Crafting a news release may be overwhelming in the beginning to you, but with a little education and practice you will be able to write an effective media release.
To start, just follow the rules below for writing and sending your media release.
1. Include Company Information – If your company is going to take the time to write a news article, you should probably take the time to write a paragraph about the company. This gives the reporters a little background information on the business and qualifies the source of information.
2. Interest Your Audience – Keep your audience and the publications readers in mind. Before writing your press release you should consider why the news matters to them. Ask yourself if you’d want to read the press release, if you were in their shoes.
3. Clear Headlines – Keep in mind that the reader should be able to catch the idea of your story from the headline alone. Focusing on the angle and idea of the story is more important than developing a ‘catchy’ slogan.
4. Personalize Your Distribution – Get the name of the person you are sending your press release to and place it in a prominent position. Be sure to double-check the spelling.
5. Keep Up-To-Date – News by its very nature should be current. If the news in your release is outdated you shouldn’t be sending it. Yesterday’s news is today’s history.
6. Build Credibility – Quotes from your company’s senior executives should do. News releases are taken a much more seriously when the boss’s name is on the line.
7. Condense The News – You should try to tell the entire story in the first paragraph. The rest of the release can contain more details. But it’s nice to know that if everything else is cut, you still got your main points across. Being “top heavy” is a good thing.
8. Positive Perception – If the local community could perceive your news in a negative manner, you should take extra care to highlight the potential positives of the announcement.
9. Be Truthful – It may be tempting to bend the truth to develop a better story, but you should avoid doing so. Media professionals have a rule of verifying information before publication.
10. Localize It – Using quotes from each of your target markets is a great idea. News editors love quotes from respected individuals in their community or industry. Be sure to include quotes from groups that read the publications you have targeted with your press release.
11. Get Permission – When including individual’s quotes in your press release it’s always a good idea to get permission. Verbal permission is always that is usually required, but this can prevent future problems as well as clarify any misunderstandings.
12. Make Yourself Reachable – Provide a specific contact person with a phone number where they can be reached. Don’t make contacting you a challenge. In fact it’s a good idea to include an email address, web address, and fax number as well.
13. Use Controversy – A great way to generate publicity with your press release could be to create controversy (even where there is none). If you run a computer store, for example, you might consider a headline that says “Is your software stolen?” It doesn’t offend anyone, but instantly places you in a position to be the trustworthy whistle blower.
14. Clean Layout – For press releases submitted by mail, you should always double space them, number your pages, type “News Release” at the top, and include a release date.
15. Verify Accuracy – When it comes to numbers, names, and locations it’s easy to make mistakes. You should always double-check everything to avoid embarrassing mistakes.If you follow these rules for writing powerful news releases, you substantially increase the chance of your media release being picked up. If you’d like even more ways to improve your news release writing you should look at the giant list of tips to write more effective news releases.
Wes Upchurch is the founder of PressDr.com, a leading public relations firm specializing in press release distribution and online reputation management.
