17 Tips To Write Your Press Release

If you’re working on a story and have something to say, but don’t know how to get it out there, a press release is a great way to do so.

It’s also important for businesses and non-profits alike because it’s one of the best ways to get your name out into the world without spending money on advertising or marketing campaigns. Follow these tips for writing good releases that will grab reporters’ attention:

How To Write Perfect Press Releases With Steven Lewis

Key Takeaways
1. Craft a compelling headline that grabs attention.
2. Start with a strong lead paragraph that encapsulates the core message.
3. Focus on the most newsworthy angle to pique interest.
4. Keep the press release concise and avoid unnecessary jargon.
5. Include relevant quotes to add credibility and human interest.
6. Provide essential details, answering the who, what, when, where, why, and how.
7. Incorporate data and statistics to support your claims.
8. Use a clear and professional tone throughout the press release.
9. Include relevant multimedia, such as images or videos.
10. Highlight the benefits and value of your announcement.
11. Include contact information for media inquiries and follow-ups.
12. Tailor the press release for different platforms and audiences.
13. Ensure accuracy and fact-check all information presented.
14. Follow the standard press release format for consistency.
15. Proofread and edit for grammar and clarity before distribution.
16. Consider timing and distribution channels for optimal reach.
17. Conclude with a strong call to action to encourage engagement.

Table of Contents

Who, What Where, And When?

When you write a press release, it’s important to include all of the “who, what, where, and when” information. This means that you need to make sure that your readers know who they are reading about (the subject), what they are reading about (the news story or event), where it happened, and when it happened.

You should also consider how long ago the news was published by including a date in your press release. For example:

Who: The United States Government
What: Signed legislation into law on April 2nd, 2017
Where: Washington DC
When: Signed into law on Friday 21st September 2019

Building a successful press release requires careful planning and execution. Explore our 17 tips for putting together a press release to ensure your message captures attention and delivers results.

Why Should Anyone Care?

Here’s a quick checklist to help you write your release:

Why should anyone care? Make sure the reader understands exactly what they’re getting out of reading this release. If it’s newsworthy, explain why it is important and relevant to them (and their business). If it has personal relevance or ties into current events, make sure you explain that too.

What are you announcing? Write about what you’re announcing in detail so the reader knows exactly what’s happening. Include facts, figures, and statistics anything that will help readers understand why this announcement is important and relevant.

Who is involved? Showing who’s behind this announcement helps readers connect with the story behind the news item by giving them faces to put on names and faces when talking about your company’s successes or challenges. Keep these descriptions short just enough for people to get an idea of who matters most here!

Make It Short

It’s a good idea to keep your press release under 200 words. If you don’t have much to say, then don’t include it in the release.

Including short sentences and bullet points is another way to keep it brief.

Active verbs help to make your writing more direct and clear, while weak nouns and adjectives can slow down your sentence structure.

For example: “The personnel department has decided to hire a new human resources director with an undergraduate degree in business who has experience with ERP systems and sales roles at technology firms.” This could be rewritten as: “The company hires a new HR director with a degree in business.”

The simple language will help readers understand what you are saying quickly without having to think too hard about what you mean or spend time looking up words they don’t understand (especially if they are native speakers of another language).

However, this doesn’t mean that technical terms should never be used – just only when necessary for clarity or accuracy of information; otherwise try using plain language whenever possible!

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Use A Quote

Use a quote. A quote can be used to show that you are a real person, not just some corporate entity. A good quote can also be used to set the tone of your press release and help you get your message across in a clear manner.

Quotes should be short and to the point.

A quote from the founder or CEO of a startup can help personalize an article about your company’s product or service, as well as give readers insight into why they should care about what you’re doing.

Where Do You Fit In?

With your background in the topic, you can explain why your story fits into the bigger picture.

For instance, if you’ve written about a new study on teacher retention strategies and how they impact student achievement, include that context: “

The results of this study show that teacher retention strategies must be implemented in tandem with other school initiatives for them to have an impact on student achievement.” This way, your readers understand how this story fits into their own lives and helps them make sense of the larger conversation happening around education policy.

Writing press releases for startups comes with its own set of challenges. Check out our 9 tips for writing press releases for startups to effectively promote your innovative ideas and solutions.

Give Context Beyond Your News

Context is important to make your story relevant. Describe the background of the story and make sure that it is clear to the reader. You can provide the context in the form of an expert quote or a customer quote, depending on what applies best to your topic.

Finish With A Call To Action

As the final step in your press release, you want to make it clear what the reader should do next.
Tell them exactly what you want them to do and give them a deadline for doing it.
Give them contact information for a real person who can answer any questions or address concerns.
Provide a phone number and/or email address where they can reach this person.
Let readers know how they can learn more about your company and its products or services (for example, “Visit our website at [website] for additional information.”)

Be Conversational

Be conversational. The press release is a formal document, but it should also feel like a conversation. Use active voice, simple language, and a friendly tone in your writing.

Don’t use jargon or slang unless you know that it will be understood by your target audience, who are probably not using technical terms every day. You want to sound like the personable expert in your industry not like an academic or staid bureaucrat (who may be reading the release).

Time is of the essence when it comes to press release writing. Discover 15 time-saving tips for writing press releases that get results without compromising the quality of your message.

Make Sure It’s Easy To Read

Use short sentences.
Use simple words.
Use bullet point lists and bold, italic, and underlined text to emphasize important points.
Avoid using all caps unless you are shouting the word at full volume in your press release and even then, it’s probably best not to.

A professional font adds credibility to your press release and makes it easier for readers to read while staying on brand with your company or organization’s image. Common fonts include Times New Roman, Helvetica (or Arial), Comic Sans MS (don’t use that one), Garamond, and Calibri (these two should never be used together).

Make sure they’re all the same size so they look uniform when printed out or published online; 12-point is a good standard size for most documents like this one but feel free to vary this if necessary (for example 12-point can sometimes look too small whereas 16 points might be too big).

You may also want different sizes within each document when writing about yourself in the third person for example–but make sure these are differentiated from each other by changing font sizes as well as being formatted differently visually so readers know whether they’re reading about yourself or someone else!

Find The Right Format

A press release is typically formatted as a one-page document that uses the third-person perspective and past tense. It’s written in active voice, meaning it doesn’t include any passive verbs (e.g., is, were). The present tense is also used when describing something that happened recently.

For example: “We are thrilled to announce our new product launch! We will be offering this product for sale starting next month.

We encourage all interested parties to contact us now if they would like more information about what we have in store for them!

Include All Of Your Information

You’re going to need to include all of your contact information. Be sure and include a photo, a link to a related website, video, social media account, or blog post that you may have created. If you have published any podcasts or other content relevant to your release, be sure and include a link as well.

Know Your Audience

Knowing your audience is the key to writing any type of media, including a press release.

First, you should know what kind of story or content you want to share with your audience. That’s why knowing the type of media that fits best for your company/brand and its goals is so important.

Are you trying to attract investors? Are you looking for customers? Knowing this will help determine what types of companies are interested in hearing from you and what kinds of stories they’ll be most likely to share with their audience.

Second, make sure there’s enough information about your brand for readers not only to get excited but also to understand exactly who they’re talking about without having any prior knowledge about them (e.g. if it’s local news). We’ve all heard stories where people end up getting more than just an article out of a press release they end up with new customers too!

Edit And Proofread Your Release Multiple Times Before Sending It Out

Now that you’ve completed a thorough draft, it’s time to proofread. Your best bet is to read through your press release out loud to catch mistakes that can be easily overlooked when reading silently.

If you’re not comfortable speaking in front of an audience, ask a friend or family member to give the release a listen and give feedback. They may notice errors you missed while editing on your own.

When proofreading a document, there are two main types of errors: grammatical errors and spelling errors. Grammar checkers can help identify problems with sentence structure, but they don’t always catch everything (especially when it comes to punctuation).

It’s also important for journalists who are writing their stories based on information provided by others like press releases to have good grammar skills so they don’t waste time trying to decipher an unclear statement or phrase before it makes its way into print or online media outlets like news sites or magazines.[1]

As an extra precaution against making these kinds of mistakes yourself during the writing process (or while editing), use spell checkers as well as another person who knows good grammar well enough so they can tell if something sounds off from what should be said correctly within context.”

Let Your Partners Know Ahead Of Time

You want to make sure your partners know what you are doing and be able to support you. For example, if you are launching a new product or service they should be aware of the details of your press release so that they can help ensure its success by promoting the launch at the right time, in the right way, and with their audience.

Engaging your audience is crucial for the success of your press releases. Explore 13 ways to engage your audience with a press release and discover effective techniques to capture attention and spark interest.

Send It Out At The Right Time

Send it out early in the day. As a general rule, PR pros recommend sending press releases at least an hour before you want them to hit the newswires. This gives you time to make any last-minute changes or edits and respond to any questions from journalists who are interested in covering your story.

Send it out on a weekday. While it might be tempting to wait until Friday night or Saturday morning, keep in mind that most editors don’t have time then they’re usually too busy writing their articles! Instead, aim for Monday through Thursday with Tuesday being your best bet because everyone else is still catching up from the previous week by then (and if not yet done).

Send it out on a slow news day/week/month/year. If there aren’t any major stories going on right now (and let’s face it: there probably aren’t), this is when you should send out your press release so that journalists will notice its relevance immediately upon opening their inboxes!

Target Reporters That Cover Similar Stories To Yours And Make A Personal Connection With Them Before You Send The Release

When you’re sending a press release, it’s important to remember that the people who will be interested in your story are likely not just anyone. They’re specifically interested in the particular subject matter that you have to offer.

It’s helpful to target specific reporters or publications with similar stories they’ve covered before, and make a personal connection with them before you send the release. You can do this by asking them for advice on how best to pitch your story, or by simply asking how they’d like to hear from you next time around.

If possible, try not to send your press releases at times when people are likely very busy for example, during holidays or business hours (unless those tend to be off hours for some reason). Find out what days work best for them so as not to interrupt their schedules unnecessarily!

When sending an email attachment over Gmail or Outlook Express instead of attaching it directly from within Word itself (as is often recommended), always check “Save As” under Options rather than using Save As Default.”

This will save multiple copies instead of overwriting any previous versions that may have been saved previously without realizing it until later down the line while trying unsuccessfully to recover lost files.”

A Press Release Is A Great Way To Let The Media Know What Is Going On With Your Business Or Organization

A press release is a great way to let the media know what is going on with your business or organization. It is a good way to get your name out there, and it can help you get free publicity. You can use it to announce news or events, such as new products and services, product recalls, awards won by employees, and so on.

Conclusion

As you can see, writing a press release is not as difficult as it may seem. It is a great way to let the media know what is going on with your business or organization. Follow these steps and soon enough you will have your custom-written press release that will be sent out into the world!

FAQs

Got questions about press release writing? We’ve got you covered with these informative answers:

How can I make my press release stand out from the competition?

Craft a captivating headline, focus on a compelling angle, and ensure your press release is concise and relevant to your target audience.

What are the key elements that should be included in a press release?

A press release should include a clear headline, an engaging lead paragraph, relevant details, quotes, contact information, and a call to action.

Is there a recommended structure for writing a press release?

Yes, a standard press release structure includes the headline, dateline, lead paragraph, body paragraphs, boilerplate, and contact information. This structure helps convey your message effectively.

How can I ensure my press release reaches the right audience?

Research and identify appropriate media outlets, journalists, and online platforms that align with your press release’s topic. Tailor your distribution to target these specific audiences.

What’s the significance of using quotes in a press release?

Incorporating quotes from key stakeholders or experts adds credibility and a human element to your press release. Quotes can provide insights, opinions, and personal perspectives that enhance the story.

Costantine Edward

Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.