Writing an Effective Press Release

PUBLICITY IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN ADVERTISING

When you see an ad in a magazine or a newspaper, you know the company has paid for that space. You accept that they will be positioning their products and services in the best possible light. But when you see an article in a magazine or a newspaper – or on a News site like Yahoo News or Google News - we accept that reporters and editors have checked them out and found them to be newsworthy enough to write about – an unbiased third party endorsement.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR PRESS RELEASE NEWSWORTHY

To get the attention of reporters or editors you have to send them a press release that reads like a news story. If you write a thinly disguised product announcement or worse, an advertisement, your press release will end up in the trash basket faster than you can say ‘press release’

The Successful Press Release Format

The Most Important News/Fact

Who, What, When, Where

Use the type of material usually found in the lead of a news story
Statement of a problem
Statistics, Loss, Damage, Cost, Number of people affected
Attribute the data to a credible source

INTERESTING AND IMPORTANT DATA

How, Why
The next most interesting fact
Supporting data to the lead

BACKGROUND FOR THE FACTS

Give them back up data, more facts
Use a quote that supports your facts
State why your company or product is the solution to the problem

BENEFITS AND SELLING POINTS

Introduce the benefits for the reader
Tell them why this is of interest to them personally

EXTRA DATA THAT IS NOT VITAL

Additional information
Interesting items

CONTACT DETAILS

Name, Phone Numbers, Email, Fax

PRESS RELEASE WRITING STYLE

Forget everything you learned about good writing at school. A press release is written in short sentences with almost no descriptive words at all. It is not an essay or a story. It is a news article.

Read your local newspaper and see how a news article is written. It is short and to the point
Use simple words.
Keep your sentences and paragraphs short
Start with some attention grabbing fact related to the subject of your press release. Back it up with research or statistics from a credible source.

Example of how to write a good press release

Headline: Safety Laws Failing Those Who Are Affected

Lead: Hundreds of employees are being sacked for speaking out against unsafe working conditions, according to a report published by the Transport and General Workers Union and the Center for Corporate Accountability (TUC.)

Important fact: Under the Employment Rights Act workers have a right to refuse to do dangerous work, but because employers found guilty of unfair dismissal on safety grounds may only have to pay a small fine, it is often cheaper to sack the worker than make safety improvements.

Important fact: The TUC is calling for the government to take action in attempting to reduce the number of workplace accidents and fatalities . It wants to see a system of safety reps to allow unions to bring safer working to workplaces where there is no union presence.

Quote to support facts: TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "It shouldn't be a firing offence to object to unsafe work. Workers should not be placed in the situation where they are forced to choose between risking their job or risking their personal health and safety. We need a legal system that protects safety whistleblowers, not rewards them with their cards.”

Fact: The study revealed that few employers have been convicted for health and safety offences and none have faced a jail sentence or disqualification following a conviction.