12 Techniques for an Effective Press Release

[thelastmuse]

When writing copy for a press release, you don’t simply write as if you are informing your neighbor that you have a party on this date at that place. For your press release to be effective, you should follow time-tested but easy steps. Below are 12 practices that you should know by heart to be an effective press release writer:

1. Grab the attention of your reader through your title. Your title will dictate the next action of your readers: Should they read more, or just ignore your copy? Make the title direct and specific but catchy.

2. Do not exceed 1 page unless absolutely necessary. Remember: A press release is not a marketing letter, nor should it be patterned after one. This means your press release should be brief, direct, and simple.

3. To save on space, ensure that all of your words count. Do not waste a single word without any relevance or connection to your press release. Count your words if you must.

4. You should write about your product in 1 to 2 sentences only. Any more than that is already taxing to a reader of a press release.

5. Focus on a specific angle or area of interest. This way, you can get your readers to focus, too.

6. Utilize the power of active verbs. In addition to active verbs being lively, they can also help you economize on word count.

7. A press release is like any ordinary document that follows rules of grammar, usage, and style. So, make sure you follow them strictly.

8. Present only the relevant facts. The readers do not care how the writer perceives his or her product or service. They will judge the products themselves.

9. Since you are dealing with facts, minimize use of adverbs and adjectives. And as much as you can, make sure to avoid fancy language.

10. Check if you have updated information. Validate them if necessary. You don’t want to risk your credibility simply because you have mentioned incorrect data or information on your press release.

11. Ensure that all necessary contact details are available in the copy: name, address (location, email, and website), contact numbers, and others.

12. Make sure your copy will reach your target audience. It doesn’t have to be the broadest means of coverage, but at the very least, it should cover all target individuals.

There are no hard-and-fast rules that one should follow when writing a press release. But a press release writer who follows these steps and guidelines will surely produce an effective and good copy. Print these out. Use these steps as a checklist for your next press release writing task. Or better yet, memorize them so that next time you write your press release, you can be assured that you will meet your objectives.

[dorothydot]

This is valuable information. I appreciate your posting this.

I have always known it is far different to write a press release or an article than it is to write a sales letter or website. You need less personality and more factual newspaper-style of content. But you also need readability!

In other words, writing a great press release is rather like writing copy... very close to poetry in that each word must be spot-on.

Thanks again,
Dot

[Patrysha]

You still need personality, it's just shown in a different way.

Reporters don't like boring anymore than anyone else. You should hear them groan when they get a gov't press release. Of course, they take that information and spice it up and massage it so it works because it's from the government and therefore newsworthy by it's nature. The same approach would be the kiss of death for any business. A business that sends in a boring release is trashed before they've gotten past the headline.

[snyd]

You have to get your press release to stand out from the countless others that you will
be competing with.

There are some good tips here on how to do that.

A successful press release can bring a ton of publicity and income and a lot of one way links to your sites.

[Keeslover]

These tips are great - thank you for posting them.

PRWeb has some good info on writing and formatting PRs as well. They provide a template to help with proper form. I've done several for a travel agency, and keeping PRWeb's guidelines in mind has made it much easier.

[mghowell]

A little off subject, but does anyone have any recommendations as to where are the best places to post press releases

[RickDuris]

Thank you. These are great! - Rick Duris

[RickDuris]

My favorite places to post are Automated Content & Bookmark Distribution | OnlyWire and http://prwire.com.

[BrianMcLeod]

<Mod hat on>

Useful post... but dangerously close to spam.

This article is copied and pasted directly from
your website.

Please remember, this is NOT an article directory,
it's a discussion forum.

</mod>

All that said, it's a pretty good primer and obviously
folks are finding value in it, so hopefully it won't get
nuked.

Just a friendly reminder (and warning to those that
seek to paste their blog posts here...)

Best,

Brian