with the rest of the paragraph.

Here’s the format: “Physical location (country, state, city). (month, date and year) -”

Ultimately, you should have something like this: “BOSTON, Massachusetts. (June 20, 2020) – Preapps LLC announced today…”

After the hyphen, you can introduce your app’s name, explaining what kind of app it is, and its main purpose. What problem does it solve?

Remember to additionally identify the audience your new app was made for, without stretching the entire introduction paragraph beyond 3 sentences long.

E) Screenshots

Select the best app screenshots you have, and then display them here. You can have up to five on a page, which could even be a mixture of the iPhone and iPad screenshots that you intend to use in the app store.

F) Description

What does the app do? What are some of its unique features?

Explain in concise detail what your app does, but avoid using inconsequential statements. No journalist wants to waste their time reading fluff and extraneous details. Just explain what your app does, along with its special features.

You can even include a short quote from yourself about why the app is special, or your motivations for creating it. This would not only make the press release more personal but also help you get the main point across.

G) Pricing and Availability

Drop a line or two about when, where, and how the app will be available, plus the cost implications.

Remember to state the OS requirements, all the countries of availability, the app store of choice, as well as the app’s price.

H and I) Company Information

You can think of this as the press release boilerplate, on which you get to briefly highlight the company and its achievements.

So, you can go ahead and include a URL to the company website or maybe its social media accounts, plus a short description of the company’s history or motto.

J) The End

The code ### signifies the end of the app launch press release.

K) Contact information

Give the bloggers and journalists various ways to contact you, such as by cell phone, email, office phone, and more. These are the official channels they’ll use in case they need additional clarifications.

6 Top App Press Release Distribution Services [Free and Paid]

With the app launch press release complete, you can move on to the next step – which, as it turns out, happens to be even more challenging than writing the article.

The challenge here, to be specific, is getting your app launch press release to the most appropriate media platforms. That means you’ll be trying to reach out to influential journalists, bloggers, and editors.

Now, when it comes to that, there are two distribution methods you could use:

• Self-submission
• App Press release distribution services.

Self-Submission, as the name suggests, entails taking the initiative yourself, and handling the entire distribution process. You have to get your hands dirty by going through various media directories, capturing the journalists’ details, and then trying to contact them – hoping to at least arouse their interest and possibly get your story featured on the media publications.

Well, I’ll be honest with you. Sef submitting your app press releases is no walk in the park. It can be exceedingly frustrating, as cold emails rarely get responses. Most of them, in fact, are left unopened indefinitely, as popular journalists are always receiving an overwhelming number of proposals.

100 is the number of business-related emails that 47.5% of journalists receive on a daily basis – while 30% are bombarded with 200 emails, and 15% are forced to cope with 250 to 499 emails.

So, unless you know a couple of them on a personal level, getting through to renowned journalists is a tall order.

But, don’t let that kill your app launch strategy. There’s always the much easier option of working with specialized PR agencies.

App Press Release Distribution Services is the name, and they are the real specialists of this distribution game. You see, over the years, they’ve managed to cultivate strong professional relationships with various reputable media platforms. This gives them the upper hand in getting their app press release submissions published.

As an app owner or app developer, you just need to hire a reputable one and they’ll do the heavy lifting on your behalf. You could alternatively proceed with a free app press release distribution service – but that will only give you limited exposure.

Now, to help you with the selection process, here are 6 of the best app press release distribution services. I’ve taken the liberty to provide three options across each category (both paid and free services.)

Paid App Press Release Distribution Services

Free App Press Release Distribution Services

Key Takeaways

To sum it all up, here are the most important points we’ve covered in this guide:

• A press release is an official statement that an organization writes and releases to the public. The term itself comes from the fact that such announcements are typically released to the press to gain media coverage.
• Although press releases are traditionally intended for newspapers, magazines, and other journalists’ publications, PR professionals additionally post them on their company’s blogs, social media pages, and websites.
• 89% of Americans get their news from such online sources – while newspapers, even at their lowest, still manage to reach more than 24 million Americans on a daily basis.
• With the Google Play Store rolling out close to 100,000 new apps per month while the Apple App Store is stretching beyond 34,000, it’s exclusive PR strategies – like distributing an app launch press release – that’ll give you that extra edge over your competitors.
• An app press release is one of the cheapest methods of winning public recognition.
• While the levels of trust in news media differ from one country to another, the press has always been at the top globally in terms of credibility.
• Before you even begin drafting the app launch press release, you need to have a good idea of who you’re trying to reach out to. Define your target audience in terms of the media markets you’d want to pick up your story.
• 27% of journalists rely on Twitter as their primary news source, while only 3% get their press releases from a commercial newswire.
• Keep your app launch press release short and simple. Write it concisely while carefully choosing your words.
• The final word count of an app launch press release should be around 400-600 words.
• Instead of blatantly promoting yourself, find a way to highlight the app’s central features in a third-person voice without coming off as biased.
• For SEO, introduce minor tweaks like relevant keywords, headings, and tags. What’s more, consider collaborating with authority blogs for the sake of publishing high-quality backlinks to your app launch press release.
• At the very top of the press release, you can indicate, “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” if you’d like the press release to go live right away. Otherwise, write “UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL”, and then complete it with a specific app launch date. This is a way of telling the news editors to hold off the story until the actual release date of your new app.
• An app launch press release should follow this format:
  1. App Icon/App Name,
  2. Subject Line,
  3. Summary Line,
  4. Introduction,
  5. Screenshots,
  6. Description,
  7. Pricing and Availability,
  8. Company Information,
  9. The End,
  10. Contact Information.
• There are two app press release distribution methods you could use: Self-submission, or App Press release distribution services.
• Self-Submission entails taking the initiative yourself, and handling the entire distribution process.
• App Press Release Distribution Services distribute the press releases within their networks on behalf of the app owners.

Conclusion

As you digest all these insights, you might want to keep an eye on the trending topics that popular media platforms are publishing in your niche.

Consider, for instance, the hot articles that the likes of Mashable and TechCrunch are publishing regarding mobile apps in your industry category. This should give you a general idea of the material that the media sources want to publish – from which you could then come up with practical insights on how to write a newsworthy press release. One that’ll create just the right amount of buzz to drive downloads on your app’s launch date.

But then again, you could save yourself all the trouble and risks by leaving everything to PreApps. As a seasoned mobile app marketing agency, you count on us to not only write, distribute, and publish your app launch press release, but also proceed to sustain exponential app growth after its launch.

Thousands of apps have already achieved that with our strategic mobile app marketing tactics. Now’s your turn.