How To Write a Really Effective Press Release

Whether you've got exciting news you want to share or you want press coverage to form part of a general publicity strategy, the approach you take to creating press releases could make the difference between a headline article and complete failure to be published. If your story is to compete effectively for attention in the public domain, then it must have impact. If it is to hold that attention, it needs substance. An editor's job is to produce quality publications that their audiences love, so if your press release helps them do that, you're in! But if it does no more than add to information clutter, then it's probably headed for the bin. The action points below will help you assess the validity of your story before creating press releases designed to stimulate interest from editors while enabling you to benefit from the eventual exposure.

1. Be clear of your objectives. Before you start to write your press release, be clear about what it is you hope to achieve. If you are thinking that you just want to ‘have some publicity,' then you will find it difficult to write a release with any purpose and you will have wasted an opportunity. The chances are that you want the eventual audience to take some kind of action, which could be anything from buying a product or attending and event to manipulating their opinions about a company or taking some personal action to support a cause. Perhaps your release is part of a longer-term strategy, in which case you should be clear about its objective as a contribution to that strategy.
2. But be subtle about your approach. Although you should be clear about your objectives, your delivery needs to bear in mind the objectives of the editors who you hope will publish your story. Their task is to provide neutral, non-commercial reporting of interesting, relevant information that is of value to their audience. You may benefit from embedding your message into a discussion about a non-commercial topic. Remember to keep your release heavy on facts and light on sales-speak.
3. Put yourself in the mind of the audience. You may be extremely proud of the message you want to convey in your release, but a breakthrough in your world doesn't necessarily have any benefit in the life of the reader. Think about how your message will appear through the eyes of your audience and ask yourself, "Would I care about this?"
4. Identify your unique attributes and use them well. For a story to be worth publishing, it needs to contain information the reader hasn't heard before, so before you start, you need to identify as many of your unique attributes as you can and base your press release around them.
5. Make sure your story is relevant to the audience. You may be planning to reach your audience via publications that are focused on different types of readers. Your press release needs to press the buttons that the readers of those publications respond to, so you may need to produce different versions accordingly. For example, let's say that you want to tell the world about a fantastic new plant food that is a great new scientific development, easy to use, and makes plants produce more flowers. For specialist publications about gardening, you need to expand upon the development breakthrough details, and for non-specialist publications such as lifestyle home & garden magazines, you need to give examples that paint a picture of how easy it is to use.
6. Make sure your story has good substance. You want your published articles to get as much space as possible, so be sure to include as much additional relevant information as you can. An article where the audience continues to learn new things as they read through is less likely to be edited down. Including a quote from an involved person is a great way of adding depth and drawing human empathy.
7. Don't forget to include an action plan. Make sure the release includes an explanation of how your audience can take the actions that you have identified as your objective. If you want them to buy your plant food, then tell them where they can get it.
8. Feed your audience some lines. If people who read your story are likely to discuss it with others, what would you like them to be saying? If you can come up with the line that sums up your story (which you can imagine real people repeating to their friends), then you should include it in your text. Such lines differ from slogans in that they are more natural sounding and not obvious sales-speak.
9. Don't leave room for doubt. Remember that between you and your eventual audience, there is not only your press release but also an editor, plus possibly a writer and a sub-editor. Your press release is the intermediary between you and the outside world. If you fail to mention anything, then don't rely upon other people to read between the lines. Envision how you would like the published articles to appear and write your release in a similar style. The closer your release is to how you'd like to see it in publication, the less room there is for misinterpretation.
10. Supply attractive, suitable images. A picture paints a thousand words, and a good photograph alongside your story not only draws people to read it but also means you take up much more space on the page. Editors like stories with pictures as it makes their publications look more attractive. This means the images you supply must actually look attractive. Your pictures must be of excellent composition, focus, and of good enough technical quality (usually 300 dpi digital resolution).

Of course, there are always horses for courses and certain points may be more applicable to some kinds of messages/publications than others, so you need to be intelligent with your execution. Best of luck!