What is a press release?
It is a process of communication to optimize something that you have by sending to news media so that it can be focused by mass people. Writing a press release and distribution decides how far can reach your products, events, promotion, etc. A press release can serve many purposes such as
♥ informing your new development,
♥ showing the new addition of products and services,
♥ giving an idea about your business to mass people,
♥ building public awareness,
♥ helping a nonprofitable organization and so on.
In present press release becomes the most effective use in the field of public relation. Distribution of press release helps you make revenue faster. So there is no reason to avoid this.
Writing a press release is changing:
The world is changing as well as way and style of press release writing is changing. According to an academic definition of press release and practice, it was a formal document, designed to communicate to publishers and mass people. This form of press releases was hardly seen by common people.
There is still an old school of press release writing and sending it by faxing, mailing to news media. The online world changed this period with a wide scope of writing press release using multimedia.
Online itself is a new world and its population increases. Even all prime news media are on the web. Releases should be online media friendly.
Publishing press release in web allows the organization to get noticed by mass people. It helps make them conscious, consumer, investors, informed.
You can write press release by yourself or someone from your company or some on outsiders such as PR agency and even freelancer.
How to write a press release?
1. What you want to get noticed:
The main purpose of a press release is to get promoted by news media. News media is concerned with maintaining public demand and their reputation. In this point, your content will play a vital role to get noticed to a journalist. Otherwise, they will not cover it. Make your content attractive and newsworthy.
Make yourself clear what you have to show the world. Find what are the special things to discuss that express itself as unique from other. Include something that meets human interest. People love reading story rather than statistics. Find what you have to twist the reader’s mind.
2. Understand the news media:
They always look for the newsworthy thing. It means to give people what they like to read. General news apart people give attention on controversy or scandal, unexpected incidents, and events and many more. Suppose, you are launching new products, someone present in the program claimed you that you steal their business policy. They are opposing each other and media get interested in it. (I’m not telling you to follow this). Media always gets interested in celebrity as readers.
3. Create a headline:
What I am trying to say after finishing the whole writing, then write a headline. It will help you make your headline to the point, concise, enticing including a correct overview of a press release. Give extra effort to make it punchy to encourage the journalist to keep reading.
- Use keyword relevantly to optimize.
- Make your heading bold or use graphically attractive font size.
- Avoid all uppercase latter in heading.
4. Give date:
Give exact information of place, date and time in the beginning. Journalist gets an idea from that it’s old or new and takes further steps.
5. Start writing body part:
♦ Write this part ensuring the journalist’s points of view so that they can motivate to publish. Decrease journalist’s work increase credibility.
♦ Give an introduction by making short paragraph using in between 50-100 words. This part has to be tight and compact with an indication of the rest of part. Ensure some stimulating factors stick to the topics. Within this part, you have to generate the curiosity to read more.
♦ Now distribute the rest of the story. Illustrate the scenario dramatically. Use short stance and avoid embellishment. Stay away from repetition, exclude jargon, include simplicity.
6. What should contain in a body:
√ Who: Clarify your identity and use the brand logo if you have.
√ What: Ensure answering what you have and about the new addition.
√ Where: Give an idea of location.
√ Why: Explain why it’s newsworthy.
√ When: dateline and its significance.
√ How: the main storytelling.
♦ Describe it as like a storyteller. One page is the best, two page is better and three page is good for the press release. Try to fit everything within two hundred and fifty words.
7. Give credible quotes:
It will make your release newsworthy and credible to a reader. Ask your prospects to give comments on this.
8. Boilerplate-give information about the company:
Make an overview of your company, give prime focusing factor to generate interest. Include what makes you so promising and credible.
◊ Set a title using your company name.
◊ in next part elaborate your specialty.
◊ Give your web address.
9. Include links:
If you want to share additional information, use a hyperlink.
10. language:
Use simple language and make it scan-able with keywords. Never use fancy adjective too much, avoid waste of words. Avoid using “I” and “we”.
» Bad practice: As a good company, we are always ready to deliver a satisfactory service.
» Good practice: As they believe their company is good. So they are always ready to deliver a satisfactory service.
11. Proofread your press release:
Check your content under the microscope. Check spell and grammar. One mistake found may underestimate you to the reporter.
12. Contact information:
Give all sorts of contact information you have. Make him comfortable contacting. Do not miss to give personal contact information of public relation officer of your company. A journalist may seek some extra information.
13. How to end:
The proper ending is significant. Place ### at the center point below of your writing.
14. New tricks:
Below ### you can add a contact information writing “if you would love to have additional information or to schedule interview with ‘ Mr. xy z.’, please feel free to contact at” (contact information)
Your concern is to get attention from news media to get promoted and enhance the business. Generally, the reporter is not interested in this. They interested in having information that generates readers interest so that he can place it to editors.
Work on this more. After writing press release edit and concise more and more.
You can share your experience and opinions through comments. It will be appreciable.
Leave a Reply