Major press release distribution sites release nearly 1,000 press releases a day. During busy news cycles, this number can skyrocket even more. Because there are so many press releases knocking on journalists’ doors every day it’s important that you make your press release stand out and be impactful.
A press release is a succinct way for an industry or brand to get news attention and push out first-party information. Press releases should be factual and tell a story. A good way to make a press release impactful is to balance the storytelling side with factually focused writing.
For a brand that may not already “knows” you, it’s even more important to produce a high-quality release. Keep reading to learn more about how to construct an impactful press release.
What is a Press Release?
A press release is a written communication that is distributed to members of the media. Typically businesses and industries will generate a media list that they will push out press releases to in order to generate news.
Public relations professionals are typically tasked with writing press releases and succinctly sharing a storyline or hard-hitting piece of news. Typically press releases from a media standpoint are issued for one of two reasons. Either to generate positive press around a new product or expansion or to mitigate negative press.
When a business is in the limelight, it can be the victim of negative media. In order to build a network of reliable media connections and gain newsworthiness, businesses often try to push out positive headlines in order to soften the blow of a negative one.
Press Release Sample
Writing strong press releases is an important promotional tool for a business. Being able to showcase a business’s success and advancements is an important way to grab the media’s attention. However, the most important aspect of writing press releases is to report actual news and slowly build a rapport with journalists.
When you are writing a press release it’s important to think like a journalist. By giving a release that unique perspective you can sell a story to a media network. Having press releases written in-house allows you to ensure that your company’s brand is properly represented.
Apart from a well-written release, following the template for a press release sample is important to gaining credibility with news networks.
Contact
The top of any press release has the contact information for journalists to follow up if they have any questions. Having media contact information such as the point of contact’s name, phone numbers, and email can help make sure that the story is accurately portrayed.
The contact section of a press release is designed to give media contacts the opportunity to follow up on any questions they may have after reading the press release. They may follow up for quotes or just ask for exclusive publishing rights. Being readily accessible after distributing releases is a simple way to strengthen your relationship with a contact.
Headers
Press releases typically include the headline and a subhead. These titles are designed to catch the viewer’s attention and provide a quick line or two of context to the release.
Your headline is going to be no more than a single line of text. This typically allows you to make a lasting impression on the journalist. A well-executed headline acts as a hook for a potential news network.
A press release’s subheader provides additional context to the release and expresses to the reader why they should continue reading. Any compelling factor that you can use to capture the reader’s attention can be used here, while still keeping this subheader to a line or two of text.
Lead
The lead of a press release is a traditional hook. These first few sentences help summarize the press release in its entirety. By providing a clear and concise direction for the release, the lead can be considered a parallel to the abstract of a research paper.
Body
The body of the press release is where you provide all of the details and quotes that are relevant to the story. This is the main part of the press release, the information shared in the body’s copy gives a reporter meat to back up their article.
Typically the body is written using the journalistic strategy of the inverted pyramid (Who, What, When, Where, and Why). The body starts off by providing facts, figures, and quotes from key shareholders. These pieces are useful for a journalist crafting a story.
Boilerplate
The term boilerplate is an old newspaper terminology that refers to standard text that is repeated. The closing paragraph or boilerplate will have a sentence or two that promotes your company and explains its purpose. Your boilerplate can be repeated for different press releases and does not need to be adjusted based on the story.
Boilerplates are a part of press releases to share more information about the source of the release. By sharing an organization’s purpose and mission, a reporter can determine its relevance for their desired audience.
Generate Media Attention Through Press Release Distribution
Press releases are a great tool to generate positive media and combat any negative PR. By following the outline of a press release sample you can easily generate high-quality press releases to distribute to news networks.
Once you are confident in your ability to write concise press releases, it’s just a matter of distribution to get your business media hits. Connect with us at eReleases to get started distributing your press releases.