If you’re a content marketing writer, or working in public relations, then you’ve probably written a few press releases in your day. They are very effective for informing people about what is happening within a company, as well as promoting causes, highlighting interesting events, and more.
For those who don’t know, the purpose of a press release is to grab the attention of the reader, highlight news, create brand awareness, and create publicity. It’s essentially free marketing. However, to be effective, the press release should follow standard guidelines (a simple search will help you there), and be legitimately interesting or newsworthy.
To write a great press release, follow these tips (Hubspot also has a good template and additional info):
- Focus on the clarity and accuracy of your content – no lies or misstatements allowed
- Include the names, phone numbers, email addresses, etc. of sources
- Include a release date or FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE at the top of your press release
- Leave space between the release date and your headline
- Summarize your story in the headline – keep it to two lines if you can
- The lead sentence / paragraph should contain 5WH information
- Include the name of the person to credit for the information
- Put all the additional facts in the body of the story
- Keep your press release to one page if possible, and two pages max
- Include the contact information for the person who can provide more information at the end of the press release
- Add photo caption separately
- Keep it simple and newsy
The end of the press release can include a backgrounder, with a brief overview of your company. You can also include a fact sheet with detailed information that won’t fit in the press release.
Need help with writing press releases or other content marketing? Let me know – contact@davidgargaro.com.
