Ten Tips for Great Press Releases
- Ensure that your press release is truly newsworthy–anything else will be treated as spam.
- Explain to your audience why the information is relevant to them and why they should keep reading past the summary.
- Start with a great, but concise, summary of your news and then explain who announced it–not the other way around.
- After your first draft ask yourself, “Are people really going to be able to connect with this?” Adjust your press release accordingly if not.
- The first ten words of your press release are the most important. Make sure they are effective.
- Grammar and punctuation count for a lot, so pay close attention. Have someone else proof your draft.
- Deal with facts, not assertions and opinions.
- Provide as much contact information as you can. What good is a great press release getting into the right journalists’ hands if they cannot track you down?
- Avoid excessive jargon; keep your press release in layman’s terms.
- Only issue a press release when you really have something worth announcing.