When writing a press release, one of the most common mistakes people make is focusing on the promotional language more than they should. To ensure that your press release reaches the target audience, you should instead make sure that your press release contains newsworthy content. That is let us be honest harder than it sounds. Because nobody ever told me how to do so. No worries! In this article, we will dive deep into everything you need to know to learn how to write a writing press release that works, including a step-by-step guide to writing a killing press release.
What is a Press Release?
A press release or news release is a document that we use to announce any newsworthy story about any brand, organization, or company. The document includes all the necessary information that a reporter or editor would need.
Then, some media outlets share your news on the press release solely while others might ask you to conduct an interview. Besides that, they can also ask you to be the expert source for the story, especially when you send them a press release regularly. Nonetheless, here are a few instances when people write press releases:
- Launching a new service, product, or business
- Breaking news
- Arranging a huge contest or competition
- Hosting an event
- Winning an award
- Partnering with community clubs, charity organizations, or celebrities
- Sharing the customer success story
- Rebranding any business
- Hiring or promoting any executive
The key to a great press release is to understand that reporters always look for a story that is timely, affects a large group of people, contains an emotional element, or relates to any other trending story. Therefore, it is essential to find out what people are talking about, whether in person or online on social media.
A Press Release Template
To help you write your first press release, we have put together the following template. It uses a common press release structure which most of the time works like magic because more people can easily relate to it.
[The headline to announce the story and must catch the readers' attention] [The subtitle that you should use to quickly summarize your story] [Date and Location: "City, Month, Day, Year"] - [ The Company Name, The Company Description] has recently anounced [The what, who, when, where, and why of the story]. [ Add pas milestones, stats, research, events, and other relevant data that a journalist might want to use.] [You can use multiple paragraphs and bullet points if you need.] [Add relevant quotes and data shared by subject experts about the story.] [Emphasize what makes the story newsworthy.] [End the press release with more information about the organization or company involved in the news story. Also, talk about how your reader can learn more and get in-touch for more information.] ###
How to Write a Press Release for an Event in 2024
Step 1: Find Newsworthy Angles
The first step in learning how to write a press release is to look for angles that are newsworthy. Since you are pitching journalists, make sure that you have enough data to draw their attention first. Nonetheless, here are a few things that journalists look at in a press release.
Exclusive Data and/or Research
You all will agree with the fact that journalists love anything that is exclusive. After all, an exclusive story is always in demand. Therefore, take your time, do your research, and bring out the exclusive data that your journalist wants.
Newsjacking
Since it is always not possible to provide journalists or editors an exclusive news or breaking news, you can also choose the newsjacking method. It is basically a way of aligning your brand according to current news and market trends to draw media attention and boost your brand’s exposure.
For instance, look for what is trending on social media platforms such as Twitter. Then, tying it to your brand it is a good way of drawing the media attention. Another great way is to find out what well-known journalists in your field are writing about.
However, if you do not want to take hours researching trending topics and journalists on Linkedin, you can also use tools such as “JustReachOut” to find out a bunch of journalists and their recent articles.
Step 2: Write a Catchy Press Release Headline
The heading of a press release is essentially the first thing that your readers will see. Therefore, it has to be good enough to convince your reader to go through the whole content. So, write a headline that has the following properties:
- Has action verbs
- comprehensive
- direct
If you need help in writing a catchy headline, you can use tools such as a headline analyzer to ensure it is good enough. One of the most common headline analyzers is “sharethrough“.
Then, summarize the entire story into a single sentence that supports your heading. This is the subtitle of your press release.
Step 3: Craft Your Lead
In a press release, the lead is the first paragraph. It usually consists of 35 to 45 words and the 5Ws, including who, what, where, when, and why. Besides, we use the lead to summarize the most essential parts of the press release.
- Who: Who (which person or company) is involved in the story?
- What: What is happening and what is it about?
- When: When did the XYZ happen or when is it going to happen?
- Where: Where did the event take place or where is it going to take place?
- Why: Why is it important or relevant information to the reader?
Nonetheless, make sure to answer each of the following questions carefully and in a way that grabs the reader’s attention.
Step 4: Write the Body of the Press Release
The purpose of the body of the press release is to give additional and supporting information. Here you can illustrate all the relevant details of the story and your brand’s or company’s involvement. So, you can add facts and figures or any other important detail. Basically, the body of a press release is where u put information such as the arguments, controversies, background, evidence, and much more.
Other than that, you can also choose to add relevant quotes. Because it is a good way to improve the credibility of your press release. However, before you add any quote, make sure that it is relevant to your story.
Step 5: Write Your Boilerplate Text
The boilerplate of a press release is basically standardized text or copy of what your brand or company is and what it does or stands for. So, when you are writing a boilerplate, you are basically putting everything together into a single paragraph, including business aspirations, marketing goals, and facts. Besides, you can also choose to add your company or brand’s logo if you want to do so.
Step 6: Add Media Contact Details
In this section, you should add your media team’s contact details so that reporters, editors, or journalists can contact you. You can add details such as an email ID and contact number. This is to ensure that they can reach out to you for further details.
You can read more about:
- Top 10 Essay Writing Mistakes
- How to Write a News Report | The Basic Steps of News Writing
- Why New Businesses Fail – 8 Common Reasons
- How to Write a Summary of a Newspaper, Journal And Scientific Articles | Summary Writing Guide
- How to Become a Freelance Copywriter? 7 Expert Tips for Getting Started