3 Tips For Effective Press Releases
By Anna Johnson on February 19th, 2009The best education I got in writing press releases was when, in our first Internet business several years ago, we published three IT security newsletters.
Being inundated with press releases from lots of companies and PR firms soon educated me on the components of a good press release. That is, a press release that a journalist or newsletter publisher will want to write about.
So here are three big tips for writing a press release that grabs a journalist’s / publisher’s attention and gives you a better chance of getting a write-up. Make sure your press release is:
1. Newsworthy – your story has to be Interesting with a capital ‘i’ for the journalist’s readers. This means two things: target your stories appropriately and say something new/different/controversial.
2. Not self-serving – don’t go on about how great your product or company is. Explain what you or your product can do for the journalist’s readers. And when you do so – no hype or fluff please. Ideally, provide some tidbits that give readers an ‘a-ha’ moment.
3. Easy for the journalist to model or use – ideally, write your press release as if YOU are a journalist writing a news story. Give them the who, what, when, where, why, how and throw in some quotes, as well as your contact information.
Why should you do this? Like it or not, your job is to make journalists’ and publishers’ jobs easier. So (a) use the standard press release format, (b) write clearly and simply so they understand what you’re talking about, and, ideally, (c) to give them an angle, so they don’t have to think of one themselves.
