A press release is a short, newsworthy message about your business or organization, that’s distributed to the media. Press releases are usually sent via email and posted on websites. They should include information about who you are, what you do, and why it’s important all in 250 words or less!
| Takeaways |
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| 1. Crafting a well-written press release is a shortcut to gaining attention for your product or service. |
| 2. Pay attention to the details in your press release to ensure it leaves a lasting impact on your audience. |
| 3. Learn from successful press releases that have gone viral to understand effective strategies for promotion. |
| 4. Incorporate key elements like impactful headlines, newsworthiness, and engaging content in your press releases. |
| 5. Consider the needs of startups and tailor your press releases to resonate with their specific audience. |
| 6. Analyze effective press releases to gain insights into what works and apply these lessons to your own writing. |
Here Are Some Tips For Writing Effective Press Releases
Get to the point
It’s important to get to the point quickly and clearly. Avoid filler words such as “a, an, the”, which don’t add anything. Instead of saying “a press release” say “press release”.
Another tip is to avoid long sentences and paragraphs; these can be hard for readers to digest at once. Long sentences often use too many clauses and so they are difficult to understand quickly.
Additionally, long paragraphs are usually made up of a series of short sentences that together make up one big idea but it can be hard for readers to follow along if they aren’t reading carefully enough (and who reads carefully anymore?).
Also, avoid wordy phrases such as “utilizing available resources to enhance organizational performance”; instead say something like “using our existing resources more effectively will help us improve company performance”.
Crafting a compelling press release requires attention to detail and strategic thinking. Explore our article on 17 Tips for Putting Together a Press Release to ensure your releases leave a lasting impact.
Explain What Your Product Or Service Is
The first thing to do is explain what your product or service is. Most people will have no idea what you are talking about if they have never heard of it before and so it’s important to explain what problem-solving capabilities and benefits your product or service offers.
You should also mention any features that make it different from other similar products on the market, as well as any new features or improvements that might set yours apart from the rest.
It is also crucial that you explain how this all works in practice; who would use this tool? How can they benefit from using it? The answer should be in terms of time saved, money saved and improvements made in efficiency/productivity per hour spent working with the tool itself
Tell The Story Of How You Came To Develop Your Product Or Service
The history of your project is an interesting story, and it’s a great way to set the stage for what you’re doing today.
Tell the story of how you came to develop your product or service. Share with readers:
Why did you develop this product or service? (e.g., “I was tired of having to pay exorbitant fees at big banks, so I decided to start my bank.”)
How did you come up with the idea? (e.g., “My family has been in the banking business for decades.”)
How did you test the product or service? (e.g., “I took out some loans and paid them back.”)
What were some challenges that arose when testing this idea, and how were those challenges addressed (or not)? (e.g., “One challenge was convincing people that I could offer lower rates than any other bank in town; after all, I had no storefronts or advertising budget!
But through word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied customers who told their friends about me, I was able to build a loyal client base.”)
Want your press releases to make waves in the digital world? Discover the secrets to crafting viral-worthy releases in our guide on How to Create Press Releases That Go Viral.
Use Statistics
You can also use statistics to prove your product or service is better than the competition. For example, you could say that your product has a 15% higher success rate than other products on the market, or that it has fewer side effects than any other alternative treatment.
You can also use statistics to support your claims and make them more convincing. If you’re selling something like a diet pill that helps people lose weight fast, for example, you could show how many people will benefit from using this pill versus using other methods such as exercise or dieting alone:
[10/11] people who tried [diet pills] lost 5 pounds in 14 days
Of those same 11 people who tried dieting with no pills at all… only 2 were successful! That means 9 out of 10 people took a risk with their money and didn’t get results!
Mention A Trend That Relates To Your Product Or Service
You want to mention a trend that relates to your product or service. If you’re selling a new video game controller, for instance, you might say something like:
“According to a recent report by Pew Research Center, over half of Americans play video games on their phones at least once per month.” That way, you’re showing how people who might be interested in buying the controller can benefit from using it.
Use statistics that show how your product or service is a solution to the trend. You don’t necessarily have to cite sources here just make sure the numbers are accurate and specific enough that they can easily be verified online by anyone who wants more information about them (like reporters).
Show how your product or service is different from the competition; this will help journalists understand why they should include your press release in their articles instead of writing about one of your rivals instead.
Don’t just say “Our device comes with twice as many features” or “Our platform has three times as many users”; explain exactly what makes yours unique so journalists know why they should write about it instead of someone else’s offering (which may also be good but not necessarily better).
Mention how much cheaper your offering is than what’s out there right now (if applicable). Journalists love when companies offer them exclusive discounts! It shows that this isn’t just another boring press release: It does matter!
Link To A List Of Interesting Facts
Adding a list of interesting facts to your press release is a great way to catch the reader’s attention and make them want to read on.
A good list of facts should be relevant, which means they should relate to the product or service you are promoting and/or the company behind it. It can also be helpful if these facts have an element of surprise or novelty about them, but this is not essential. For example:
According to survey results released today by X Company, most Americans think that yellow is their favorite color; however, in fact, blue is their favorite color (by 52% against 36%). This seems surprising as we all know that red is always thought of as being someone’s ‘favorite color’ when asked about this question in surveys (56%)…
Capturing attention with your press release requires strategic elements. Dive into our insights on Things to Include in Press Releases to Get Maximum Impact and elevate your release game.
Make It Easy For People To Reach Out To You
A press release is essentially a sales document, so it’s important that your potential customers can easily get in touch with you.
Include a contact person, phone number, and email address. Make sure the contact person is available and willing to respond within the period specified (which can be anywhere from 24 hours to a week). Include their name and title, as well as their email address.
Include A Call To Action
When writing a press release, make sure to include a call to action.
A call-to-action is an instruction for your reader(s). It tells them what you want them to do and why they should do it.
A good example of a call-to-action would be something like “Click here to download our whitepaper” or “Read more about our new service at [website].” If you don’t include directions on how to act upon the interesting information in your press release, most people will simply move on without engaging with it.
Your call-to-action must be included prominently in the copy so readers understand exactly what step they need to take after reading through all of the content.
Link your press release back to your website’s home page and other pages on your website.
Link your press release back to the home page of your website and other pages on your site.
Link back to all of the social media accounts that you use for your business. These could include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Include links to any other press releases you have written that are relevant to this news story.
If you have a blog, link back to it from the end of the press release.
If there is a specific product or service that readers can purchase as a result of reading about this announcement in their local paper/magazine/news website then mention it at the end of your message too! It doesn’t hurt if possible buyers know where they can get more information or buy what they need right away!
Include links where appropriate (such as email contact form)
Stay away from overused marketing terms like “first of its kind”, “groundbreaking” and “world-class”.
Avoid overused marketing terms like “first of its kind” and “groundbreaking”. Don’t use jargon, either. Your press release should be written in plain English so that people outside the industry can easily understand it.
An important aspect of writing the press release is to avoid using words like “world-class”. If you are trying to sell your product or service, use words such as “excellent” or “outstanding”, rather than world-class.” These terms are too vague and don’t help readers understand exactly what makes something better than others in its class.
Avoiding marketing-speak allows you to write a clear statement that gets right to the point while being interesting enough that it will be picked up by media outlets looking for stories about your business sector or area of expertise
Create a bulleted list of what your product or service does, to make it easy for readers to skim through and pick up key points.
Let’s face it: most reading is done in a quick, skimming fashion. And if you’re writing a press release, chances are you want people to read your content.
Bulleted lists make that process much easier for readers, who can easily scan through the information and pick up on key points without having to read every single word.
They also help with skimming speed because they give users one less thing to pay attention to while they’re quickly scanning through a text they just need to focus on the bullet points themselves (and maybe any sub-bullets).
Launching a startup? Make your press releases stand out in the competitive landscape. Check out our advice on 9 Tips for Writing Press Releases for Startups and pave the way for effective promotion.
Put Important Information Near The Top, In Case Some Journalists Don’t Read The Entire Press Release
Always put your contact information at the top of the press release, in case a journalist doesn’t get all the way through to see it. Make sure you have phone numbers, email addresses, and even social media accounts listed so that people can connect with you as soon as possible.
The first paragraph is your opportunity to make an impression on readers who may not read any further than this section.
In this case, we want our products or services described upfront so that journalists know what they’re getting into before they start reading: “Our product helps busy people stay organized by providing them with simple tools for staying on top of their inboxes and calendars.”
If some specific features or benefits would be useful for journalists writing about your company or product (or if there’s something especially unique about what you do), include those next: “We have a unique feature where users can share their calendar with other members of their team.”
This type of information should be included near the top because it tells them immediately whether they should continue reading without having to go through every single word to find out whether or not what they’re writing about is relevant enough for them.”
Analyzing successful press releases can unlock valuable insights for your own writing. Explore our take on What You Can Learn from a Good Press Release and enhance your press release strategies.
Conclusion
Press releases are an important part of the marketing process. They can help you reach out to the media and other potential customers, or even get a product or service noticed by people who aren’t in your target audience.
Press releases can be a powerful tool for generating excitement around your product or service, but they take time to write well and should be treated as such.
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources to help you enhance your press release writing skills:
HubSpot’s Press Release Template Discover a comprehensive press release template that guides you through creating effective press releases for various occasions.
Crafting Attention-Grabbing Press Release Headlines Learn the art of crafting compelling headlines that capture attention and entice readers to engage with your press releases.
Writing a Compelling Press Release: Tips from Shopify Get valuable insights from Shopify on how to write press releases that effectively showcase your products or services.
FAQs
How do I create an impactful press release headline?
Crafting an impactful press release headline involves capturing the essence of your news while being concise and attention-grabbing. Consider focusing on the most newsworthy aspect and using strong, action-oriented language.
What are the key elements to include in a press release?
A well-structured press release includes a compelling headline, a concise and informative opening paragraph, relevant details about the news, quotes from key stakeholders, and your company’s contact information.
How can I make my press releases more shareable?
To make your press releases more shareable, consider incorporating multimedia elements like images or videos, writing in a storytelling format, and optimizing for social media platforms to encourage easy sharing.
How do I ensure my press release reaches the right audience?
Identify your target audience and distribute your press release through appropriate channels such as PR distribution services, industry-specific websites, and social media platforms frequented by your audience.
What is the ideal length for a press release?
A press release should ideally be around 300 to 500 words. It should be concise, providing all necessary information while keeping the reader’s attention and encouraging them to seek more details.
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.
