A press release has always come in handy in gaining media attention and sharing something with the public or consumers of a business. A professionally written and successfully distributed PR can lead to media engagement as well as an increase in customer interest and sales – press releases have always cast a great and long-lasting impact on businesses in different ways.
However, all of this depends upon the quality of the written business press release. A full press release can never bring in benefits to a business or organization – such press releases get ignored and can sometimes make the business look unprofessional and incompetent.
The blog will guide you through the basics of writing and distributing quality business press releases.
What should be The Objective of a Press Release?
It is an official announcement through which businesses share important information with media and consumers. It should always contain newsworthy information about your business and should neither be treated as an overt sales pitch nor as an advertisement – attracting media attention is the ultimate goal here.
There should be enough information within the structure of the Press Release so that the media houses can runs stories on it. It must be well-written, well-structured, informative, and concise.
When should The Press Release be Written?
Many businesses interpret the timing of the distribution of press releases wrong. Since the press releases contain information that is newsworthy and something that has happened recently or will take place in the coming days.
So, here’s a list of some events that are worthy of getting a place in your business press release –
- Event announcement
- Product/service launch
- Awards
- Rebranding/merging
- New deal/agreement/contract
- Offers for consumers
- Policy changes
All of these are newsworthy and should be shared with the audiences through media outlets. There are higher chances that the media will pick up something like these.
What should be Included in The Press Release?
While writing a press release, you must always adhere to the basic guidelines or industrial standards. An acceptable press release consists of the following sections –
- Headline
- Contact Details
- Content
- Quotes
- Company Boilerplate
Apart from these, you can add a sub-headline or summary can also be included just after the headline of the press release. To keep the audiences engaged, you can attach multimedia content like image or video.
The entire press release should be short and to-the-point – this is very important for catching the readers’ interests and keeping them hooked. Also, do not add any information that is irrelevant to the subject matter.
How to Distribute The Press Release?
Now that you have understood the pattern of writing a press release, let’s discuss the last step of the entire process – press release distribution. You can pitch your press release directly to the journalists/editors; however, you must never spam their inbox. After pitching the press release, all you can do is wait for it to get picked up.
Well, there is another option in hand – you can avail of services from press release distribution agencies. Such agencies distribute their clients’ press releases to popular media outlets, depending upon the industry and target region of the business. Companies like IssueWire offer PR distribution as well as writing services, taking care of all the aspects of an organization’s PR campaigns.
