Writing a press release

It’s not rocket science. But there are a few rules to follow that can mean the difference between your news being published or not. So here are a few do’s and don’ts.

1. First and foremost, make sure it’s newsworthy. You may think the world is interested in your new product or project, but put yourself in the readers shoes. Do they really want to hear about what you have to say? Ensure it is relevant to them.

2. Summarise the full story in the first paragraph, ensuring you cover the who, what, when and why. Journalists have to wade through loads of press releases every day. If you sum up the story in a few lines, it makes their life a bit easier and means they can decide straight away if it’s ripe for publication, or not.

3. If you aim to reach a number of different audiences, adapt your release to suit each one. This will increase the chances of it being read by journalists. They have different readerships, style etc. Remember, you can have many versions of one story to fit each audience.

4. Don’t make it too long, the journalist will lose the will to live before the end if it goes on forever and will stop reading. One side of A4 is sufficient. You want to capture their interest. They will ask for back up information if they need it.

5. Get the timing right. Don’t conflict with a much bigger story, yours will be more likely to end up in the bin if you do.

6. Make sure it’s accurate. So no factual, spelling or grammatical errors. Otherwise it may end up in the bin.

7. Always include an image. A picture is worth a thousand words and including an image with your release makes it more publishable. Make sure it’s high res and good quality.

8. Include further notes on your company at the end and, of course, ensure your contact details are included if they want to find out more. Try to add two contacts just in case they can’t get hold of you. Read more.