Press Releases are integral to sharing your news, telling your story and celebrating your success. But they must be interesting and engaging too. Here are Soaring Worldwide’s top tips to get the best out of your releases.
1. Capture The Reader: The title and opening sentence are the most important parts of a release. They should immediately inform and engage the reader. In the best case scenario, the opening sentence should contain the heart of the story and give the reader full understanding.
2. Quotes: It’s easy to write a release with plenty of information but sometimes a key quote from a client or someone working with the client can add weight and value. A quote from a good source can often make the difference between your releases being published or being forgotten so make sure it’s a strong one that will back up the points you are making.
3. Industry Targeting: If you are going to write a press release about sport then it is unlikely that the meetings and events industry are going to be interested, and vice versa. Ensure your press release is sent to the correct industry media and journalists, otherwise it will be lost and not read. There are plenty of tools to directly target certain sections of the media allowing your release to become more effective when sent. Preparation of media databases are essential and will be the difference between your release landing in a publication or into a trash folder.
4. Date, Time & Location: Adding information such as the date, time and location can strengthen your release whilst delivering all the necessary information that the reader needs. This information will give the journalist an opportunity to see whether the release is relevant to them, in terms of geography, whilst also adding depth. Naturally, a press release about an upcoming event will be useless without this information!
5. No need for War & Peace: Your press release does not need to be overly long. No journalist will be prepared to sit and read through a novel searching for the relevant information they need. A press release needs to be concise, to the point and, as shown in tip 1, the vital details of the release should be found in the title and opening sentence. This will save you time, the journalist time and deliver a much more professional release that looks great.
For an example of some of our client press releases, follow the links below.