How to write a great press release

So you (or your client) has something that you want to talk about. You want to go to the press with your news in an attempt to spread the word far and wide. To do this you need to put out a press release that will get opened, get your point across and, hopefully, translate into coverage. Writing a good release is a skill and, like other skills, practice makes perfect. Today we cover our top tips on how to write a great press release which will strengthen your press release marketing strategy.

Before you start, it’s important to remember that journalists are increasingly busy people. They are also inundated with press releases. So, in order to get picked up it is important to remember both of these points. Therefore, it’s essential to put together a release that is interesting enough to get opened and concise enough to get read. 

Top Tips how to write a great press release

We’ve condensed down the advice that we give to every client, to a list of golden rules / top tips. Any good press release will have taken all of these into consideration.

• Have a good angle – Ask yourself, why should anyone care? Is this something you would read if you didn’t know the brand?  This is probably the most important rule – if your angle isn’t interesting or relevant then you are unlikely to get pick up.
• Choose a great headline – It’s likely that the journalists you’re about to send to will have received dozens of releases this morning already – a strong and compelling headline is an essential first start to getting read.
• Consider your first line – The opening line is crucial, this should be your story condensed to one sentence. Consider leading with one or two bullet points.
• Think about your audience – This means both the journalist as well as the ultimate reader. Considering what the journalist is looking for (how can you help them) and what the reader actually wants to read about will help you get cut through.
• Don’t try and say too much – More really is less, your release should have one or two key messages. Any more will get lost. If you’ve got some fantastic research or data with 15 interesting story angles – this is great, but don’t try and ram them into the same press release, split these up into bite-sited chunks and really focus.
• Quote something quotable – Quotes are a great way to get across an opinion or insight. There is a reason these go under someone’s name and not in the body of the release – because people have opinions and views. Use your quotes to say something interesting, and convey some personality.

If you follow the above advice then you’re already in a better position than a lot of brands.

YOURS . SINCERELY has a wealth of experience putting together killer press release marketing strategies that not only get coverage, but also get key brand messages across. For more details on how we could help you get in touch.