HOW TO WRITE A PRESS RELEASE

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Some writers groan a bit when faced with

a press release to write. Is this what I got

into copywriting for? Shouldn’t I be away

on a Tahitian island doing a photoshoot for

some ad what I wrote? Welcome to the

real world! Press releases are your bread

and butter and, though they are certainly

not exciting, they demand certain writing

skills and, when done well, should give you

something to be proud of.

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There’s something very refreshing

about producing something that’s

pure and clear with no flimflam or

emotional stuff going on.

So then, how do you go about

gargling, rinsing and spitting out a

cracking press release?

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1. THE ANGLE

The ‘angle’ is vital. Don’t just retell what the client told

you. Turn the brief into a kind of story, give it a

“narrative” in jargon speak. So, for instance, don’t

settle for just saying that XYZ product has been

launched but find something unique about what this

means. Is it the biggest, best, longest? Was there

something interesting about how the product was

conceived or produced? How will life be different now

it’s out there? There’s always a story there somewhere

if you dig deep enough.

Your average journalist will receive tens or hundreds of

press releases each day, most of which will be deadly

boring. Yours needs to be different. Give the journalist

a reason to read further. Imagine what will turn him or

her on, professionally speaking. You may even need to

write different versions with different angles for

different publications.

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Bear in mind though that yours is unlikely to be the headline that ultimately appears in print so don’t bother trying

to get creative with loads of clever puns. Think mouthwash: how can you say something interesting as crisply and

cleanly as possible?

And let’s not overlook the basics. Type your headline using bold type and a slightly larger font size than for the

body copy. Don’t do it in ‘all caps’ because the journalist who reads it won’t know if certain words should start

with a capital letter when they come to edit it.

2. THE HEADLINE

Some people say that you should write the

headline after writing the body of the press

release. They think that it’s easier to

summarize the content once you know what

that content is. Personally, I’d write it at the

beginning because it will help you define the

angle I’ve just been banging on about. It

helps you focus because, as you’re writing

you can constantly ask yourself: “Is what I’m

writing supporting what the headline says?”.

If it isn’t, delete it.

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3. THE BODY COPY

In the newspaper world, if an article doesn’t fit the

space available they’ll edit it from the bottom up. So

whatever you do don’t put all the juicy stuff down

there. In fact you should get the whole story told in

the first paragraph. That makes it safe from the

editor’s red pen but it also takes into account the fact

that the average reader is only going to skim stories,

not read them in full.

The classic formula is to cover all the Ws in that first

para: Who? What? When? Where? Why? (And maybe

How? if it’s relevant.) Incidentally this old fashioned

approach probably also helps with all that new-

fangled SEO shenanigans although the rules of how to

get a good ranking seem to change every day.

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It’s amazing what a difference it makes to

put in a quote from someone. It really lifts

even the most boring topic by giving it a

human face, making it all a bit more real.

Try and get a quote from the client or –

better still – from someone at the coalface

who was actually involved in a product’s

development or who was closely linked to

whatever story you’re telling. You can

even make up a quote as long as you get

permission from the person you’re going

to attribute it to.

As for the basics, keep it concise and on message. One or two pages max. About 250 words should do the trick.

Use short sentences and short paragraphs too. It’s also good form to begin the body copy with the date when it’s

being written (or sent out) and the city where the story is coming from. End it all with three #s right at the bottom.

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4. THE CALL TO ACTION

This is important. Generally the whole point of a press release is to get a journo

to call and find out more about the story. So after the three #’s at the base of

your press release you must have a call to action, something like:

If you’d like to find out more

information about this topic or to

schedule an interview with <person

issuing release>, please call <pr

contact> at <company> on

<number>.

5. OTHER PRACTICAL STUFF

Remember that you’re writing a press release not an article. If a journal

is pushed for time or it just needs fillers it may stick your first paragraph

more or less as is in their ‘News in brief’ section. But generally you’re

just giving another writer the bare bones of the story for them to fatten

up in whatever way they see fit. So keep it simple and factual.

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Most press releases include a ‘boilerplate’ at the

end. This is a paragraph of copy all about the

company involved. It’s a kind of mini biography to

give some background information. (This

wouldn’t be suitable for putting in the press

release itself because it doesn’t directly support

the headline but it could still be useful to know.)e

Last but not least, don’t bother with any fancy

formatting in your document. Graphics tend to

just get in the way too. It’s sometimes a good

idea to let a journal know that photos or graphics

are available but don’t let them clutter your

lovely, simple and clean copy.

And that is how to write a press release.

THANK YOU

www.beacopywriter.org