10 Things to Keep in Mind When Writing a Press Release
A press release is a type of public relations announcement that is issued to various publications and/or news media for the sole purpose of letting the public know what special news a company has. In other words, it’s a way for a company or business to draw attention to itself. Typically press releases will include something notable or newsworthy, and writing them isn’t terribly difficult. The following are ten simple tips to remember if you find yourself writing one:
10 Steps for Writing a Press Release
- Newsworthiness: Make sure that you first have something newsworthy to talk about before you write.
- Intentions: Who is your audience? The press release should be targeted towards them and should give them some reason to continue reading it.
- Introduction: Typically, you’ll want to start off the press release with a brief description of the news. Afterwards you can go into more detail as to when it was announced, and by whom, etc.
- Connecting: When writing, always keep your audience in mind. How are you making the connection with them?
- First Impressions: Remember that press releases are usually short in nature. Your first sentence should be something that immediately draws readers in.
- Keep it Simple: No one likes a show off. Ditch the fancy language and speak in a way that is easily understood by a wide audience.
- Face the Facts: What is the “meat” of what you have to say? The reason you are writing the press release is to, in essence, feed some facts to the public about what’s going on. Stick to this line of logic and you can’t go wrong.
- Contact Info: Contact information should always be integrated into your press release. Some people choose to put their contact information at the top of their press release, but I prefer to put it towards the end/bottom of the press release. Contact info should include the name of the company, the name of the person within that company, a phone number and a mailing address. Email addresses can also be included.
- Substance: If you don’t really have something noteworthy, then you do not need to issue a press release.
- Keep it Short: Remember, your press release should deal mostly with facts, not fluff. If you make your press release too long, people won’t want to read it!
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[photo credit: Brian Solis]
“Face the Facts: What is the “meat” of what you have to say? The reason you are writing the press release is to, in essence, feed some facts to the public about what’s going on. Stick to this line of logic and you can’t go wrong.”
This is great advice for anything we put out there. I hate having to search for the point when I’m reading.
Most others do as well.
Excellent info, while I’ve never actually written one myself, I plan on doing so in the future I will definitely keep this in mind.
This is a very useful post. I have to write them on occasions – in fact I have one right now. With these tips, I’m actually looking forward to do the job!:-)