Monday, November 23, 2009
Writing an Effective Press Release
To be effective your press release must first get published and second it must get your readers’ attention.
In order to get your press release published you must strictly follow submission guidelines. Contact every media outlet you plan to send your press release to for the most current guidelines, including the format in which they prefer to receive it as this may change over time.
Before you begin, you need to think about some questions yourself. Should you be writing a press release at all? Is it news? Why will people want to read about this? Is this useful information? Why and how will it prompt readers to take action (call you)? The answers to these questions should guide your writing. Remember this is news, not an advertisement (even though it really is marketing).
Be timely. Is this relevant today? Does it relate to current events? It doesn’t necessarily have to, but you need to think about why this is news today. It could be as simple as announcing your own event or accomplishment. If you are announcing an accomplishment, ask yourself why anyone should care. Does it do anything for or mean anything to your readers or are you just tooting your own horn?
Your opening will make or break the press release. You must get your readers’ attention with the headline and in the first sentence, so these should get the most of your attention when writing your final draft. Make your point in the first paragraph. Make it an overview that lets them know why they should read on. Save the details for later.
Don’t get fluffy, and leave out the exclamation points. Avoid flowery language, and excessive adjectives, but do use strong adjectives where appropriate. Your press release does not need to be long; it needs to be powerful. If you find yourself padding with unnecessary words for length, maybe you don’t really have anything to say.
Do include the pertinent details – who, what, when, where, and why. You are trying to motivate your readers to take some kind of action, so don’t leave them hanging. Do not assume that they will be so impressed that they will do their own research. Give them the information they need.
Include every contact option you can, and double or triple check to make such it is accurate with no typos. An incredible press release with one wrong digit in the phone number or a typo in your email address may as well not exist. Again, do not expect your audience to be so motivated that they will look up the right phone number if the one you provide does not work for them.
For more tips on writing an effective press release, please contact Network Affiliates today.
In order to get your press release published you must strictly follow submission guidelines. Contact every media outlet you plan to send your press release to for the most current guidelines, including the format in which they prefer to receive it as this may change over time.
Before you begin, you need to think about some questions yourself. Should you be writing a press release at all? Is it news? Why will people want to read about this? Is this useful information? Why and how will it prompt readers to take action (call you)? The answers to these questions should guide your writing. Remember this is news, not an advertisement (even though it really is marketing).
Be timely. Is this relevant today? Does it relate to current events? It doesn’t necessarily have to, but you need to think about why this is news today. It could be as simple as announcing your own event or accomplishment. If you are announcing an accomplishment, ask yourself why anyone should care. Does it do anything for or mean anything to your readers or are you just tooting your own horn?
Your opening will make or break the press release. You must get your readers’ attention with the headline and in the first sentence, so these should get the most of your attention when writing your final draft. Make your point in the first paragraph. Make it an overview that lets them know why they should read on. Save the details for later.
Don’t get fluffy, and leave out the exclamation points. Avoid flowery language, and excessive adjectives, but do use strong adjectives where appropriate. Your press release does not need to be long; it needs to be powerful. If you find yourself padding with unnecessary words for length, maybe you don’t really have anything to say.
Do include the pertinent details – who, what, when, where, and why. You are trying to motivate your readers to take some kind of action, so don’t leave them hanging. Do not assume that they will be so impressed that they will do their own research. Give them the information they need.
Include every contact option you can, and double or triple check to make such it is accurate with no typos. An incredible press release with one wrong digit in the phone number or a typo in your email address may as well not exist. Again, do not expect your audience to be so motivated that they will look up the right phone number if the one you provide does not work for them.
For more tips on writing an effective press release, please contact Network Affiliates today.
posted by
Harlan Schillinger
at
8:00 AM
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