So you’ve got a college assignment to complete a press release?  Or maybe you’ve just landed a new job at a Public Relations Company, and your first task is to create a press release? Well here are some tips on how to create a complete and professional press release.

• Always include a title and a teaser – The title is the first thing a reader will see, so it needs to be short, attention-grabbing, and catchy.  The teaser is a second line, placed underneath the title.  It is a single sentence that provides additional information about the press release topic.  Ideally, you want the reader to be able to gather the entire message from this single sentence.  Obviously this means teaser will lack most details, but will convey the overall message of the press release.

• Information flows from most to least important – In the body of the press release, the most important information should be first.  Press releases often start with the date and location of the news.   As the reader continues deeper into the paragraph, they get the smaller and less important details. Also, press releases are not mysteries or reality show stories, so do not save any surprising twists for the end.  Readers want and need to know all relevant information in the beginning; otherwise the information may be misconstrued if the reader does not read all the way through.
• Include “About” information at the end – Whether a press release is about a single company, or a collaborative effort of many, include “About” sections after the body of the paragraph for each organization involved.  This section should be just a few sentences that explain a brief history of the organization, its goals and objectives, and how the story relates to them. Also include a website address or other contact info.
• Use quotes to add depth and authority to the story – Quotes from respected sources can add authority and power to an article or press release.  If available, get a quote from a company president or CEO, or from a customer or client who has been directly affected by the story/company.
• Where applicable, include a clear Call to Action – Certainly not every press release topic will warrant one, but a Call to Action is a good way to reinforce some ideas.  TriMark Solutions often creates press releases for clients sponsoring donation programs, or who are trying to raise awareness on a certain issue or new product.  We use these press releases as perfect examples to direct users to donation websites, to try new online products, or to forward them to company webpages.
• Include your company contact information – So what if your press release makes it big and someone out there in internetland wants to contact you about it?  Make sure to include your company’s contact info at the bottom.  Usually below the “About” sections, you should include the phone number, email address, physical address, and of course, name of the person or company who created the press release.
• Do you use ### at the end of the press release? – I personally feel this is an outdated tactic.  Originally the triple pound signs let the reader know that they had reached the end of the press release, but I don’t include them on TriMark’s press releases.  Most professionally done press releases no longer include the ###, but it is not an improper technique to do so.
• Grade your press release – There are many sites available today which allow you to upload your press release onto them, they do some fancy software calculations, and then return you with a 1-100 grade of your work.  One of my personal favorites has an extremely original name, pressrelease.grader.com.  This site not only scores your press release, but it also tells you exactly what was done incorrectly.  This site also creates a word cloud from your press release, showing you precisely which words were used most often.  The scoring process allows you to go back and change any errors before submitting your work.
• Make it interesting – Like any web content, readers won’t pay attention to content if it’s boring.  So make your content interesting, informative, and readable.  This keeps your readers from drifting away after reading the headline and first few sentences.
• Proofread – I know this is the most common advice to anyone who has ever written anything in the history of everything, but that’s because it’s the most important advice to remember.  I honestly can’t recall how many ridiculous typos or otherwise obvious mistakes I see in press releases.  Press releases are what you send out to inform the masses about your company or product, so your only goal is to get as many people as possible to see it.  You REALLY want to make sure that you don’t send out silly mistakes for everyone to see.  This is not limited to typos, be sure to proofread names, dates, locations, and quotes for accuracy as well.

You can find examples of professionally done press releases on the TriMark Solutions news page.  If you have any questions or additions you’d like to make, please comment on this blog, and I’ll be happy to chat with you.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 8:26 am and is filed under Tips & Tools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.