Press Releases traditionally follow the same format. And as such they will invariably cover each of the following:
• Subject – What the Press Release is all about.
• Organisation – Who wants to promote their Company?
• Advantages – The USP’s.
• Applications – Where or when it’s been used and who by.
• Details – How to purchase it.
It’s important to get the headline correct, so a lot of your time should be spent on making it both punchy and snappy. By doing this if a journalist can’t be bothered to read more than the first couple of lines at least they know what message you’re trying to convey to them.
The first main paragraph should then be used to encapsulate the major points that you want to get across about your company.
“ABC company, a Bracknell based supplier of computer hardware announces the worlds lightest notebook.” This should always be followed by proof points, or in other words what makes it the lightest notebook in the world; have some quotes from a reliable source.
“DEF market research said that it was the lightest notebook in the world weighing in at just under 1kg.” And again back this up with a quote from the market research agency.
Future paragraphs should then provide further details about the notebook (in this case). Here’s where you can go into such things as battery life or screen resolution.
At this point it’s probably best to include a comment from a senior person which the journalists can use to quote in order to support their news. There’s always the danger of having a senior member of staff not knowing that you’ve actually released the product and therefore coming across as a complete idiot for not knowing what the journalist is taking about! This is very simply dealt with, by getting their approval of everything that goes out in their name.
It’s also nice to be able to quote channel partners who should be among the first to benefit from the new notebook.
Present the Press Release as objectively as is possible. Always write in the third person, so remove I, you, we and us and replace them with it, he/she and they. The company is always referred to in the singular, so please remember to use it rather than they.
Remember the rule about abbreviations and acronyms; that if you are going to use them they must be spelt out in full the first time a journalist comes across them. For example: Thin Film Transistor (TFT) – and thereafter refer to it as a TFT.
AND remember above all else keep applying the “Keep It Simple Stupid” approach to use Press Releases. KISSing will not only avoid the traps that many would be PR Exec’s fall into and journalists hate but also the readers of the various publications.
The final things to include in any Press Release should include:1 • Notes to the editor – Brief company background, including where it’s based, when the company was first launched, what its main areas of business are, etc. – and any additional information not included in the main body of the Press Release such as details specifications.
• Your contact details – Including Telephone/Fax and increasingly email. These details should refer to the person who has actually made the release in order that the journalists know exactly who they should be speaking to.
• You should always have photograph available, but never send it through without first having it requested by the journalist.
To learn more about this author, visit Charles Bows's Website.
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Charles Bows
(Visit Charles's Website)
Formed in early 2005, we are a broad based
communications agency - with particular
emphasis being placed on IT, Telecoms and
the Computer Games (PC, Console and
Mobile) markets - specialising in the
following areas: - Strategy - Public
Relations - Branding - Hospitality - Web
Creation. We've set about transforming
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