Things to Avoid in a Press Release for Your Quantum Organization

We see a lot of quantum press releases here at the Quantum Computing Report and for those writing them we would like to provide a few tips that may make them more effective.

You may have noticed that we never publish press releases verbatim but rather write up concise summaries of the releases with a few additional analytical comments and then put a link at the end for anyone who wants to view the original release.

We do this because the typical QCR reader is very busy and wants to keep up with what is happening in the quantum world without wasting a lot of time. As a result, we try to keep our articles as brief as possible without missing any of the key ideas. This stems from my prior experience working for a Vice-President at Intel whose favorite word was “pithy” (Definition: Terse and full of substance or meaning). He would say “Don’t write a three page memo on something when you could communicate the same message in three sentences! “

The first thing to keep in mind that a press release is a marketing document. Usually, there are three key potential audiences that you should want to target: Customers you might want get, Employees you might want to recruit and Investors that you might want to attract. Trying to impress others like family, friends or the general public might make you feel good, but it probably won’t help you move your company forward.

We believe that these target audiences of customers, employees, and investors are already quite sophisticated and knowledgeable about quantum computing and its potential. Although some of the items below might have been helpful a few years ago when quantum was just starting to be commercialized, there has been so much press and publicity over the past few years that saying these things now sounds redundant and unnecessary. Based upon this, here are some things to avoid.

What to Avoid

Basic explanations of what quantum computing is. Putting in a press release something like “Classical computing relies on binary states in order to complete logical operations and that state is either on or off. In contrast, quantum computing is based on physical systems that can be in multiple states simultaneously, with each state having a probability of occurring after measurement” is not going to be anything new to the PhD student you are trying to recruit or the enterprise data researcher who has been studying quantum for the past year.

Broad characterizations of where quantum computing could be used. We don’t believe that repeating comments like “Quantum computing has the potential to benefit many industries, including those focused on drug development, logistics, manufacturing, finance and materials design” add value to a press release either. Again, this is something that your target audience has seen hundreds of time before and already knows.

Quotes from your new investors in a funding press release. Perhaps a company will be obligated to include them because they just gave you money, but mostly they are generic and have a lot of fluff. Statements like “We are excited about the great team at company X and the progress they have been making. We anticipate their technology will lead the quantum market in years to come” are to be expected from someone who just invested in you and are quickly forgotten.

What to Include

Too often, we see press release that announce new partnerships without saying much about what each partner will contribute. We know there are some partnerships which are more window dressing than actual cooperative work but we hope that your partnership is not one of them. Better explanations of how the companies will work together, what contributions will be made from each side and how the partnership will achieve synergy from the combination of the two efforts will make the announcement more meaningful.

Similarly, we see product announcements without much technical detail. Although we realize that a press release should not be a recitation of the product’s data sheet, it should list a few of the strongest features of the product and then include a link to a data sheet or technical paper that is posted on the company’s website. No one is going to contact you to buy the product when they don’t have an idea of what it is or how good it works.

Finally, quantum companies should realize that the quantum industry is getting to be very competitive. There are hundreds of companies working in quantum and there will likely be a few of them that are doing something similar or, at least, an alternative to what you are offering. It is not enough to talk about why the quantum industry will succeed, you must show why specifically your company will succeed. A press release can be a key vehicle for you to differentiate your company and show what is special about your approach and why you will be a winner. Clients, employees, and investors all want to be associated with winners!

Summary

As with many activities it is something best to approach developing a press release by first thinking about who your audience is and what result you want to achieve and then working backwards from there. A press release is a key marketing document that can help contribute to the overall success of your business. It pays to take time to craft a press release that achieves maximum effect rather than just jotting down something in a hurry. If you end up targeting the wrong audience or leave them something that doesn’t get them interested, you are wasting your time and money.

August 14, 2021