7 Proven Tips for Creating a Press Release That Works

by Trish Lindemood on January 20, 2010

Creating a press release that works is something anyone can do.

Although it might seem intimidating at first, creating a press release to promote your business online (or off) is actually a lot more methodical than you might think. In fact, with a little know-how and some practice, I am confident you’ll soon be writing press releases that grab the media’s attention and generate lots of publicity for your business.

(As with everything else related to Content Marketing – the key to writing press releases that make the cut is to provide valuable information/material that solves your readers’ problems).

If writing press releases is of particular interest to you, I have added additional articles on this topic over in the Content Marketing Toolbox. In addition, I strongly recommend you sign up for a FREE, no-obligation account with leading online press release distributor PRWeb. (Your free account will give you access to a wealth of online and interactive training materials to help you start garnering free publicity for your business right away).

Here are 7 Proven Tips for Creating a Press Release That Works:

Focus on newsworthy material (i.e. a grand opening, new store location, your company’s involvement in a charitable orcommunity event, etc…). Press releases are not the time to be self-promotional.

Begin with a brief overview of the subject matter, THEN reveal who is announcing it. Avoid reversing this order.

Make your opening sentence as effective and compelling as possible. As with everything else you write, you only have a few seconds to grab your readers’ attention. Also, for online press releases, be sure to include your targeted keywords, as well. (According to a recent webinar by PRWeb.com, over 90% of all online press releases are NOT optimized for search engines. Talk about missed opportunity!)

Keep your writing succinct and focused. Avoid flowery language and superlatives! There is no room for hype in a press release.

Make sure what you are writing is 100% true. (I know, that one should be a no-brainer).

Provide detailed contact information, including contact name, title, address, phone, fax, email, web address.

As always, write with your intended audience in mind. In the case of a press release, you need to consider both the journalist or news publisher and their intended audience.

Like I said earlier, creating a press release that gets results for your business is a methodical process. I hope these tips help you get started – please leave a comment below and let me know how I did!