Press Release Template: 3 Things to Include in Every PR Press Release
Press releases are an important tool for any business when grabbing media attention, so it’s important not to mess them up. Every day, news agencies and reporters are flooded with press releases from everyone and anyone trying to get their cause or story noticed.
To make yours stand out, make it easy to find and read, free of grammatical and spelling errors, and make sure the topic is relevant for the agency or reporter you’re addressing. Make it professional and interesting so it catches the reporter’s attention. A good press release leaves a reporter wanting to learn more about your announcement.
Use the correct format for a press release, include the needed information, and the recipient’s name with other contact information. Press releases represent your business, so if it’s written poorly, it makes you and your business look bad. Also, because many businesses post press releases on their websites, you need to impress the public as well as the media. So craft a brilliant, professional press release.
To help you on your way, here are some more basic tips to write a winning press release:
Have an attention grabbing headline…
Well-written headlines are short, clear, and concise. They’re essentially a brief summary of the key points in the press release. Headlines should be in bold, and the first word and proper nouns capitalized.
Write the body copy like a news story…
Remember most people working in the news industry are busy. Ensure the body of the press release has what you want the media to say, it may be the only source they use. Include the date and city where your press release is from, an attention-grabbing first sentence coinciding with the headlines, and facts. The body shouldn’t be too long. Make it compact and to the point.
Who, what, where, when, why, and how…
When writing a press release use these as a reminder to cover everything an effective press release needs. Who is the release about? What is the big news? When is it happening? Where is it taking place? Why is it important? How is it happening? Again, keep things short and sweet, remembering the more newsworthy you make your press release, the more likely a reporter uses it.
Following these basics helps create impactful, effective press releases any reporter wants.
