How To Write A Press Release

The press release in business today has become a very important public relations tool. In a society where consumers look for brand transparency and seek to trust specific brands, press releases are a great segway into showing the public who you are as a company and what you are doing.

How do you create credibility within your press release? What makes it worthy? Take a look at our key tips to stay on the right path as you write your next press release.

Be Truly Newsworthy

Companies can send out a press release for many reasons–winning an award, moving locations, signing a deal, speaking on a company change, etc–but they can’t send out a press release if nothing is happening. Make sure you are focusing on doing good within your company and, when you do, make sure somebody is writing about it! Press releases are a great opportunity to get more traffic in a low cost yet credible way.

Pro Tip: Brands who are involved with a charity are perceived better than companies not involved with a charity by the public. Make sure you are letting people know about any existing company charity work.

Don’t Listen to the Advertising Side of Your Brain

One of the most beneficial things about a press release is that it is able to show the world your journey and, of course, make it look good. A press release is a report of what is happening within your company and is used to spread the knowledge to the people who are interested. However, it can be easy to scare those interested readers away, simply by trying to advertise to them through a release. Without advertisements, the public is more likely to see your press release as a credible source.

Pro Tip: By using a standard newspaper layout with a clear, concise heading readers will be able to easily identify a press release versus a regular advertisement.

Do Listen to the Reporter Side of Your Brain

When writing a press release many wonder which tone of voice they should use. A press release is written as a news story–being told in real time. When writing, it’s important to write in the third person. Using the third person gives the release a more factual and formal distance that’s important.

Pro Tip: Don’t overwrite. Keep your paragraphs and articles short and use key information.

Quotes Are Your Friend

Press releases are about people and how they are affected. For this reason, when trying to write the perfect press release, it’s important to get quotes from the people who are a part of what you are writing about. A release can also be used to fix a problem that has occurred within your company, for example a security breach. In those situations quotes are highly important because the public will want to hear from actual people, not just from the inside reporter.

Pro Tip: Who, what, where, when, why, and how are all usually answered throughout a press release. A good way to answer some of those questions is with direct quotes–but always make sure you cite your sources!

Alright, Enough Reading – Get Crackin’ Writing

Whether you have a public relations manger writing your press releases or you are gearing up to write one yourself, following these tips will help you write the perfect release.

Also, don’t forget to use social media to share your release to meet a mass audience or target specific segments. Most importantly, keep being newsworthy so you can share your stories with the public.