Tips for Writing an Eye-catching Press Release

Happy Mardi Gras everyone! I hope you all had fun celebrating and stayed warm and safe.

Today I'm privileged to have a guest blogger, Nikolas Baron who is giving us tips on writing a professional press release. I'm sure we could all use some advice on this so enjoy!

Tips for Writing an Eye-catching Press Release

Have you been saddled with the task of writing a press release but don’t know where to start? Maybe you’ve never written one before. Maybe you don’t know how long it is, what to put in it, or how to structure it. Maybe you’re just not sure how to improve your skills. Press release writing can be difficult until you get the hang of it.

When you write a press release, you want to suck the reader in, keep them interested, and give them vital information. Press releases are typically short but pack a lot of punch. They’re used as informative tools that promote, professionalize, and personalize your company, achievement, or other positive attributes. The general format of a press release is simple; your wording should not be. With the tips below, you’ll be able to craft a perfect press release while adding the spice that it needs to attract readers.

 

 

  Hook ‘em with your headline: Readers will tune into a press release with a catchy title. They won’t read the article if the headline lies flatter than a sheet of paper. You want to make the best of your writing abilities and capture your reader at the first glance. Think of your headline as a picture at an art museum: the picture draws in the viewer and then they take the extra time to read the placard about the artist, their history, and when they painted. Make the reader want to take the extra time to read your article because of the headline.

Get to the point: Press releases are at most two pages. They should never exceed that amount so you have to get to the point fast. You just drew in the reader with your exceptionally-written title and they want to know right up front, what’s the point of this press release. Press releases aren’t articles that can slowly wind to the point and if yours ends up being around two pages, it had better be filled with tons of interesting information and critical points. From the starting sentence, you should be filling your reader in on what the release is about.

It should be less than a page: Like stated above, the press release should never exceed two pages; however, ideally you should finish your release in less than one page. It’s not an article – it’s a short blurb to inform the reader of critical information. You want to make sure that you’re not boring the reader or wasting their time with fluff. Cut the fat and make your press release one page.

Proofread: Proofread. Proofread. Always proofread. The press release will look sloppy if there are grammar and spelling mistakes everywhere. If you happen to not work at a newspaper or magazine, or if writing really isn’t your forte and you were forced into writing the release, use an online proofreading resource like Grammarly to clean up your work. Nothing is more embarrassing than having tons of errors sprinkled through a mere one page of writing.

Provide other critical information: At the end of your release, it’s important to provide contact information, website, or other pertinent information. If your press release is about your company’s product, you want to provide the sales department’s information in case anyone reading the release wants further information. If the release pertains to a new start-up company, the website is most critical. Make it easy for the reader to get more information if they want it.

You don’t want the reader to be excited about your release then be barred from gaining access to whatever it is the release is about.

 Writing a press release is all about important facts and excitement. You should be able to grab the reader, hold onto them for one page, and get them interested in your release information. It may be difficult at the start, but these tips are an excellent foundation to writing an amazing press release.

By Nikolas Baron

Nikolas Baron Bio:

Nikolas discovered his love for the written word in Elementary School, where he started spending his afternoons sprawled across the living room floor devouring one Marc Brown children’s novel after the other and writing short stories about daring pirate adventures. After acquiring some experience in various marketing, business development, and hiring roles at internet startups in a few different countries, he decided to re-unite his professional life with his childhood passions by joining Grammarly’s marketing team in San Francisco. He has the pleasure of being tasked with talking to writers, bloggers, teachers, and others about how they use Grammarly’s online proofreading application to improve their writing. His free time is spent biking, travelling, and reading.

Thank you to Nikolas for this great information. I hope it helps anyone who may be in the process of writing a press release or with luck... will be in the near future!