It is impossible to imagine building a company’s communications without a tool like a press release. It is an informative media message . A company press release is compiled and distributed in the following cases:
- Opening a company, branch of a company or expansion of production.
- A corporate event is ahead.
- An event that occurs in a country or industry requires a reaction from the company's top management.
- The organization received awards or there were other significant achievements.
- Important personnel changes have occurred .
- In case of force majeure and emergency situations.
In such cases, a press release may be created both before and after the event. In the latter case, it will be informative rather than announcing.
Press release - what is it?
A press release is an important newsletter for journalists, the purpose of sending which is to incite media interest in the topic, with further publication of articles based on it. An example of a press release written upon the release of a new car model may contain information on its merits and be distributed through publications for the purpose of further publication (in case the topic seems relevant to readers).
A press release is not an advertising publication, so the decision to publish it is made solely by the editor of the publication. If the message contains purely commercial elements, the publication will go through the advertising department and be paid accordingly.
Why do they write releases?
Writing a press release makes sense if the reason to turn to the media is really worthwhile. Only in this way the company has high chances to be seen in the press, the Internet or on television.
A striking example of a press release that has attracted the close attention of the media and caused a wave of publications is non-standard actions of the Euroset company, including stocks that called for “undressing and getting a mobile phone” and so on. For representatives of large business, everything is much simpler, since the media themselves are looking for an occasion to cover issues related to their activities in their publications.
What style do such articles write in?
The genre of writing the text of the release should be informational, regardless of the scope and scale of the organization. However, the text should not be overloaded with professional terminology. The information provided in the press release, in contrast to the advertising publication, should be as objective as possible.
The use of interjections "I", "we" is inappropriate. The text also should not be emotionally colored. Be sure to re-read the text of the message before sending, since the image of the company will largely depend on literacy and information content.
How to write a press release for posting on the Internet?
When writing a release, you must follow a certain information structure, which resembles a pyramid, turned upside down, at the beginning of which the most significant facts are stated.
Structurally, a press release should consist of the following parts:
- The headline for the press release.
- An introductory paragraph called “lead.”
- The main body of the article.
- Reference and contact information (background).
- Useful links for the reader (if the publication is on an Internet resource).
Headline
This part shows the whole essence of the release, describes the event that will occur. The headline should be of interest and consist of no more than eight words, and also be clear and significant. Many professionals advise writing it after writing the body of the article.
The rules of the press release include writing the headline in bold and larger print. The first word should be capitalized (there is no need to capitalize all letters). It is advisable to use the present without extra articles.
It is necessary that the heading contains the keywords of the article. This will help to increase the search properties of the release, as well as make its essence more understandable for journalists.
Text
A press release about an event of the proper level should be written on letterhead and have a meaningful and interesting headline for journalists. The first paragraph should answer the questions: what, where, when and for what purpose will be carried out.
The following paragraphs should carry an information load, contain data about the event or product features, its place in the market. The text should contain as many facts as possible. You can include comments from the company’s directorate in this block.
So, an example of a press release written about the event of the publication of the book is as follows.
Title: "Bukinist Publishing House publishes a new fantastic book on time travel." Then the first sentence should be like this: "Publishing house" Bukinist "today publishes a new book by the acclaimed science fiction writer Bernard Verber about intangible time travel."
The text should contain as little “water” as possible and be compact. In addition, the use of slang words and expressions will be superfluous. Brevity is the sister of talent, however, in order for a press release to gain media attention, it is necessary to make it as informative and interesting as possible for readers of your particular sector of activity.
Information about the company
The final paragraph should represent the company, give information about the stages of its development, types of activities, as well as significant achievements. This part of the text is called the background and contains important information that characterizes the company.
Information can be taken from specialized brochures or professionally prepared business plans of the company. In the end, you must specify the company’s website, as well as the full URL for media representatives if necessary.
At the end, you should also indicate the contacts of the person responsible for public relations, as well as the contacts of people who are responsible for the specific processes described in the press release, for example, the engineering and innovation department (if we are talking about some kind of discovery or innovation).
Key contact information provided in the press release should include:
- Full name of the organization (official).
- A list of contact persons indicating the departments they represent.
- The legal address of the office.
- Telephone and fax numbers in international format with all codes.
- Contact mobile number.
- Company business hours.
- Website addresses and company email.
An example of publication on Internet resources
The publication of press releases on Internet resources is becoming an increasingly popular activity, since electronic technologies are increasingly crowding out printed sources of information. Most people are looking for the necessary information precisely in the vastness of the World Wide Web. What should the correct press release look like? An example of a quality informational article is as follows:
How to attract the attention of the media?
When publishing a press release in circulation editions, it should be understood that for media representatives the most important task is to attract and retain the attention of the audience. And if the press release received from the company is not interesting to readers (or viewers), it simply will not be published. An example of a press release that the media will not be interested in is information about the opening of the store “around the corner” or about the anniversary of a small little-known company. Such information is published mainly for a fee in ad units.
However, if you make the information interesting to the reader or present it at the right angle, the chances of being published increase dramatically. Success have non-standard solutions. So, in the release of the company Tide Power, attention was focused on the specialization of equipment for Eastern Europe, which attracted the attention of narrowly targeted journalists.
How to send?
Sending a release should be carried out only by targeted media that are interested in the information provided. Submitting an article is best in the morning at the beginning of the work week. Newsletters sent at the end of the week run the risk of becoming obsolete over the weekend and not being published. It makes sense to send informational articles to specialized news and corporate sites.
Examples of media releases
Publication in the media significantly increases the popularity of the company and positively affects its recognition and, as a result, success. An example of a press release for the media is given below:
Thus, an interesting and well-formed press release can attract media attention and significantly increase the recognition of the company, which will certainly affect its success.