How to Write a Press Release: A Step-By-Step Guide

What Is a Press Release?

A property merchandise is simply a little quality nonfiction astir your institution that you tin contented to quality outlets and journalists. To pull nationalist attention, support your marque reputation, summation marque awareness, and more.

Here’s an illustration of a property merchandise astir a caller merchandise issued by Wet Noses, a canine nutrient company:

A modular property merchandise contains these sections:

• Header with the institution sanction and logo, a interaction person, and immoderate merchandise day guidelines
• Headline 
• Subtitle (optional)
• Dateline
• Lead paragraph
• Body
• Boilerplate and extremity notation

In this article, we’ll thatch you however to constitute a property merchandise and locomotion you done each of the sections listed above. If you privation to jumpstart the process, download our escaped modular property merchandise template.

Types of Press Releases

Press releases tin beryllium issued for occasions like:

• A caller concern (or caller concern location) opening
• A caller enactment hire
• A caller merchandise oregon work launch
• An upcoming event 
• A caller partnership
• A institution rebranding
• Winning an manufacture award
• An acquisition oregon merger taking place

Companies besides enactment retired statements astir issues they mightiness beryllium facing. To pass the nationalist astir however they’re handling the concern and to support the company’s nationalist representation during a crisis.

How to Write a Press Release

Wondering however to constitute a bully property release? Here are six champion practices.

Step 1: Highlight the Basic Information for Journalists

The apical of your property merchandise should archer journalists who you are, however to get successful interaction with your nationalist relations department, and erstwhile to contented the property release. To streamline communications and reply immoderate archetypal questions.

So, beryllium definite to include:

• A institution logo: Place it astatine the apical close corner
• Your institution name: Place it astatine the apical near corner
• A media interaction person: List retired their name, occupation title, telephone number, and email code beneath the institution name
• Release date: The day you’re issuing the property release
• Release guidelines: Instructions connected erstwhile publications should merchandise your quality (more connected this below)

Here’s what this operation should look similar (as shown successful our template):

Let’s person a look astatine what antithetic merchandise guidelines mean:

• For contiguous release: This property merchandise should beryllium shared with the nationalist close away. This is besides the default setting. Without immoderate merchandise guidelines, journalists volition presume your connection is meant to beryllium released immediately.
• For merchandise [date/time]: This property merchandise isn’t time-sensitive and tin beryllium shared later
• Embargoed until [date/time]: This property merchandise contains delicate accusation that journalists can’t merchandise earlier the day and clip specified by the company

Step 2: Write an Attention-Grabbing Headline

Your header is the cardinal constituent to seizure attention—from some journalists and different readers. And tin entice your people assemblage to work it.

Here are immoderate tips connected crafting a bully headline:

• Include the halfway quality element. Tell the scholar close distant wherefore you’re issuing a property release
• Keep it concise. There’s nary one-size-fits-all connection number for headlines that you should purpose for. But effort to support it abbreviated and to the point. Longer headlines are harder to read.
• Speak to your audience. Choose an space that your assemblage cares about. And constitute accordingly.

Depending connected the accusation you’re sharing, your header whitethorn beryllium simple. 

In those cases, there’s nary request to look for a peculiar space to captivate interest. Like this header from Weibo’s merchandise for the wide meeting:

Once written, spot the header close beneath the interaction accusation and merchandise guidelines. Like this:

Optionally, you tin besides adhd a subtitle oregon 2 beneath the header if you privation to item immoderate important accusation that didn’t marque it into the headline.

Step 3: Ensure Location and Time Relevancy with a Dateline

The dateline indicates the day of the property release’s issuing, arsenic good arsenic the determination the quality is applicable to. 

If you’re issuing a property merchandise for contiguous release, the day successful the dateline should beryllium the time you’re sending the merchandise to journalists. But if the merchandise is embargoed oregon tin beryllium released astatine a aboriginal date, the day successful the dateline should bespeak that.

While the merchandise day is lone disposable to journalists, the dateline volition beryllium published on with the property release. 

Place the dateline astatine the opening of your pb assemblage paragraph, pursuing this format:

[Date, City, State]—Lead assemblage paragraph

Like this:

What astir businesses that person aggregate locations?

Unless your property merchandise is circumstantial to a azygous place, you should usage your company’s office arsenic the determination successful your property releases.

Some planetary companies similar Shopify database “Internet, Everywhere” arsenic the determination successful the dateline. This states that the accusation is applicable to their people assemblage careless of their location.

Step 4: Write a Strong Lead Paragraph

The pb paragraph (also called a “lede”) should incorporate the astir important accusation astir your news.

That could assistance you get sum due to the fact that journalists don’t person clip to work done each of the property releases they receive. So, a compelling opening paragraph is much apt to get you noticed.

And marque definite you're penning your pb paragraph successful a mode that provides indispensable accusation by answering the 5 “W” questions:

• Who?
• What?
• Where?
• When?
• Why?

Here’s an illustration of a bully pb paragraph from NASA:

It answers:

• Who? NASA
• What? Opportunities to spot the satellite walk successful beforehand of the prima during a star eclipse and articulation NASA’s events
• Where? In idiosyncratic oregon online (links available)
• When? April 8

In this lawsuit the “why” is implied: it’s a uncommon event.

The assemblage of the property merchandise is wherever you’ll grow connected the accusation you introduced successful the header and pb paragraph. So further discourse is determination for those who privation to work it.

The assemblage paragraph should dive deeper into the details you mentioned successful the lede. And enactment your merchandise with quotes, stats, stories, and more.

Before you commencement penning the body, signifier each the worldly you’d similar to mention. Like:

• Exclusive information oregon probe statistics
• Quotes and testimonials from cardinal stakeholders
• The communicative down the release
• Industry relevance
• Unique selling proposition (especially for announcing caller products, services, and concern opening)
• Links to supporting grounds and articles

Then, fertile each the materials by their importance. Start with the astir important portion and enactment your mode down the list. 

For example, if you’re promoting an event, the astir important details are the lawsuit topic, date, time, location, venue, wherever and however to bargain tickets, pricing, speakers, and similar.

But accidental you’re covering a caller enactment hire. In that case, it’s indispensable to see the caller hire’s erstwhile vocation achievements, their qualifications, the relation they’ll beryllium taking on, and quotes from some the caller prosecute and idiosyncratic other from the enactment team.

Once you constitute the body, work done it and chopped down connected unnecessary information. While there’s nary regularisation arsenic to however agelong your property merchandise should be, it’s a bully thought to support it to astir 400 words.

And extremity the assemblage with a telephone to enactment applicable to your statement.

For instance, if you’re announcing a caller location, invitation the readers to sojourn it. And if you’re launching a caller online product, promote them to sojourn your tract to find retired much astir the caller offering.

When you’re done writing, usage the SEO Writing Assistant to reappraisal your property merchandise for readability and code of voice.

Just transcript and paste your trial into the tool’s substance editor, participate a fewer keywords, and prime your people code of voice—keep successful caput that somewhat much ceremonial is emblematic for property releases.

You tin click the pencil icon nether “Tone of Voice” to set it.

Then, the instrumentality volition emblem areas wherever you request to adjust. 

Step 6: Include Boilerplate Information and an End Notation

End with a boilerplate (an “About us” section) and an extremity notation (which is “###”). To marque definite journalists person important accusation astir your institution and cognize they’ve reached the end. 

Your boilerplate should include:

• Your institution name
• A banal awesome (for publically traded companies)
• A abbreviated statement of the company
• A unsocial worth proposition
• Achievements and milestones (e.g., fig of paying customers, locations, employees, circumstantial awards and recognitions, etc.)

Let’s person a look astatine a boilerplate example:

If your property merchandise mentions much than 1 company, you should see boilerplates for each of the companies mentioned. You tin besides see interaction accusation here.

Add the extremity notation astatine the precise end. 

How to Distribute a Press Release

There are respective ways to get your property merchandise published oregon covered:

• Releasing via newswires
• Distributing straight to journalists
• Working with PR agencies oregon freelancers

Let’s reappraisal each of these options below.

Releasing via Newswires

Newswires cod quality reports and administer them to organizations they collaborate with. Like newspapers, vigor and TV stations, magazines, and others.

They’re elemental to use. 

You constitute a property release, nonstop it to a newswire, and (often) wage a fee. 

Then, they enactment it up connected their tract (as shown below) and nonstop it retired to their web of partners.

Popular newswires include PR Newswire, Business Wire, and Newswire.

Many journalists support way of newswires and prime up stories they find worthy sharing from there.

Newswires are casual to use, but they tin beryllium expensive. And organisation doesn’t warrant coverage. 

Distributing Directly to Journalists

Another enactment is to nonstop your quality straight to journalists yourself to compel them to constitute an archetypal nonfiction based connected it. 

Whether this is the close enactment for you depends connected the operation of your squad and the measurement of media outreach you’re readying to do.

For example, if you’re a one-person selling “team” astatine a startup, you mightiness conflict with an further task connected your plate.

But if you’re portion of an in-house PR team, past you’re apt well-equipped to administer the property merchandise connected your own.

Follow these steps to execute this well:

1. Create a database of the publications applicable to your company
2. For each publication, find the quality class your merchandise fits into. For example, quality from a camping cogwheel institution volition acceptable into immoderate of these categories depending connected the publication: Lifestyle, Travel, Outdoors. 
3. Read done these sections to find examples of quality that intimately resembles yours
4. Note the sanction of the writer who wrote the communicative and work done their different articles
5. Select the journalists who look astir funny successful the taxable of your merchandise and/or your industry/company
6. Find their interaction accusation and nonstop them your property release

Distributing straight to journalists tin look similar a harder mode to get your quality published. But you whitethorn extremity up gathering invaluable relationships with journalists who tin assistance you get sum much rapidly down the line. 

Even receiving rejection emails tin beryllium a bully thing. 

Use them arsenic an accidental to inquire what benignant of stories they privation to people successful the future. Their answers volition assistance you fine-tune your PR strategy.

Working with PR Agencies oregon Freelancers

If you privation to instrumentality property merchandise organisation disconnected your plate, you tin prosecute a PR agency oregon freelancer(s) to administer them for you.

Often, these businesses and individuals person beardown media connections they’ve been gathering for years. So, journalists whitethorn besides beryllium much apt to respond to them.

Another payment of moving with agencies and freelancers is that they’re successful interaction with the latest media trends. And tin counsel you connected which angles to take—or adjacent grip the penning for you.

One disadvantage of outsourcing PR to outer partners is that the media relationships they physique stay theirs. So, if you extremity a collaboration with a PR partner, you mightiness beryllium near with small oregon nary media contacts of your own. 

How to Measure Your Press Release’s Success

You’ll privation to measurement show to find however palmy your property merchandise was. But which metrics to way volition beryllium connected your goals.

Some bully metrics to commencement with are:

• Number of media mentions
• Number of backlinks
• Number of caller leads
• Website traffic

Let’s accidental you privation to way media mentions. 

Use the Brand Monitoring app for this.

Open the tool, click “New query,” past prime “Brand” from the drop-down menu.

Enter your company’s sanction and the email code you privation notifications to beryllium sent to.

Scroll down and adhd your domain sanction to way backlinks, take what benignant of root platforms you privation to track, and more.

Once you acceptable everything up, scroll down to the bottommost and click “Create query.”

You’ll spot a database of mentions that the instrumentality sourced for you. This leafage volition update automatically arsenic soon arsenic caller sum appears.

Click “Analytics” to research much elaborate metrics.

To acceptable up email digests, click the “Email notifications” tab.

Here, you tin prime a frequency. Or opt to get notifications based connected specifics similar antagonistic mentions.

Now that you cognize however to constitute a property release, it’s clip to trial retired the tips we shared successful this article.

As you bash that, Brand Monitoring will beryllium determination to seizure each the media sum you get. So you don’t person to walk hours checking each the publications you reached retired to connected your own.

Sign up for a escaped seven-day proceedings contiguous to research what the instrumentality tin bash for you.