But the most interesting part is that they can help you reach audiences you wouldn’t any other way. Let’s say it’s a way of non-paid advertising.
So let’s get to it!
Everything You Must Know About Press Releases
What Exactly Is A Press Release
It is a document commonly used to share the news with the public. They were meant to be read by journalists, but now everybody can access them. They are typically written in the news article format but covering the most important information at the beginning.
Most press releases are one or two-page long tops. That is because we want to provide enough information. That way media outlets can have sufficient material to write their stories about what we are releasing.
When Is The Right Moment To Send A Press Release
Every time you release something to the public or your customers. This could be
Product Launches. Whenever you release a new product or service to the market
Events. Anniversaries, seasonal sales, new sections of a store or business, just to mention a few
Partnerships. If you got a good deal with another business to benefit your customers, you should let them know about it!
Awards. Does your business give back to the community in any way? Let the people know!
Crisis management. If your company has made any kind of mistake, the best to do is to come forward before it’s too late.
Although there could be a lot more reasons to write one.
Reasons To Release A Media Announcement
- Media coverage
- Improved brand reputation
- Reach an expanded network
- Helps build PR contacts
- Improves your SEO strategy
- You are in control of your media image
- Solid backlinks
Or how many people like to call it: Free advertising. If your press release reaches the right news or media outlets, they can help you reach more people
Press releases help you to communicate with your audience, but they also prove you are serious about your business. It’s a way to care about your media image.
Journalists or media outlets have wide contact networks and can reach far more people than any business alone. If you can have them on your side, you are way ahead of the competition.
Writing and sending press releases is an exercise that will get you to contact new people from the media industry. That later can become a reference to new business and projects. And if you deliver good stories to them, they will be happy to cover your news.
As we mentioned before, you can develop a complete SEO strategy around a single press release. Keep this in mind before writing and look for the keywords related to your business, and add them to your press release.
Effective press releases can do a lot of things for your business. Sure getting more leads is one of the main benefits, but you can also clear your name after a scandal or prove how your company gives back to the community. If you show consistent behavior in your company, press releases can help you shape public perception in your favor
You can use your press releases to build backlinks from trusted media sites. This can help you position better on the Google result page
As you can see, taking the time to write a compelling press release, can become a very efficient cost-effective tool, since it can add to your ongoing media strategy.
How To Write A Press Release
Sections Your Press Release Must Have
Let’s check first all the parts you must cover in your next press release:
- Headline
- Location
- Body Copy
- Boilerplate
- Press Contact
An eye-catching opening title that can make your audience interested in reading your content.
City, state, or venue where the event is occurring. Is it a seasonal sale at a particular venue? is it a promo available only at some retailers? Did you release a new product for one particular state?
Here is where you mention all the benefits of your product or all the details about your initiative or upcoming event.
Think of it as the “about us” section on a website. This is the part where you can let people know what your business is about.
Remember this document is intended for media outlets. Leave them all your contact information to make them super easy to contact you.
Take a look at this press release by Apple, to get a better idea of how those sections integrate
Step One. Write An Appealing Headline
Keep your target in mind. Remember this is not an email to your customers, but a document directed to media outlets. Make your headline interesting, appealing or intriguing.
On this subject, many of the people who will read your press release are reporters, and they may not even know your product or brand. Keep that in mind and write it as concise and clear as you can.
A good headline should be short, concise, and appealing. Search engines reward the brief, so don’t use six words for something you can say with one.
Our best suggestion to get the best headlines is to write it last. This is because it will be far easier to come up with a good title after you wrote, process, and digest all the information in your mind.
Step Two. Take Your Time To Write The First Paragraph
Use your first paragraph to let them know the most important things about your release. Answer who, what, when, why, and about your launch. Think of it as a Netflix synopsis. You have to let them know what’s your content about in one paragraph, but without spoiling the ending.
Keep in mind many people will only read that first paragraph, and worse! Maybe some of those will even write about you! So you have to give them all the necessary information, right at the beginning.
Step 3. Write A Rich Content Body Copy
And don’t worry if your writing skills are not great! You don’t have to write a novel, remember a press release is, first of all, an informative piece of content. It needs to be helpful and concise.
You can tell the story of how your company came up with the new product or the reason behind opening a new venue.
Step 4. Write A Good Boilerplate
The bad news is you have to take your time to write yours. The good news is you only have to do it once. Your boilerplate is the same for all your business’s press releases.
Think of this section as a summary of these two questions: “who” is your company? what does it do? And why does that matter?
As an example, check the boilerplate in this ModCloth release from 2017.
Try to write this section in an open, but foremost in an honest way. Remember your goal is to reference your company so the media outlets can relate to it.
Piece of advice: Once you write your boilerplate, ask a friend to read it, and then ask them three questions.
- Who is the company?
- What does it do?
- Why is that important?
The quality of their answers is the quality of your boilerplate. Use this as a guide, take notes, and go back to the drawing board until people can answer those questions easily.
Step 5. Edit, Add Final Touches, And Proofread
Remember people in editorial media will prefer well-written content. By simply proofreading your press release thoroughly, you will be way ahead of the rest of the documents they read every day.
Do not feel afraid of editing and rewriting anything that doesn’t sound right to you. You can use the Hemingway App to make sure your document is friendly for all readers.
How To Distribute Your Press Releases
You could come up with the best-written press release ever, but it won’t matter if nobody reads it. Once you are done writing yours, it’s time to focus on distribution.
Do Not Overestimate Social Media And Emails
The easiest answer is in the palm of your hand. Start with your social media and blog. Check your followers or Facebook friends, maybe some of them work in media or something related to your niche.
If you already have a mailing list, that is another great way to release your announcement all by yourself.
Choose And Reach A Few Journalist
Keep The Online Wheel Spinning After Your Press Release
Once your release, you have to be very attentive to any mention of your news on any channel, so you can write a blog article about that coverage. Then you can backlink that article to recognized journalists and media outlets.
You can plan an entire SEO strategy around your media coverage and turn that media noise into leads to your site.
If you want to know more about how to write the right article for your SEO strategy, we have this guide about How To Write The Perfect Blog Article.
Example Of Successful Press Releases
To help you start the idea engine, we selected for you 5 significant examples of successful press releases.
- The Home Depot – The Home Depot To Hire 1,000 Technology Professionals
Tips For Writing And Publishing A Press Release
There are a couple of tricks that can help you write and publish your first press release. We selected some of those for you.
Take Advantage Of Actual News In Your Press Release
This is a practice commonly known as “newsjacking”. Simply put, newsjacking is about taking real news from out there and finding creative ways to tie your brand to them.
Please just be careful not to play with sensitive news! Because if someone catches you taking advantage of tragic news just to sell your product, it could backfire in the worst possible way.
Our advice is to stick to technology and entertainment news. Is there a new Marvel movie coming soon? Use that to release your brand of homemade popcorn! It just takes a little creativity and good timing.
TBecome The Expert Data Source
Use Your Press Release To Tell A Story
While sharing relevant data is important, people connect more easily with emotions. This may sound like a literary challenge, but nothing further to it!
You can tell the story of how your company came to celebrate 2 or 5 years running. Or how a personal tragedy became a successful business. Just remember your press release is NOT a Telenovela! Limit your sharings to the first and maybe last paragraph.
Let’s say your press release is about a new product. Right before you start sharing data, you can start with one paragraph about how you never thought the product your kid designed, was going to become a success. Or the story of that one tweet that made you come up with the idea.
Starting with a humane connection is also a great way to make your article lighter and easier to read.
Help Journalist To Cover Your Story
Keep Your Press Release Short And On-topic
Reach not for the biggest reporters, but for the ones that matter
It may sound obvious to look for the most famous and respected media outlets and reporters to spread our story. The truth is: you don’t need the biggest reporters to cover your story, only the ones that are relevant to your niche.
For instance, you can reach the biggest media personality in your Twitter feed, but if they write about cars, and you have a bakery, it won’t help much.
That’s why, when looking for contacts to spread your press release, get into the niches where your product or brand already lives.
Keep your brand image aligned
When looking for journalists or newspapers Ask yourself these questions
- Does their audience align with your brand or industry?
- Do their values align with yours?
- Is their public image more inclined towards the positive side?
- Include significant quotes
It Is important to make sure you are talking to the right niche
Make sure you are on the same channel and have similar views to avoid any triggered response.
If the newspaper or journalist you want to reach has been involved in recent scandals or has any open view that makes them unpopular, maybe you should think twice.
Include a quote from the company owner, the designers involved in the process, or any personality involved in your release. This quote should summarize the essence of your piece… Why? Remember Journalists are busy people. f you give them a good quote they can just copy and paste, then writing about you just became super easy.
Press Release Template To Copy And Paste
Now it’s your turn to start working on your press release, but don’t worry, we got you! Here is a template you can copy and paste into a new document, so you can start writing right away.
Please copy and paste this format, You will see tags [like this one] to indicate which section you are in. Please remove the informative text and write your own. When you finish, delete the tags too.
********Press Release Template********
Write Here Your Headline. Make It Short, Concise, And Clear
[First paragraph]
[Location and date starts the first paragraph]
Bakersfield, Ca. – May 14, 2021– This first paragraph is like a Netflix synopsis. Answer who, what, where, and when, without spoiling the ending. Leave the juicy details to become part of the main body copy. Remember a journalist should be able to get all the general information about your release just from this paragraph. Some people use a bigger font size for this one.
[Body Copy]
Here’s where the rest of the information goes. You already showed us who, what, where, and when in the first paragraph, now it’s time to tell us how it happened, or what will happen from here.
Remember you don’t have to write a novel here, you just have to let us know the plain facts as clearly as you can. You can tell a brief story that helps you establish a humane connection. Just don’t lose track of the main topic.
You can also use writing techniques like the one known as “newsjacking” to take advantage of actual news from around the world. Please stick to technology and entertainment news. We don’t want the wrong kind of media attention because someone found your press release offensive.
While this section can be longer, try to keep the whole document under 2 pages to increase your chances of people reading it.
[Boilerplate]
This is the section you need to take time to write, but you just need to write once. Here you need to answer as brief and concise as possible:
- Who your company is?
- What does it do?
- Why is that important?
[Contact Information]
This is the shortest and simpler section, Just have to provide:
- The department or division in your company that is responsible for the press release
- Name of the person in charge
- A phone number and/or email address
********End Of Press Release Template********
Closing
Writing press releases sounds more daunting than what is. Are you still not sure about when is the best moment to release a media announcement? Maybe what you need is to set your social media calendar right first. Check out this infographic to help you find the right timing all the time.
And if you still have any questions regarding your next press release, contact us on social media! We’ll be happy to help!
