How to Write a Press Release

A press release is an official statement of information sent to journalists or news agencies to announce news about events, promotions, awards, new products and services, sales achievements. goods, etc. Press release is also used to announce an event. Reporters will have time to brainstorm if they receive a press release in advance. Press releases are a basic PR tool that anyone can use. We will guide you in more detail in the following article.

Table of Contents

Highlight content

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Set the official title. The headline should be short, clear, and succinct: this is the crux of the press release. Many PR experts recommend that you set your headline after you’ve written your press release. If you followed the instructions above, complete the release first and then return to the title. The headline is considered the attention-grabbing point and is an important part of the release.

wikiHow is recognized as the most trusted source of information. See how it works? Now you want to learn more! The title of the announcement needs to have a “highlight” to attract journalists, just like the title of an article is the point that attracts readers. The title needs to show the latest achievement of the organization, a prominent event or a recently launched product or service.
The title is in bold! The title is bold and larger than the body of the announcement. Usually announcement titles are written in the present tense, avoiding the use of quantity words such as “one”, “the”, “thes”.
Capitalize the first letter . Capitalize proper nouns. The remaining words in the title are written in lowercase, can use the font “small caps” to make the title look more modern and eye-catching. Do not capitalize all letters.
Cite important keywords . The simplest way to write a press release headline is to quote the most important keywords in the press release. Use these keywords to make a statement that makes sense and catches your eye. If the title includes a summary sentence, the same rules apply. Using keywords at the top will help the announcement have a better position on search engines, and also help journalists and readers easily understand the content of the announcement. Observe the headlines in this first step and learn how to write press release headlines.

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Write the content. Press releases should be written like news. Note: journalists are very busy, they don’t have time to learn about your company’s announcement, so they will use the information in the release to write articles. If you want them to write about something, add it to the release.

Start writing the date and place. The location part can be omitted if it is confusing –– for example, the announcement was written in Hanoi but reported an event for a company located in Hai Phong.
The introduction, or first sentence, needs to attract the reader and summarize the content. For example, if the title is Literary Publishing publishes the novel “Kafka by the Sea”, the headline should read like this Today, Literature Publishing House publishes the writer’s novel “Kafka by the Sea” The famous Haruki Murakami.
The body of the press release should be short and concise. Avoid long sentences and paragraphs. Avoid overusing the local language. Try to keep it simple, no frills.
The first paragraph (two or three sentences) should summarize the press release, the body parts should support each other. In a fast-paced world, not every journalist or reader reads through a press release with a boring opening.
Handle real events –– events, products, services, characters, purposes, goals, plans, projects. Try to provide as much information about this event as possible. Here is the news . An effective press release should answer six questions: Who, what, when, where, why, and how.

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Following the “6 questions” principle will answer all of your readers’ questions. Let’s analyze the example we gave above in principle and apply it to your press release:

Who is the announcement about? Literary Publishing House.
What is news content? The Literary Publishing House released a novel.
When did the event take place? Tomorrow.
Where does the event take place? At all bookstores and distributors.
Why did it become an event? Because the novel was written by the famous author Haruki Murakami.
How did the event go? The launch event was held at the Publishing House’s headquarters in Hanoi, and the novel was also sold at all bookstores and distributors in Hanoi.
- By defining the basics, add information about characters, products, items, dates, and events related things.
- If your company is not the main character at the event, but is the one issuing the press release, clarify this in the body.
Write concisely and completely. If you send a hard copy, the lines may be spaced.
The more valuable information the press release contains, the higher the chances of being covered by journalists. You need to understand what “valuable” information is and use it to write a press release.

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The style is clear, sharp, and relevant to the reader. The truth is that all of the friends sent out press releases have dozens of letters that they don’t even read. So if you want your letter to be selected, it has to be excellent. Not only excellent, but almost “ready to be published”.

When editors see the release, the first thing they think about is how long it will take to print. If the release has a lot of errors, omissions, and needs correction, they won’t waste their time on it. So, write grammatically, do the basics well, and write content.
Why should these people care what you have to say? If you’re sending it to the right audience, it’s obvious. Otherwise, fine, why are you wasting your time? Sending the right people the right information (about the event, not the ad) is on the right track.
- You’d better send out the press release in the morning. At this point, the announcement will have more chances to land on their desks. Be considerate.

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Attach. Provide some additional relevant information to support the press release. Does the company you are writing this release have any online information that would be helpful to its readers? If so, add it.

If you’re not sure what information you have, do more research. Surely someone has written about an event similar to what you are doing. PR Websites ^{[1] X Research Resources} and PR Newswire ^{[2] X Research Resources} is a great place to start.

Mastering the Layout

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Get familiar with the basic structure. Now that you have all the information, how do you put them together? For newbies, shorten to length. Press releases should be no more than one side of the paper. No one wastes time reading five paragraphs, unless you’re going to summarize the novel. You need to pay attention to the following points: ^{[3] X Research source}

RELEASE NOW should be at the top of the page, in the left margin.
- For releases that aren’t immediately released, add “WAIT FOR…” plus the date you want to release. A press release without a release date is not an immediate release.
Header to be bold, centered on the page.
- If you want you can put a subheading in italics (summary of the main title).
Opening paragraph : the most important information. Similar to news writing, you can start with the time and place of the event.
Paragraph two (possibly paragraph three) : second important information. Citations and references can be added.
Information boilerplate : more information about your company . An in-depth introduction to the company. Achievements and missions.
Contact information : more information about the writer (probably you!). If you win someone’s heart, they’ll want to learn more!
Multimedia communication : in this day and age, you can always use tools like social networks.

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Write sample information below the body of the announcement. This is the time to add company information. When a journalist chooses your press release to write an article on, they will mention the company in the article. They can collect information about the company in this section.

This section should be titled “About [COMPANY_XYZ].”
After the title, use one or two paragraphs of about 5.6 lines to introduce the company. The content must describe the company’s business principles and policies. A lot of businesses already have professionally written brochures, presentations or business plans, etc. The introductory text can be placed here.
At the end of this section, link to the company website. The link should be quoted from the URL without the embed code, so that when printed, the link will still print normally. For example, http://www.example.com, not as click here to visit the site.
Companies that maintain a communications page separate from the website should also include a link in the announcement. A media site usually has information and contact information.

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Add contact information. If your press release is really valuable, the journalists definitely need more information or want to interview some key people related to the event. If you want the media to communicate directly with key people, you can provide their contact information on a press release. For example, in the announcement of an initiative, you might provide the contact information for the engineer or research team to the media.

If you do not want to do so, you must add the information of the PR/communication department in the company to the “Contact” section. If the company does not have a PR/communication department, you will need to appoint a person in charge of communication between the media and key people.
Communication should be limited and specific to the press release. The following information is required:
- Official name of the company
- Official name of the company’s communications department and direct contact person
- work address
- Phone and fax numbers with country/city codes and extension numbers
- Mobile phone number (optional)
- Contact time
- E-mail address
- Website address

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If possible, include an online link for a copy of this press release. Posting press releases on the company website is a good practice. This makes it easier to get links, as well as save events that have taken place.

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Mark 3 ### at the bottom of the press release. Aligns to the center of the page, just below the last line of the announcement body. This is the rule when writing press releases.

Advice

Add a “call-to-action” section to the announcement. This section describes what you want the public to do with the information you provide. For example, if you want readers to buy a product, you must specify the location where the product is sold. If you want readers to visit your website to enter a contest or learn about your organization, you must include your website address and phone number.
Don’t waste time thinking about the headline before you’ve finished writing the release. Editors put an official headline in newspapers and magazines, but that’s fine if you can think of an eye-catching headline for the release. This title is the only chance. Be brief and factual. The best way is to write the headline after completing the release. If you are not sure about what you write, how can you write headlines. So draft the release and decide on the title.
Use the subject of the announcement as the subject of the email. If you come up with an “attractive” subject line, it will help your message stand out in the editor’s inbox.
Study actual press releases to grasp its tone, language, and layout.
Avoid using jargon or technical jargon. If a must be used for correctness, define it.
Send a release to a specific press agency or reporter. This information is usually posted on the homepage. You should send messages to each person individually, not in groups or use the cc function because this action shows that you are not targeting a specific market.
The timing of the press release is also important. It should be a relevant and recent event, not something so old and irrelevant.
A phone call after sending the letter can help them fully understand the content of the event.
Add your company’s name to your headlines, subheadings, and opening paragraphs to get a better position in search engines and for professional reporters and readers. If you are sending hard copies, you should write them on company letterhead.
Send notices by email and use a neat layout. Large and colorful typography doesn’t elevate your information, on the contrary, it distracts. Add the announcement to the body of your message, don’t send it as an attachment. If attachments are required, choose plain text or Rich Text format. Word documents are mostly accepted, but if you’re using the latest version (.docx), save the announcement as (.doc). Newsrooms often have limited budgets, so they may not be able to upgrade equipment. Use the PDF format only if you are sending a file that contains a lot of images and charts. Don’t write the announcement on company letterhead and then scan it to jpeg and email it –– this is a waste of time for both you and the editor. Type the announcement directly into the body of the message.

Warning

Always remember that a lot of editorial boards are overworked and understaffed. If you don’t waste their time, there’s a good chance the announcement will be picked up. If you write well, they can almost always post without much editing. But if you include too many ads, the editor will definitely delete them. Everyone says editors are leaders so don’t waste their time. The company profile should be placed in the information section of the announcement. However, write accurately and realistically.
Posts should be positive. Avoid phrases like “after the previous president’s resignation” or “after a period of inactivity” as the journalist may be investigating these issues instead of writing the press release, even if If the above cases are completely harmless, such as the chairman resigning due to health reasons, the results of the investigation may not be what you want.
When sending out a press release, don’t title it “press release” as your letter will easily be confused with other messages. Get the editor’s attention by giving it an “attractive” headline, for example “Company A wins 30 billion government contract”.
Do not write other people’s contact information without consent. In addition, they must have free time after the release of the press release.
Always attach quotes, ideas of individuals that influence the content of the announcement. It doesn’t need to be quoted directly, but it needs to be precise. Better yet, ask the person if he or she would agree to quote them. Citations allow busy journalists to complete their articles without the need for an interview.

Steps

Highlight content

Mastering the Layout

Advice

Warning

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