What should a press release include? How do you write an ending for it? What is the format? Do not worry, as we guide you on how to write a press release.
There are specific guidelines for writing a press release. From news angles to the structure, here is a guide on how to write a press release that will garner attention and results.
Before writing anything, it’s to know what angle your target audience cares about. This angel is the perspective that the story will tell which catches the attention of readers. This is different if it’s in a specialized magazine or a local newspaper. So you should have different versions of the press release for the audiences you are targeting.
Also, keep in mind you are not targeting potential readers, but also journalists. If you don’t research or know your target audience, then the press release won’t accomplish anything.
To write a press release is to understand the structure of press release. Following a standard format allows a journalist to find what they are looking for in your release. This enables them to quickly determine if they want to cover your announcement. This also demonstrates you are well versed in PR, knowing the ins and outs, and shows that you’re easy to work with.
To get a Fish, You Need to Catch it
You need a catchy headline to succeed. It is the first thing that people will see and read. Based on that, they will decide if they want to read it or not.
It’s important to keep it short so it’s easier to read and looks more appealing. Also, make it sound fresh, newsworthy, and interesting since the decision process to read it takes about three seconds.
Humans have short attention spans. So literally less or more is better for headliners. Focus on creating a hook to catch your audience. Also, avoid using clickbait material in the headline as it can lose trust among journalists and attract the wrong readers.
Answer the Five W’s Briefly; Hold to Your Readers’ Attention
Next is your lead. Creating one will help impatient readers to find the most information quickly. What is the most important information? It’s the five W’s: what the news is about, who is involved, when and where it happened, and why it is important.
When writing this section, follow the “miniskirt rule.” This means the lead should be long enough to cover the essentials, but also short enough to keep it interesting. You do not want to waste the journalist’s time. Have enough details to pique their curiosity without giving them everything at once.
Prove Your Trustworthiness
If your press release is based on external sources, make sure to cite them. This will make you look more creditable in the eyes of your audience. Also, make sure the link is legitimate and not fake news.
Do not display the whole URL unless they’re at the bottom of your press release. The whole URL takes up unnecessary space and does not look appealing. So use anchor text so that your look more natural.
Beauty in the Details
Give our readers the essential detail. These details are the basic information that will allow them to figure out why this release is newsworthy. It doesn’t have to be a novel. Giving a brief explanation will get journalists excited about something they can write about.
One tip when writing a press release is to focus on how your product or service can help others. When it helps people, it will help journalists. Journalists focus on their readers and they are and will be interested. So sending a press release that is focused on just your business is not enough.
Show the Perspective of Others
Quotes are always welcome in a press release. How come? It brings another perspective to the release and makes it more diverse. So instead of reading paragraphs, quotes make the test more interesting and readable by breaking it up. These reasons why they should be included.
Anything Else Need to Add?
If so, now is time to do that. However, don’t overdo it. Remember, less is more when it comes to writing a good press release.
Similarly, a picture is worth a thousand words, so add a photo or two to your press release. This provides visual ads for the journalist so they know what they are writing about.
Introduce Yourself
Don’t forget to add your contact information so journalists can reach out to you. This is important because they may have additional questions about your release. If your release does not have your contact information, then the chance of the release being released is slim to none.
The Perfect Way to End a Press Release
A boilerplate is a way to end your press release. If you managed the catch the journalist’s attention and have them keep reading towards the end, they will want to know more about you and your company/business. The boilerplate is the place where they can find this info. So make it fun and interesting. This place acts as your business card and can present yourself well.
Now the press release structure is covered, let’s focus on the format. If the content is amazing, it doesn’t help if the format is bad. People are visually stimulated, which is why the format matters.
So how do you format a press release? There are many ways to distribute a press release, and here we are focusing on the most commonly used one.
This is very popular a couple of years ago. While they look the same on different devices, PDFs are problematic. They’re heavy and overfilled. This makes it difficult to copy information from it and journalist seems to not like this format.
Since many continues still use this format, it is treated as a standard. However, it is not a good move to use this as it can cause problems for readers.
Advantage:
- It’s compatible with nearly every device
Disadvantages:
- It’s heavy.
- No journalist who likes having their mailbox blocked
- It’s hard to copy.
- While journalists won’t edit too much of it, they still need to copy and rewrite certain aspects. When sending a file that is hard to edit, it can be a message that you don’t respect their time
- It’s difficult to measure
- How do you know how many people have read it?
Another popular format is plain text. This is a safe choice. The concept of a good press release is to be interesting and worth sharing for journalists to write about. So, if the release looks like another email, it doesn’t stand out from the other emails journalist are receiving.
Advantages:
- Easy to copy and edit
- It’s light and doesn’t block the mailbox
- which makes it more journalist-friendly
Disadvantages:
- Looks boring and doesn’t encourage reading
- There is a chance that it will look bad on some devices
- Similarly to PDFs, it’s hard to find out who saw the press release
This is the newest format of a press release. Although journalists might be hesitant to use it, they will remember it. Interactive press releases are the most user-friendly format. It’s easy to copy, download, and rememberable.
Advantages:
- Easy to copy and edit
- Because of a special button that allows you to copy plain text
- Looks great on every device
- It’s interactive!
- It’s possible to add social media context and drag and drop elements.
- It’s possible to control each release and see who is reading it because o the analytics panel
- Easy to download the attachments
- Readers will have the most up-to-date version
Disadvantages:
- Some journalists might be hesitant to use
- They might be confused when seeing it for the first time
Is your story a story? It is new or interesting? Will people outside your organization care about it? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are on the right path. If not, then maybe it’s a good idea to think of something else.
Use press releases when for timely announcements and something newsworthy about your client or company. Often, business leaders get “release happy” and mistakenly believe if they are not sending out press releases regularly, then their media outreach will be stagnant. However, that isn’t the case.
Nail your story in the first few sentences. So get the facts quickly and succinctly. This will increase the chances of the press release entering the inbox of an editorial meeting. Journalists are pushed for more published articles, so it’s important to communicate the structure of the story in the first couple of lines is vital. They most likely don’t have enough tie to read throughout the whole release, so getting to your point quicker is better.
A long press release that is as long as a book chapter is bad. It feels like an over-self-promotion. Anything working in media is working with constant deadlines. So remember to include newsworthy info at the beginning of the release. Don’t leave everything at the end or up to chance for the journalist will read to the end.
It’s important to have quoted people in a press release to sound real. For example, if a young person is excited about securing an apprenticeship, it is unlikely they’ll use vocabulary words that you need a dictionary to look up. So have your story feel authentic.
Whoo-Hoo! Now you know how to write an effective press release, what should be included, and how it should be formatted.
