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If you’re looking for tips on writing a press release that gets noticed, you’ve come to the right place. We’re here to help you “get the scoop” on what makes a good press release and how to write one that grabs the media’s attention.

You’ve probably heard that writing a press release is a great way to get free publicity for your business, and it is. IF you know what editors are looking for so you can give them what they want. Media people throw away the majority of press releases that cross their desk because the stories are simply not newsworthy. So let’s see how you can write a press release that gets attention.

Writing A Press Release: The Basics

Use these tips to help you write a press release that gets noticed.

Write to the media, not consumers.
Although your real goal is to attract customers, the purpose of writing a press release is to get publicity, not blatantly advertise your business. Your press release should be written to your target audience — journalists — as a news story worth reporting. In other words, you want to attract the media’s attention so they’ll write about you and your business. This is, in effect, free advertising, but with a twist. When the public — your potential customers — read about your business in the newspaper, or hear about it on the radio or TV news, it builds credibility because it’s not paid advertising.

Make it newsworthy.
In order for journalists to consider publishing your story, it needs to have a “hook,” or what’s known as a news peg: What makes your story newsworthy? Is it something new or important to their readers, TV viewers, or radio listeners? Is it connected to current events or social change? Does it impact their audience’s lives somehow? What proportion of their audience will it affect and how? Why should their audience care?

Journalists and editors have to appeal to their readers and viewers, so your story needs to have a unique angle, something that makes it interesting and worth reporting.

Writing a press release that simply announces your business is having a sale or has moved to a new location isn’t likely to be deemed “newsworthy.” However, if you’re throwing a grand reopening party with clowns and face painting and free hot dogs and a live band, well then, your story might have potential. If your business association is raffling off a date with a local celebrity and donating all the proceeds to the local children’s hospital, that’s news. If your company is co-hosting a fundraiser, or you’ve won an award, or you’re donating a percentage of one day’s profits to the local fire station, that’s cause for writing a press release as well.

Keep in mind that not all news stories are “news” in the traditional sense. Human interest stories can also appeal to the public. Here in the U.S., the local TV news stations always have segments about curiosities such as the water skiing squirrel or the pig who nurses abandoned kittens. Stories like these garner valuable, free publicity for the squirrel trainer and the pig farmer.

Headlines hold the key.
Consider how many press releases cross the average news editor’s desk — dozens, hundreds, thousands? How does an editor decide which ones to print, or follow-up on for a broadcast segment? They don’t have time to sift through every single piece of paper that gets dumped in their lap — they’ll scan the headlines and MAYBE read a line or two. If your press release doesn’t make it through that first cursory glance, it won’t make it into print or on TV. Therefore, your headline must leap out and say, “I’m worth your time! Read me!” (I wouldn’t advise using those exact words though.) My point is: write a catchy headline — something that states your most noteworthy benefit in an interesting way that will make your press release stand out from the lifeless crowd around it.

As an example, instead of writing “Local daycare offers drop-in service,” try using “Local daycare gives parents a time out with new drop-in childcare service.” This gives more detail, because it provides the news angle — it’s new and different — and it tells the media what benefit readers will get from this news story (parents learn about last-minute childcare they can get from a local, licensed daycare provider).

Writing a press release that gets noticed is possible, but you need to choose words that make your product or service or event sound newsworthy.

Keep it short.
Just like writing a business letter, you want to be thorough, but brief. Provide as many details as are necessary to tell your story without using flowery phrases or overused adjectives. State just the facts, using action words and short sentences. The easier it is to read, the better its chance of being read in its entirety. Try to keep it to one page if possible, around 400-500 words is standard.

Include contact information.
Make sure you provide your full contact information, including name, phone number (home phone number too because journalists work on deadline and might have to reach you after business hours), fax number, email address, website address, etc. You’d be surprised how many press release don’t have complete contact information available in an easy-to-find place which can instantly doom a release to the waste basket. If an editor or journalist has to hunt you down to get more information, they probably won’t.

Proofread, edit, proofread again.
Make sure your press release is error-free, grammatically correct, and uses punctuation properly. Don’t use exclamation points at all, and if you feel you must, use only one, not !!!! This screams amateur and/or sales pitch, and editors just hate that.

So how exactly does one go about writing a press release, and how should it be formatted? Glad you asked! Let’s move on now to the press release writing Step-by-Step Guide.