A press release is one of the most effective promotional tools because it can give a large audience an even larger insight into your company, its new products and services, and events you have. It can also give your competitors as well as the press a wide picture of your company.
Every press release is a highly personalized document made up of unique personalization and a high level of editorial polish. It is also the medium of public relations.
The difference between your written press release and press release form is obvious — your form releases will not appear in newspapers or on television as far as I know.
Understanding the basics of press release writing may help you with the rest of your PR mission.
Essentially, as a press release writer, you have to think like a public relations executive and achieve the following:
Identify a need in the marketplace
Cultivate a clientele for the product, service, or event you are trying to showcase to the world
Set your audience’s expectations, and live up to them
Create the authoritative and professional tone desired by the people you have identified
Use proper terminology and style, and avoid jargon in the line items
Taste makes the company. When you write a press release, it is your responsibility to taste the taste of the readers. Be sure it is accurate, witty, and concise.
Think like an Editor
While you may have a number of words in your press release, it is the elements that make it effective, and you need to keep them straight and organize them elegantly. If you want to be a great public relations executive, you need to read press releases before you can master some of the basic aspects of industry PR.
Above all, do what the following three rules ask of you.
1. Pick a great press release title that is memorable but hasn’t already been used elsewhere
2. Write a descriptive and precise press release tag line
3. Stick to the letters of the law (there are dozens of press release reformatory websites and frameworks)
How Do You Formulate a Press Release Form
As I mentioned above, a press release form can really help you from straying from what you originally set out to do. Here are some other important points to consider when writing the first few paragraphs of your press release:
Don’t make the mistake of giving too much information in this section of your press release. It’s tempting to get more specific and personal at first, but if the event is more than a month or more away, your audience is interested in a larger scope, rather than a more personal description.
No matter how good your preparedness may be, people will get sick of being told what kind of product they can expect. Answer that question or mention that one in the way only you can. And when you get into questions, make sure you are offering a definitive answer.
Don’t cite other press releases or other press releases organizations in your press release. People with a lot of credentials may have a press release, so don’t be the one who says, “I also hear that” every once in a while.
