There’s no better feeling than realising you have some very exciting, hot-right-now news to share with the world. One way to spread the word is via a press release, distributed instantaneously on the newswires to editorial offices, investors and analysts the world over. To gain maximum visibility, you want to cast your net wide… so to speak.
But while this adage is somewhat true, nothing pains the recipient more than a boring press release. Busy journalists receive a constant stream of these, so you really do need to ensure that yours stands out and up to their scrutiny. How? Beat the boredom factor with these seven tips.
What is a press release?
A press release is a short news story sent out to select media members in hopes that they will run it. It invariably needs to provide the who, what, when, where, why, how, how much. And this information needs to be delivered in a succinct manner such that it’s super easy for a reporter to turn it into a news article for print or online publication.
But before you start shooting from the hip… beware… Reporters quickly lose interest if you bombard them with too many press releases. It’s important to protect your company from overexposure before the ennui sets in.
1. Segment your release strategy
One way to avoid blasting reporters is to consider segmenting your release strategy. There are different types of press releases, each serving a slightly different audience.
-Stock Exchange Releases publicly disclose inside information and details that may have a material impact on the value of a listed company’s financial instruments. These are sent out as soon as possible to the NASDAQ or Dow Jones, for example, relevant financial authorities, and key media with wide distribution. Every listed company will have its own disclosure policies, but as a general rule of thumb, information needs to be released to all stakeholders at the same time so as to give everyone an equal opportunity to evaluate the impact of the news.
-Press Releases are written for a broader audience consisting of the general, financial and trade media, investors and analysts, and the general public. These releases will convey news concerning a company, its financial standing and key themes in a wider context.
–Trade Press Releases cover stories of a more technical nature, with details that should spark the interest of trade media specialising in a specific technology or business niche. Trade releases are usually deployed to promote product launches or orders that are pertinent to a trade reporter’s beat.
-News Briefs are reserved for less topical news items that are unlikely to impact the movements and developments of the business world (think smaller award wins, design wins, event announcements). News briefs are generally not distributed on the newswires, but are instead promoted across social media channels.
-Local Releases are press releases announcing news of interest to a specific country or region only (e.g. local events and projects). They’re usually distributed to local media and published on web pages in the local language. Put it this way… would a Wall Street analyst necessarily want to know about a small, low-budget, local event you are holding in Cyprus?
2. Think like a newspaper subeditor
Imagine you’re a newspaper sub finalising the splash (lead story). A great, sharp headline coupled with an arresting visual will sell well.
Journalists will judge a book by its cover, glancing only at the headline and image to decide whether it’s interesting enough to pursue further. You have one opportunity to pique the reader’s curiosity. So, your headline carries the responsibility of projecting the desired gravitas, excitement, urgency. While puns are very much de rigueur (especially in the national press!), the best course of action is to utilize your headline simply to tell it as it is.
-Think short, accurate, rhythmic.
-Keep your headline under eight words long.
-Exclude any prepositions and articles.
-Avoid personal pronouns and quotes.
3. Don’t lose the plot
Releases are structured like an inverted pyramid, where the most buzzworthy info appears at the beginning (the ‘Standfirst’ or ‘Lede’) and the least momentous information goes at the end.
-Alongside the WWWWWHHM indicate in your first couple of paragraphs that this news item is introducing something new, which will have a significant impact on the company, its stakeholders, and/or the wider world.
-Extract and lay out the relevant and clear key messages – Grounding any assertions in bona fide fact, with proof points and numbers to boot! This is especially pertinent to analysts and investors, who seek out information that allows them to estimate the financial impact of your news.
-Once you’ve delivered these ‘must haves’, use the final couple of paragraphs to elaborate and promote your business. Explain how this piece of news connects to your company’s raison d’être. What are the benefits for your customers? How does it support the company’s strategy, vision, and mission? What benefits do your solutions bring to society or the environment?
-A release should ideally fit onto one page (say, 400 words). If it’s looking like a lengthy one, and you can’t reduce the word count, break up the copy with subheadings infused with key messages.
4. Quote the opinionated
Quotes provide the perfect vehicle for expressing opinions and further insight. This is your space to showcase the company’s humane values. It’s here that you can inject brand personality.
-Give weight to the release by quoting someone high up in the organisation.
-Avoid self-aggrandising patter, but go to town with opinion, expression of ambition, and explanation on how the topic ties into a wider context.
-Take a stand, look towards the future, make a prediction, and challenge current thinking on your topic.
5. Maintain your tone of voice
When I first started out in copywriting, I loved nothing more than to showboat what I mistakenly thought of as my sophisticated word stock. Turns out, I was being a you-know-what. Nobody wants to read a Shakespearean press release.
-To secure and maintain the reader’s attention, use short paragraphs, short sentences, and short, uncomplicated words.
-Ban cliquey jargon from your lexicon. Just don’t go there. Make sure that any professional or technical language is rewritten so that anybody can quickly grasp the gist of things. Expertise is conveyed by the content, not fancy words.
-The tone of voice reflects how you want to be seen by others. Considering how far nets can be cast, press releases are a major part of the way you present yourselves to the world. So, pay close attention to how your tone of voice is expressed in them. Be human, be warm, be personal and you should come across well.
-Use active verbs rather than noun constructions – say ‘reduces emissions by X%” rather than “is contributing to the reduction of emissions”. Use the present tense rather than the future tense, especially in headlines.
-A press release is NOT advertising! Steer clear of the hyperbole and sales parlance. Superlatives are massive passion killers for the seasoned newshound, who performs public service by presenting what should be truthful facts in honest, comprehensible articles. Having said that, showing your company’s personality in the content and breaking with tradition can inspire journalists to take action on your story. It’s a thin line.
6. Include closing tips
For many traditionalists, this penultimate point is a dying art in the digital age. Sometimes it feels like it’s enough to regurgitate a press release and move on, but the best reporters and writers out there will rebuke ‘churnalism’ to consider how they can take your press release and move it forward. They’ll consider if there’s a bigger story they can put a spin on.
-Give them a meaty story. By providing closing tips such as background information about the parties involved in your story, the products, historical facts, or links to further contextual reading such as reports on the latest industry movements and emerging trends, you will maximise the chances of gaining earned media for your brand in the long run.
-Topics like ‘digital transformation’, ‘Industry 4.0’, or the ‘IoT revolution’ as phenomenons are old news – so, don’t patronise your audience and instead focus on your solutions and their impacts in the real world.
7. Brace for contact
It’s a no-brainer to assert that contact information should be included in your release. What’s often forgotten is to make sure that the contact person is aware of when the release will hit the wires and knows to be prepped and poised to answer any questions (especially difficult ones!). It’s this conversation that can seal the deal when it comes to securing great exposure for your company.
-Prepare a media cheat sheet for your contact person. This should contain all the key messages, key statistics and data, and advice on how to respond to awkward questions.
-Ideally, your designated spokesperson (if they aren’t your VP of Comms or similar) should be media trained beforehand, so that they feel confident speaking with reporters.
After all, you have some very exciting, hot-right-now news to share with the world. Let’s do this!
If you need help writing press releases, get in touch.
