Press releases are a great way of getting your brand in front of more people through featuring on publications and programmes. Usually, Press releases are short and factual, with a strong news element and less free advertisement vibes – journalists will see straight through that.
Writing a great press release takes a lot, and it takes even more for the piece to actually be picked-up and distributed among magazines, newsletters and publications.
This is our guide on how to write a great press release, get ready to take notes...
STRONG HEADLINE & OPENING STATEMENT
A headline and opening statement is the first thing that draws the reader’s eye – whether the reader is a journalist or your target audience. Headlines need to be short and snappy, get to the point and do it effectively.
Opening statements should include yet another short and engaging line, giving a quick snippet of what news you’re sharing. Remember, press releases need to be written in the third person like the journalist is speaking about your brand, not you.
ANSWER THE 6 W'S
To write a great press release, you need to ensure that you have answered most of the relevant questions that you think your target audience would ask – What is the brand? When is the event happening? Who is involved? How can people participate?
You definitely want to avoid having to go back and forth with journalists because you’ve left pieces of the puzzle out, making it hard for an audience to gather what the press release is actually about. In all honesty, if your press release doesn’t feature the facts, it’s unlikely it’ll get picked up.
NEWSWORTHY CONTENT
We really can’t stress this enough, as this is probably
the biggest point of all – if it isn’t news, it’s an advertisement – if it’s an advertisement, journalists will ask you to pay for it. The main point of a press release is for the article to be in the public’s interest, whether that be a charity event, new opening, quirky competition or any event/news worthy of a reaction by the public.
As an example, one of our most successful press releases was for Weetons Food Hall, Harrogate, which explored a fun Wonka-style competition to win a year’s supply of delicious Weetons Salted Caramel Chocolate… unique, exciting and newsworthy.
It got picked up by multiple publications across Yorkshire and nationally – success!
EMOTIVE QUOTE
Last but most definitely not least, you really need a quote in your press release. If you research a number of press releases, the majority of them are 40% quote and 60% content, some leaning even more towards a quote.
Having an emotive quote, that either adds extra information to the news story itself or has a wow factor, is a great way of ensuring that your press release has brilliant elements within it.
Quotes can be from a wide range of sources, just make sure it brings something to the table.
That’s about it when it comes to writing a great press release – having a newsworthy story with a great quote and engaging content is key.
It’s not easy to get in front of publications and journalists, which is why we’ve got our PR techniques nailed. If you need a helping hand with PR and don’t know where to start, drop us an email at hello@getaudience.co.uk.
Comments