The art of creating premium quality press release will allow your business to grow by casting a positive impact on the journalists. Catching the attention of the journalists is not easy as they go through numerous press releases in a day. You need to provide them with engaging news wrapped within a package that is made by following all the basic guidelines of press release writing.
Here are some points on which you must focus while writing a professional press release:
Date and Company Logo
Always ensure to mention the date of the release in its first section. This will let the journalist know that the story is new and need to be considered. Also, if you are sending the press release in advance, then use the word ‘EMBARGOED’ before the date. This will make sure that the journalist publishes the press release on that particular date.
You must also include the name and logo of the company in the top right corner of the content. For quality writing, you can take help from professional press release writers.
Headline
- The headline of the press release must be attention-grabbing to get the attention of the journalist.
- As mentioned above, journalists receive several email pitches in a day and your press release must stand out among the rest to get picked.
- Try to keep the word count of the headline under 10.
Intro Paragraph
An engaging headline draws the attention of the journalist but the intro paragraph plays the most important role. You must include the core of the content within the first 40-50 words. This section must contain answers to who, why, what, where, when, and how of the story.
Supporting Paragraphs
The story of the press release needs to be developed in the following paragraphs –
- Here the key information needs to be included.
- Mention points that are important and provide support to the content of the intro paragraph.
The Quotes
A press release is incomplete without quotes from important designation holders of the company. Be it from the CEO, stakeholder, investor, or any other important employee of the company, the quote must be relevant to the story and it should add value to the overall piece.
The Body
The body must consist of key messages, like –
- Product/service details
- Pricing
- The web address of the company, or
- Any other technical information
However, you mustn’t get confused between the main news hook and this part of the content.
The conclusion
You need to bring the entire content to a clear conclusion through an ending endorsement. This endorsement can be taken from market data, facts, or any organization. This will tell the journalist why your business is different from others.
You can also use the word ‘ENDS’ to mark the finishing point of the entire content.
Contact Details
You must always include contact details at the end press release for the reference of the journalist. Here, you need to include –
- Your name
- Phone number, and
- Email address.
Apart from these, you can also include some additional background details only for the journalist and not mentioned in the story. This is often termed as the boilerplate.
