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How to Write a Press Release: The Body of the Press Release
Writing a press release isn't difficult but there is a certain format that is followed when you learn how to write a press release. The most critical factor is to keep your press release news oriented. You may be very excited that you have a new product but why should the readers of your local newspaper, say, care? Your job when writing a press release is to demonstrate that excitement so the readers will get excited too.
In the first paragraph answer the who, what, why, when, and where. Sometimes that's all the reporter or editor will read. Don't bury important information farther down in the release. You can expand on each of those factors, who, what, why, when, and where later on in the release.
In some ways press releases are the opposite of articles. An article builds to a climax at the end where a press release has all the goodies in the beginning and then gives more information as it goes along.
Here are the questions that need be answered in that important first paragraph.
Who is involved?
What is happening?
Why it's happening?
When is it happening?
Where is it happening?
It doesn't have to be in that order. If the reporter stops reading you will have conveyed the critical issues.
Do put the city and state you live in inside parenthesis at the very beginning of the first paragraph with the date. (Your City, Your State - Date of Distribution). Even though the world wide web has made the world a lot smaller, reporters still like to know where the release has originated from. Some reporters won't cover anything outside their city. They'll assume if the city isn't included then it's not in their beat.
Keep your approach newsworthy. Are you getting tired of hearing that? Of course you are excited that your website is being released, updated, or revised, but why should anyone else be excited? Reporters are looking for news. Stress the benefits to the reader. How will it improve their life, make them richer, smarter, thinner, or more beautiful.
It's a personal touch to include a quote from either yourself or someone in the company as part of the release. Don't use "I'm pleased to introduce our newest product Mega Acne Zapper," said Tom Terrific, president of Acne Zapper, Inc.
Use something like "As a teenager I was devastated by a bad case of acne. I promised myself I'd find a solution and that's why we've worked so hard to develop Mega Acne Zapper," says Tom Terrific, President of Acne Zapper, Inc. Don't lie, if you never had acne come up with something else, maybe your best friend had it.
The news release shouldn't be more than one page single spaced, that's about 350 words.
Triple check grammar and spelling. And then check it again.
After the body of the press release put a line of asterisks, the word END, or #30#. Those are signals to the reporter that the press release has ended.
After that demarcation there is usually a paragraph about the company. It's boilerplate and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the content of the release itself. Don't put anything in the boilerplate you don't want printed. In other words if you don't want people calling on your cell phone, don't put your cell phone number in the boiler plate.
Learning how to write a press release will help your company get the publicity it deserves.
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