Press Release Tips
In this post, I will throw light on the DOs and DON’Ts of writing a good news release that compels journalists and reporters to publish your content or event.
You can as well visit Hubspot to download a press release template.
To write an effective press release that compels journalist you need to follow some few press release tips that would add more attraction to your content.
DOs of Press Release
- Grab your readers attention within the first few words or one paragraph
- Vibrant verbs create interesting and fresh copy and draw the reader in, so your best practices will be to always use more active words than passive words.
- Make sure to reference a person that way – readers can direct their inquiries to the person referenced.
- Use professional tone throughout your release without jargon in your writing. Though on a few occasions there might need to use informal words, don’t go beyond required in order not to turn off your readers.
- Tell an interesting story with your press release that resonates with your readers. Remember you want people to be drawn to your event. People are busy. People need to know how they will benefit from attending and the easiest way to do this is to tell a story that they can relate with.
- Send your press on time. Sent too early, people won’t remember it; sent too late, they may already be committed to something else. Two to three weeks in advance is a good timeline to send your press release
- Use a bet. Tying your event into trends, news, and social popups of the moment can add excitement and urgency to a press release for an event.
- Be brief and up to point. Keep your press release within 300-800 words. That way you will have written the necessary.
- Lastly, make sure to proofread your press release and do it over and over to make sure everything is clean and free of typo errors.
DON’Ts of Press Release
- Use common phrases that sound more like a sales pitch.
- Don’t give away everything. If you want people to visit your website or more like directing them to other social media channels leave some info unwritten.
- Speak to your readers directly by using the word YOU.
- While writing always make use of “we” or “I” as your company
- Loud it by using multiple exclamation points or ALL CAPS. These techniques lessen the credibility of your event.
- Use long lists, search engines may reject your press release identifying it as an attempt to overload your document with SEO, and bulleted lists belong in an article, not a press release.
- Add an email address if you’re writing an online-only release. The email could be picked up by spambots and flood your mailbox.
- Use more than one hyperlink per every 100 words; otherwise, a search engine may view it as spam.