Writing a company boilerplate is important to consumer education, advertising, promotion, and branding. While the vast majority of the public might blow right past it without thinking twice, every word matters to how you are ultimately perceived.
In the following article, we’re going to give you the keys to writing great copy for yours. First, however, it’s important to understand what it is, what purpose it serves, and how it should be distributed.
Boilerplate vs. Press Release Copy
The boilerplate copy will always accompany a press release. While the release will vary most every time, the boilerplate will never change.
A press release informs the media about something newsworthy at your company or organization. The boilerplate gives readers or reporters the necessary information they need to show how the message of the release is relevant to what you do.
With press releases, think who-what-when-where-how. All the information is relevant for only a specific period of time.
The boilerplate press release copy changes very little, and it will define who you are moving forward. It typically goes at the end of your press release, and it is limited to a single paragraph. Here are 10 tips to ensure yours shines.
1. Describe What Your Business Does
Before even thinking about submitting your copy to a press release distribution service, make sure you’ve adequately described what you do. This is where you tell the press whether you’re a “clothing apparel company,” “kitchen appliances manufacturer,” or “organization committed to green business solutions.”
Define your product or service. Then, put that front-and-center with your company or organization name.
2. Amplify Your Accomplishments
In a press release, companies speak positively about their efforts and accomplishments or address challenges that are in the best interests of their audience. The boilerplate copy, on the other hand, is less targeted and presented as an overview of how the company benefits its audience.
You might use this space to discuss how many people you have helped to feed or clothe in impoverished countries or how quickly you’ve grown in revenue since your inception. Gauge what you include by answering one simple question. What specifically do you want everyone to know about your company to put your best foot forward?
3. Show You Are Established
The boilerplate of a press release should emphasize how many years you’ve been in business or when your company was established. Longevity implies expertise, authority, and trust. If you haven’t been in business very long, then emphasize how you’ve done so much in such a short amount of time.
4. Think Like a Journalist
Your boilerplate message should include the types of details that a serious journalist might ask about your company. Journalists want to know what you do, why/how it’s relevant to your industry, how long you’ve been in business, what your values are.
Make a list of questions, from simple to tough, that a journalist might want to know about your company. You don’t have to include answers for all of them in your boilerplate, but you should try to answer each one for your own benefit.
You can always pick and choose from there what to include in the boilerplate. The exercise will ensure your copy comes across as more newsworthy and less salesy.
5. Think Like a Search Engine
Another important aspect of boilerplate copy in public relations is to think like a search engine. That means once you’ve established everything above, find ways to naturally work in relevant search terms that you’re targeting through your online marketing efforts.
How do you expect people to find you online? Make sure the verbiage aligns with some of those key search terms.
6. Include a Vision or Mission Statement
A vision statement is something that keeps your organization on track regardless of whether you hit your goals. A mission statement is something you specifically hope to accomplish every day.
Either of these can be great inclusions to your boilerplate. One good example from Arkansas-based Tacos 4 Life is to “combat hunger from around the world.” The company does this by donating a meal to hungry children in third-world countries for every Tex-Mex meal purchased inside one of their restaurants.
7. Create the Right CTA
A boilerplate is another great opportunity to show individuals how they can connect to your company or organization. You do this by including a call-to-action. Show people how they can get involved, support you, or connect with your organization.
8. Get Multiple Sets of Eyeballs Involved
At this point, your company boilerplate should have taken shape. It’s a very important piece of copy, though, because it acts as a calling card for what you do.
For this reason, it’s time to bring in members from every part of your organization. What do they feel your core values are as a company? Their insights can help you catch key ingredients that you might have left out.
The smaller your company is, the easier this will be to accomplish. For larger organizations, it’s important to get the input of as many high-level staffers, managers, and supervisors as possible.
9. Tighten It Up
After assessing the final input, make the necessary adjustments. Then, run the copy through a program like Grammarly to make sure it reads well and is free from grammar or spelling issues. Give it one last read-through out loud to make sure you’ve used all the right words and syntax and that it sounds appropriate for your purposes.
10. Distribute
There are many press release distribution services online. Use as many free services as you can and also consider paid distribution to make the job easier. Beyond that, get to know your local media outlets.
Local television stations, newspapers, and magazines, are always looking for content to share with their readers. A well-written boilerplate not only makes it easy for them, it also puts you on their radar as a go-to content source.
Company Boilerplate Should Be Taken Seriously
It doesn’t matter if people gloss over your company boilerplate. The right people will notice it, and when they do, they will help you tell your story as a business or organization.
Put everything you have into producing the best boilerplate copy imaginable. And while you’re here, check out our tips for how to write a great press release.