We tell our PR course students that writing press releases is a key part of a PR’s role, even in these days of blogs and social media.
So how do you make a press release stand out, so that it gets plenty of hits? These are some of the tips from our online PR course
- Don’t write press releases! You’ll get better results if you approach journalists personally, with an idea / opportunity that they can develop as an exclusive.
- If you must write a press release, never send the same one to multiple outlets. Fashion a suitable version for each outlet.
- Put your contact details at the top. And proofread it. Enrol on our proofreading course to find out how.
- If you can’t offer a genuine story, feature or photo idea, then don’t bother.
- A journalist will love you for ever if you send them an exclusive, ready-to-use, reliable article with free photos, a video and some graphics. So: why bother sending anything else?
- Set out the press release neatly. Write the release from the journalist’s point of view – not yours, or your client’s.
- Write the heading for the journalist, not the reader. If you don’t sell the release to the journalist, the reader will never see it. So make the heading informative: explain what you’re offering.
- Create immediate impact with your headline and intro. You have five seconds, maximum, to sell the release to the journalist.
- Include the key facts: full names, ages, job titles, and sensible quotes from each key player. Sensible quotes mean they talk like human beings, not PR machines.
- Send the release so that it suits the journalist’s news timetable: ie, when they are planning for their next publication / upload deadline.
See our online PR course