The ultimate goal of a business press release is to raise awareness of your products or services. Depending on the topic, what you’re selling might or might not be the direct subject of the press release. Here are some press release templates that may help you.
Some news announcements relate directly to your product, such as a new product release or expansion of a service area. Other press releases cover other topics, like hiring new talent or providing insights about the state of your industry.
Whether your product or service is the direct subject of the press release or not does not affect best practices for writing it. Your goal remains marketing your brand and building connections with the media and potential customers.
Month to month, you should keep an eye out for valid reasons to issue a business press release. Any time that you see news making headlines related to your industry, you could have an opportunity to release information that media professionals might want to publish.
Changes in leadership, awards, winning big contracts, and joint ventures are common reasons to send out press releases. By regularly writing newsworthy press releases, you establish your company as an expert source of information available to the media.
The critical factor for any press release is newsworthiness. This is the top concern when writing one because you want it to be interesting and enticing to your target audience.
Newsworthiness can be achieved in a number of ways, but a good story forms the foundation of any strategy. For example, if your business did a survey, then the story could be how respondents’ answers influenced new product development.
The story that you tell in your press release will need to be written in the accepted format for a press release. You’ll use a journalistic style, which requires writing in the third person, keeping the content fact-based, and including insightful quotes from company leaders.
What Should A Business Press Release Say?
You must design the content of your press release to appeal to your target audiences. Your first audience consists of journalists and editors looking for news to put in their publications.
You appeal to them by using the journalistic style for your press release. Beyond that, you must give them content that fits what they publish.
Examine the media outlets that publish information related to your industry. Ask yourself what topics get the most attention and then write press releases that they could conceivably publish.
Of course, editors have their readers to consider, and these people are your secondary audience who could become your customers. Select topics and words for your press release that will communicate how your business benefits this secondary audience.
The headline for your press release is your first and likely only chance to arouse curiosity. A good headline promoting your business should state something interesting but never sound like an ad.
Business press release writers easily fall into the trap of writing what is essentially an advertisement. This happens because you want to communicate all of the good things about your company.
To avoid this mistake, remember that you are telling a story. The story could be that a product was redesigned based on customer feedback. If possible, include quotes from customers describing what is better about the new design.
As another example, a business press release could highlight why a specific charity inspired the owner to give a big donation. The nonprofit’s cause might be close to the owner’s heart or its mission is something that the owner believes will deliver long-term value to the community.
As you develop what your press release will say, decide which element is your strongest and most compelling point. Ask yourself what statement is most likely to resonate with your customers and then select that as the starting point for your release’s content.
Creating A Business Press Release
At this point, you and possibly your colleagues have decided what the story is behind your news. Now you need to gather facts to tell the story and support your statements.
Your company likely has many internal resources for you to draw upon for facts. These could be sales charts, soaring orders, or studies and surveys that your business commissioned.
Keep in mind that the facts that you cite in your press release can do double duty as content for an infographic. Media outlets like infographics because they communicate information in an easily consumed visual format. The inclusion of an infographic could help your business press release succeed on a greater scale.
Ask one or more leaders at your business to give their insights about the story. They might describe how much work went into something or how the new service helps customers escape from time-consuming tasks.
You are now ready to plug your facts and quotes into the elements of a press release, which are the headline, summary, introduction, body, and conclusion. If you have a surprising fact, like the results of a survey, you’ll likely want to use it in your headline or summary and the first paragraph.
Pay careful attention to the headline to ensure that it is introducing a story. The promise of a story makes people curious because they will want to know what happens next or why something happened.
As you write the body of the press release, introduce a fact and follow it with an insightful quote whenever possible. At the conclusion, invite the reader to explore more information from the company.
At the very end, you insert what is known as a boilerplate. This paragraph briefly explains where the company is located and what it does. You can usually use the same boilerplate in multiple press releases.
Why Write A Business Press Release?
- Educate more people about your business and what it does
- Highlight what differentiates you from your competitors
- Encourage consumer excitement for new products or services
Tips For Writing A Business Press Release
- Tell a story that revolves around benefits to your audience
- Never let the press release read like an advertisement
- Use facts cited in your article to create an infographic
