Press Release, short for PR, is a written or recorded news delivered to members of the news media to announce something claimed as having a news value; it's purpose is to grab favorable media attention. Reporters, editors, and producers often look for news press release to develop a news story.
How It Works
- Step 1: You submit a press release
- Step 2: Your PR gets published on various news mediums
- Step 3: Visitors will click on your PR and read if they find your headline and summary interesting
- Step 4: If reporters, editors, or producers look at your PR and find it interesting, they might just write a news about it on local news papers, blogs, magazines...etc.
In fact, what you see on television, hear on radio, or read in newspapers or magazines often originate in press release form. An effective press release on the web can bring in thousands of targeted clicks to your website. Compared with PPC with say an average of $1 a click, you could save thousands of dollars with press release. The cost of submitting a press release is between $100 to $400.
Hmm... If it sounds too good to be true...
It probably is! Yes, there is a catch.
Because PR is an effective marketing strategy, its market is highly saturated. Thousands of press release are submitted every day, but most of them, unfortunately, end up getting "filed." Your quest is to be able to write a release that makes the reporters want to know more and discover that your story is the one they must tell.
Headline and Summary
Your headline and summary determine if people will decide to read about your press release; they should provide the answers to What, Why, and Who of the story.
A good headline should be short, simple, and straight to the point on what is it and why is it news-worthy. It is often very effective to reflect something that is already very popular in your headline. For example, "XXXXX, the next Google"
Your summary should expand further more on who should be interested in your press release.
Press Release Content
Now that your readers are interested in reading your press release, the opening paragraph, often referred to as the "lead", is a more detailed summary that answers Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of the story.
Journalists are very busy and they need to know if your story is worth their time to write a news on. It is a common practice for journalists to only read the press release lead.
The rest of the press release is to back up whatever claims were made in the lead.
Tips to Improve Your Press Release
To write a good press release you need to act like a journalist or a reporter yourself. Never use "I", "you", or "we" unless it's in a quote. The point of your press release is to tell a news; not to sell or promote a product or service - even though you are trying to promote your product or service... that's the hard part about it.
Perhaps the best way to be good at writing good press release is simply to read more of them and learn from them. Read on New York Times and see how other journalists are writing to catch people's attention without sounding like salesmen.
Last thing is...Proof Read! You will be paying for submitting press release (if you are looking for quality PR service, that is). Make sure that it is worth every penny that you have paid for. It is a good practice to never trust your word pressing program to catch spelling or grammar errors. Have a few people to read your press release before submitting it.
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