Writing a Successful Press Release

The first thing to understand about writing an effective press release is that the media is not interested in helping you sell your product or market your company. They are interested in a good story. They are interested in keeping their readers engaged and informed.

That is where you come in. Although reporters don't work on your marketing staff, they are in need of new content. Constantly. Newspapers are printed daily. Most trade publications are printed monthly. That's a lot of pages to fill. If you can give a reporter a good story, a good angle, you're in.

Determining your angle is half the battle. What makes your information newsworthy? The more newsworthy you can make your topic the more likely you will see it in print. Can you capitalize on a current trend? Is there a human interest angle? A humor angle? If you can find a way to make your story interesting to the average man on the street, you've got your angle.

The other half of the battle is properly formatting your release. An improperly formatted press release will go straight into the circular file (aka the trash bin). Below are tips that will keep your release out of the garbage and on an editor's desk. We've also included a press release template for your use in the Templates and Documents section here at OfficeArrow.

The Headline

There are some publications (neighborhood dailies, industry magazines) that may run your release just as you have written it. Rarely will your headline run as is. Headlines will almost always be rewritten to match the publication's standards. That said, there are still guidelines you should follow:

• Answer the "what" in your headline. Don't make the editor or reporter guess what your release is about. Tell them up front before you loose them.
• Grammar is not your friend when it comes to writing a headline. It's okay to drop "a" and "the" out of the headline completely. Remember the headline is for a media tease. It doesn't need to read like a sentence.
• Use as few words as possible to make your statement. If possible don't go over 10 words. You can further clarify your point in the subhead.
• Your company should be mentioned in the headline if at all possible. Don't try to hide the fact that this is a company release.
• FORMAT: all caps, bold, centered

The Subhead

Subheads are used to further clarify the headline. Again, use as few words as possible while filling in the holes left by your teaser headline.

• FORMAT: upper and lower case, centered

Two headline examples recently posted on PR Newswire:

Headline: "Georgia Sea Turtle Center Releases Old Friend into the Sea"
Subhead: "Georgia Sea Turtle Center staff prepares Dylan for her release on Monday, June 30"

This is a great human interest angle. It names the company in the lead and follows with the appropriate time sensitive information in the subhead.

Headline: "Malibu's Hottest (and Greenest) Fourth of July Beach Party"

This story does not mention the company in the headline because it is written by the party sponsors, a long list of beverage companies. This is a release promoting a brand marketing event. The timely "green" angle, however, was enough to get the story picked up the next day by a local NBC affiliate.

Body Copy

The first paragraph must answer the basic questions; who, what, when, where and why. There is little room for fluff in this paragraph. You can expand on your statements in later paragraphs; your introductory paragraph must contain the facts. All the facts. And it must do this as briefly as possible. Edit this paragraph mercilessly until it is a skeleton of the facts.

The paragraphs that follow fill in the details around the claims and statements you made in your introduction. Here is where you can include quotes from your executive and from other experts on the subject. Reference sources for statistics, and build a story.

The old adage, "Don't bury the lead" is true for press releases. Your facts should become less important as the press release continues. There will be instances when only the first few paragraph of your release will be run. They should be able to stand on their own.

Remember that a press release is not a marketing brochure or sales sheet. It is meant to be news. Don't make claims that are not substantiated, don't use jargon and avoid fluff. Can you imagine Brian Williams reading your statements on the evening news? If not, what you have written is probably better suited for your marketing brochure.

I was once asked to consult for an ex-football player who was launching a consumable product. His website and press releases made extreme statements such as "the best," "the only" and "never before seen science." One of his products was touted as the "safest, most natural non-prescription sleep aid." With his name, getting press for this new product could have been easy; however extreme claims like these make it difficult for editors to believe your story.

The last paragraph in the release should be your "boiler plate." This paragraph includes standard company facts such as when the company was founded and a description of the company's focus. Any necessary legal disclaimers would run here as well. If you are selling a product and want to include "where to buy" information this can follow the boiler plate.

Formatting Guidelines:

• Print on company letterhead. At minimum include a company logo.
• FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE should run on the top left hand corner.
• Contact information for your media representative (or you) should run in the top right hand corner. Include as many forms of contact as possible, phone, email, cell phone. You want an interested reporter to be able to track you down.
• Headline and subhead are centered. Some choose to run the headline in all capital letters, using a larger font size and bold faced type.
• Body copy is single spaced and left justified. Use only one space at the end of sentences, and do not add extra lines between paragraphs.
• CITY, July 2: The first word in your release should be the city you are releasing from, or where your event is happening, followed by the date.
• End your release with the symbols ### centered at the bottom of the page. This "end" symbol is usually run above the boiler plate.