For a business to experience the maximum benefits from its marketing efforts, successful ones put out a barrage of quality content. Social media posts, blog posts, video/audio content, and the almighty press release provide opportunities for potential customers to engage with a brand through various media channels.
This content can give readers a sense of the business’ authenticity and expertise. Those accomplishing this are seen as leaders in their field through clear and relevant communications on products and developments.
Press releases remain critical pieces of this communications process that almost all big businesses rely on, efficiently bringing the latest company news and product information to the public. All marketers and business owners alike should know how to write a press release.
This can, however, be a double-edged sword.
Failure to prepare media content can be disastrous for a brand, especially with the large potential impact of social media nowadays that brings news instantly to consumers.
It is, therefore, critical that you understand just how to write a press release. The veteran content writing team @ Article Writing Co. is here to help! We’ve prepped this in-depth guide to writing and promoting your press release. Understanding the formatting and just how to present your news angle so that you can get maximum exposure.
This is a writing service that we provide. If you’d rather just skip the lengthy guide that follows and pay a pro team to get this done for you… we charge a reasonable price, so click here 🙂
Reasons to Write a Press Release in 2023
Despite talks of being outdated, industry experts still highlight the importance of adding a quality press release to your content marketing strategy because of three cold, hard facts:
- 3 billion searches a day are done on Google, and press releases can rank highly within these search queries
- Press releases are viewed as trustworthy sources by 44% of journalists
- Press releases can drive incremental foot traffic and generate sales
If you have something big to say, press releases are one of the primary methods for getting the statement out to the masses, with the potential to provide massive returns to your business’s bottom line.
What makes press releases particularly well-suited for reaching audiences, especially in today’s digital age? Here are a few key reasons.
Customer Convenience: Extended blog posts and whitepapers can be an essential part of a content marketing strategy, but not every member of your target audience is going to have the time to read these. Press releases are much more digestible, provided they are written properly.
Online Sales Touchpoint: We live in a time where social media impressions and interactions are worth their weight in gold and press releases are well-suited for this medium. Putting together an enticing headline on platforms your audience is likely to visit can allow your news to spread like wildfire.
Quality SEO Content: Press releases have the unique SEO benefit of generating organic search traffic using popular keywords. A blog post about “X company history” or “X company news” for first-time stock investing would come across as a bit inauthentic. In a press release, adding these keywords to describe recent events makes a lot more sense to include. These can improve your search ranking across a larger selection of keywords.
One newsroom increased search traffic by 30% primarily with this keyword tactic.
Brand Storytelling: Blogs have certain characteristics that audiences have come to expect. Even with interests evolving from the traditional 500-word blog post into deeper pillar pages, you may want to share what this style doesn’t apply to.
It’s difficult to create a lengthy post regarding a new hire without irrelevant content, but a press release can communicate these background details while meeting the expectations of your audience.
Plus, our in-house team at Article Writing Co. has developed a list of other detailed opportunities for your press release.
What Is A Press Release?
A press release is a brief, written communication about a specific event, circumstance, or another update.
Any organization can put one together if they have something to share. For example, governments often put out press releases, and even individual celebrities create press releases for events associated with them.
The ultimate goal of a press release is to ensure the development or event you’re reporting gets increased attention, which can beneficially increase a brand’s presence.
Spread Organic Reach with the Press Release
Many press releases are constructed with your average audience in mind and to catch the attention of a media member or an editor at a publication.
Sometimes, outlets will see the news on your press release, be interested, and just share it. In other cases, they may be prompted to reach out to you for more details or to serve as a source for a related story.
The press release can be more than just a simple piece of content. Journalists and media members constantly seek to build relationships to enhance their stories and serve as future sources. As a digital marketer, this is a dream come true. Media members are uniquely poised to help boost awareness of your brand, and a press release can be all you need to get this started.
However, consistent and quality content is essential.
There is no guarantee that your press release will lead to significantly increased attention at first, even if you do everything right. Adding a “press” section on your website will make your overall digital presence look more professional and eventually, you can catch that future contact’s attention.
The Press Release Format in 8 Easy Steps
Now that we’ve talked about what a press release is and its purpose, it’s time to get into the standard press release format.
This requires an understanding of all the different bits and pieces of a press release, and this complete guide will run down every part you need to know.
Below is a summary of the key elements of the Perfect Press Release by your friends at Article Writing Co.
Step 1: The Letterhead
The top section of your press release needs the branding and company information you want readers to have access to. This should include a logo and contact information for anyone who wants to reach the company with more questions about the story.
Remember, a benefit of the press release is the increase in interest for your company, improving brand awareness.
Step 2: The Headline
The average person has an attention span of eight seconds. How do you beat this issue?
The HubSpot Blog’s Hannah Fleishman points out that an eye-catching headline can do wonders for your fortunes with readers – and search engines. Fleishman’s anatomy of a powerful press release headline looks a little something like this:
- Use of action verbs.
- Clear and understandable wording.
- Concise and to the point.
“Company Opens Up New Copper Smelting Plant Serving Lower Ontario” is a pretty weak headline. However, “New Ontario Copper Smelting Plant Promises To Bring Jobs” is better structured and has a secondary hook to capture the interest of your audience.
Being brief and focused is a recurring theme in the modern take on press releases. This mindset starts with the headline.
We are struggling to figure out the best way to extract a powerful headline from your press release content. See how to implement this with our press release sample, and follow our newsletter to stay updated on the latest tips.
Step 3: Sub-Headline
You are sometimes shortening your headline to be concise but captivating, meaning you may have to leave off information you wanted your reader to know immediately. The sub-headline, which runs right under your headline, is a chance to convey this information.
The sub-headline should be around two sentences, providing more details about the press release’s body. However, you still want to abide by the rules of a good headline, like lots of action verbs and being easy to follow.
Step 4: Release Date.
You have some freedom on where to put the release date, but it should always be near the top. This is because the information lets the media immediately determine how relevant the press release is.
The more recent, the better in just about every case.
Step 5: Dateline
The dateline of a press release generally reads as follows: city, state/province, month, day, and immediately precedes the first sentence of the press release body. This quickly lets readers know whether the news is relevant to them.
With the opening parts of the press release taken care of, we can begin discussing the format’s body portion. Many people make the mistake of approaching this like a blog post on a given subject, but that will almost guarantee that your audience will lose interest before the end.
Step 6: Body
The bulk of your text. It is important you understand what defines a strong press release’s body. In terms of word count, you still want to keep things relatively brief, in the 300-600 word region.
Customers value convenience, which is still a key consideration in the press release.
Don’t let your paragraphs run too long, with 2-4 sentences as a guideline. Remember to only go over relevant points to the event, not background details about your company.
Your opening paragraph should focus on the who, what, why, when and how of the story. For example, if you were a restaurant opening a second location, the reader should know, within the first few sentences:
- What type of restaurant are you?
- Where is the new location?
- Why did you choose the new location?
- When can they expect it to open?
- How the expansion is expected to improve your business
See how we apply these strategies with our free Press Release sample.
However, these details can get dry after a while. Remember that journalists are often reading a huge swath of press releases every day. This is why many successful content writers use additional details like quotes and statistics to try and enhance their content.
With digital content, embed relevant images and videos to give readers extra value. Extra value generates more interest from your potential media partners or clients.
Step 7: Boilerplate
Every piece of digital marketing content generally has some way to turn the value you’re providing back to your business in some way. A press release boilerplate section is a chance for you to put this into action.
This paragraph is where you can go into detail about what your company is and what it does. For a journalist, this provides valuable context regarding your company to see if it makes sense for them to follow up. You want to go more informative than “salesy” with the content here.
Step 8: Final Notation
Conventionally, the body portion of a press release ends with a ### symbol at the center of the page. However, if you didn’t place the contact details of your marketing team or company head at the beginning of the document, you can also supply this information here.
Include as many forms as possible. Different journalists may have different preferences.
Get Your FREE Press Release Template
Knowing how to write a press release consists of awareness on the format and writing style that effectively conveys this content.
The journalists you’re looking to work with can get dozens or hundreds of press releases in their inboxes daily. They’re looking for reasons to put press releases in their trash to lighten their load. The slightest deviation from standard format, or a weak headline, can be a good enough cause.
To help you start, here’s a FREE press release template you can work with. Simply copy the template from Google Doc and paste it into a separate doc or text editor. Edit it as you like.
While the bulk of press releases out there follow a general format, there are cases where you need to add unique information or features based on your niche or the type of announcement. Bring in our team of experts to help you Customize your Press Release for your audience the right way!
Simple Steps to Improve Your Press Release
“First, be sure you have a good reason for sending a press release.” – Entrepreneur magazine staff
These words, from the staff of Entrepreneur magazine, embody the first step that goes into writing a successful release. You know the purpose of a press release, so focus on what can sink it. One major issue can be that your topic simply isn’t worth the attention you’re trying to garner.
Figuring out what exactly serves as a “release-worthy” piece of information requires knowledge of your audience.
Other factors may be at play for reasons why your press release is not performing, such as these common mistakes created by our team at Article Writing Co.
In addition, the following suggestions boost the ROI of your press release.
Don’t Bore Readers with Content Regurgitation
Excellent press release content says what it needs to say expediently and concisely.
Don’t be afraid to jump straight to the point. Remember the limited attention span of the typical reader.
Provide readers with an enjoyable and structured experience but that don’t inflate the word count of this piece unnecessarily. Going into added detail can be a bonus for blogs and whitepapers, but for a press release, it’s a negative.
Your average reader expects a press release to cover an important development quickly, and perhaps have a link to a place they can get more info. Short and straightforward is a good thing for a press release.
Use Quotes to Provide Added Value
“Quotes should be used to provide insight and opinion and sound like a real person said them. They definitely shouldn’t be full of jargon or technical language.” – Janet Murray, The Guardian
As the above excerpt from The Guardian’s Janet Murray highlights, one of the most powerful components of press releases is insider insight and quotes.
Tap into an employee or respected voice in your industry to talk about the press release’s main focus. This adds both engagement and authority to your content.
Quotes can supercharge an otherwise mediocre press release when used properly and devoid of unnecessary jargon or technical language.
Example of a Successful Event Press Release
Now, it’s your chance to look at exactly how all these different items and lessons come together to create an ideal press release with a sample by Article Writing Co.
This downloadable example was created to promote a live pitch competition event, aiming to attract press coverage and public interest. X was generated in terms of unpaid media attention with an attendance of Y.
Download your FREE Press Release Example (& Case Study) to look at some of the key components of the press release and how it was written using the tactics discussed.
A Sample Press Release for a Charity Event run by Article-Writing.co’s Founder can be found here…
Maximizing Reach with Your Press Release
You now have all the tools and information to write a compelling press release, but the work doesn’t stop there. The best content in the world doesn’t amount to much if you can’t put it in front of the target audience you’re building around.
Nothing is guaranteed when it comes to catching the attention of the press, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stack the deck in your favor. Here are some ways to make this happen.
Less Is More
When you’ve gone through all this effort to put together a press release, it’s tempting to think that the best way to find success is to send it to every name in your contact list, journalist and non-journalist alike.
This could be a potential recipe for disaster.
If you cast a wide net, there’s a greater likelihood of your press release going into the inbox of people who aren’t going to have any use for it. As a result, they’ll feel you’re spamming, block your email, and you’ve now lost that prospect forever.
A better approach to take, especially for small businesses, is finding a few local journalists who may have worked with your kind of story before. These people will be more likely to promote your press release, and maybe even interview you for more details.
Make A Good Impression
The bulk of press releases these days are distributed to journalists by email. Generally, a marketer will quickly introduce themselves and the release, with an offer to discuss further.
There’s a right and a wrong way to do this.
For example, much like the release itself, a bland headline is a surefire interest killer. Ensure you add a personalized element to catch your prospect’s attention in your introduction. Finally, when you copy in the body of the release, do one last check for any grammatical or spelling errors.
Know the Difference Between Additional Details and Stat-Dumping
Raw numbers aren’t necessarily going to help your press release as much as you think they do.
The key to using statistics is to inform or back up an existing point that you’re making.
The economy of text is your best friend, so when you add a statistic, think about it. Is this going to inform a journalist’s experience somehow? Does it clear up a question they would otherwise need to ask you?
Distribution Services
Some pieces say that online press release distribution is dead, but this is a half-truth. Partnering with an outside service to distribute your press releases can still be effective.
A good distribution service will have a continuously updated list of media members and journalists that fit your niche to send your press release to, rather than a set list of emails they have on file.
Cheaper services may have lists with irrelevant or expired contacts. For small business owners, it may be more cost-effective to do the legwork independently.
When ready to jump, you’re best served to work with the biggest names around, like PR Newswire and others.
Promoting A Press Release
Now, you fully understand how to write a press release. However, the work doesn’t stop there. The best content in the world doesn’t amount to much if you can’t put it in front of that target audience you’ve been building around. This is what makes promoting a press release so important.
We mentioned earlier that nothing is guaranteed when it comes to catching the attention of the press, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stack the deck in your favor. Here are some key ways to make this happen.
Less Is More
When you’ve gone through all this effort to put together a press release, it’s tempting to think that the best way to find success is to send it to every name in your contact list, journalist and non-journalist alike.
This could be a potential recipe for disaster, though. If you cast a wide net, there’s a greater likelihood of your press release going into the inbox of people who aren’t going to have any use for it.
As a result, they feel you’re spamming, block your email, and you’ve now lost that prospect forever.
A better approach to take, especially for small businesses, is finding a few local journalists who may have worked with your kind of story before. These people may be more likely to promote your press release, and maybe even interview you for more details.
Make A Good Impression
The bulk of press releases these days are distributed to journalists by email. Generally, a marketer will quickly introduce themselves and the release and offer the opportunity for further discussion if interested. However, there’s a right and a wrong way to do this.
For example, much like the release itself, a bland headline is a sure-fire interest killer. For your introduction, make sure that you add a personalized element to catch your prospect’s attention.
Finally, when you copy in the body of the release, do one last check for any grammatical or spelling errors.
Know The Difference Between Additional Details And Stat-Dumping
Raw numbers aren’t necessarily going to help your press release as much as you think they do. The key to using statistics is to inform or back up an existing point that you’re making. The economy of text is your best friend, so when you add a statistic, think about it. Is this going to inform a journalist’s experience somehow? Does it clear up a question they would otherwise need to ask you?
Distribution Services: Worth The Money?
Some pieces say that online press release distribution is dead, but this is a half-truth. Can partnering with an outside service to distribute your press releases still be effective? Yes. However, a company that does it well is going to cost you. The reason for this is that a good distribution service will have a regularly updated list of media members and journalists that fit your niche, rather than sending your releases to a set list of emails they have on file. Cheaper services may have lists with irrelevant or expired contacts. For small business owners, it may be more cost effective to try and do the legwork on your own. When you are ready to make the jump, you’re best served working with the biggest names around, like PR Newswire and others.
Need More Help with Your Press Release?
By this point, it’s no secret that a winning press release is all about being straightforward with your audience. Do some gimmicks work? Perhaps on occasion. However, if you want to build a strong relationship with your audience via this medium, sticking consistently to an informative and concise press release is the way to go.
If you can back up a brief and newsworthy message with a powerful headline, strong quotes, and a willingness to avoid filler, there’s no reason why your next press release can’t stand above those offered by the competition. In any industry, it’s hard to pass up on this kind of outlook.
A successful press release can be the difference between a product or service rollout catching fire or fizzling out. The insights in this article can help you figure out exactly how to manage this but crafting the perfect press release on your first or fiftieth trial can still be a challenge with all the moving parts.
This is where outside press release writing services are useful. Article-Writing.co’s Press Release Writing Service tackles this for you, with its professional team with a strong track record of success. Click here to learn more.
The landscape of press releases and effective content is ever-shifting as the needs and tastes of audiences change. Follow our newsletter for the latest press release tips & tricks.
David is the Founder and Director of article-writing.co, the fastest-growing content creation agency in North America. He has transformed companies by offering high-quality content that has impacted their SEO ranking, revitalized websites with engaging and industry-relevant blogs and website copy, and championed successful email campaign copy.
