The Bridge Marketing 101: The art of penning the perfect press release

Hana Dickinson, MD of The Bridge – Strategic Marketing & PR Specialists – and creator of the County Wires offers a guide to writing a press release that will get your business results.

First things first, make sure your story is interesting to others.  The aim of the game is to get people talking about you after all. Your press release should have the most important information at the top  and the least important, nearer the bottom. Draw the reader in. Your first sentence needs to summarise the key point of the article and read like it’s the opening of a news story.

Start with the basics, and write as though you’re addressing a complete stranger about your event. Because you are! To do this begin by summarising the 5Ws

• Who
• What
• Where
• When
• Why

Get these Ws sorted, and you’ll be set for the rest of the press release, as this will get the key info front and centre to grab the reader’s attention.

Language

Keep your language simple and matter-of-fact. Aim to be clear and factual – not clever or entertaining. Don’t use exaggerated, over-embellished or salesy language.

Quotes

Include 1 or 2 quotes from relevant spokespeople that will help bring your story to life. Don’t use these for more facts. Instead use the quote to add opinion, examples and insight – even an anecdote if it will capture hearts and minds.

Word Count

You should to make your finished release to be around 4 or 5 paragraphs (around 3-400 words) long.

Contact Details

Always put your contact details at the end of your release in case the journalist needs to call or email to clarify a detail or get additional information.

Notes to Editors 

Make sure to add a ‘Notes to Editors’ section at the end of your release where you can put all the background information that doesn’t directly contribute to the story but can help the journalist to get the context surrounding the story – like your company history, a spokesperson’s background and so on.

Images

Visuals really help to draw people into an article so always attach a relevant and specific image that helps tell the story of your release. For online publications like EssexWire a medium resolution image of around 250KB is great. Don’t forget to put a caption for the image in your release. Names of who is in it L-R and/or an explanation of what / where it is and a photo credit where applicable.

Summary PR Checklist:

1. Opening summary sentence that grab attention
2. More detail on the main point of the story
3. Further detail and any super-relevant background info
4. A quote or two that bring the story to life
5. Caption for the photo (Don’t forget to attach the photo) and photo credit
6. Contact details – your email & phone number, in case of any questions
7. Notes to Editors – company background and other background info

If you would like further advice, contact The Bridge Marketing team on 01394 802053 or visit the website.