by Monika Maeckle, Vice President New Media
Congratulations, PR Peeps! The vast majority of you practice good headline habits.
The March PR Peeps Poll with 191 participants, shows 143 (76%) utilize keywords in headlines while 119 of you (62%) take the extra minute or two to customize headers for email, social networks and Twitter.
Conventional wisdom assumes that 80% of readers don’t jump past the headline, so focusing on keywords and concepts and taking that extra time to customize for context is extremely important. With so much competition for our attention, you may not have a chance beyond the headline to get your message across.
While 33 out of 191 (17%) said they do not emphasize keywords in headlines, 13 (about 7%) of you don’t know what keywords are. Several chimed in with comments such as, ” Headlines need to cause an editor to say ‘people will click to read this!’ ” and ”Non PR savvy executives push for headlines that are always too long.” Yes. We feel your pain.
How’s your Headline Habits?
Do you emphasize keywords in the headlines of your press releases?
Yes–143, or 76%
No–33, or 17%
What are keywords?–13, or 7%
Do you rewrite/customize press release headlines for email, social networks and/or Twitter?
Yes–119, or 62%
No–72, or 38%
To all those who participated, thank you very much! Out next PR Peeps Poll asks, How do press releases fit into your branding efforts?
191 respondents via Twitter, email and Business Wire webinar polls. Poll conducted conducted February – March 2011.
