Write a World - Class Press Release
Why do most press releases seem to read
like this:
‘XYZ Co. Inc., a leading supplier of the world’s
123, announced today the availability of its latest
product, the XYZ 4.2, version 3, which will revolutionize the software-aided
micro-technology chip industry. “This will revolutionize the software-aided
micro-technology chip industry,” said Joe Blow, XYZ Co. Chief Executive Officer
and Founder.’”
Why do PR professionals flock to the
fill-in-the-blanks model of writing press releases? Certainly not because it stands out in the crowd of
all the other releases a reporter is likely to get in a day.
Instead of conforming to the conventional approach as above which is dated, formulaic and, let’s face it, dull — choose a better model to follow. Here are some approaches that I use to spice up the press releases.
Write a feature lead.
Contrary to popular opinion, reporters
don’t hate feature leads. They hate crappy feature leads.
Instead of the
conventional “XYZ
Drugs Introduces a new 123 drug to relieve pets pain...”
of a first paragraph,
why not make your release stand out from the crowd with a
first paragraph
like,
"Imagine the first few hours in
the recovery room following a
major surgery.
Consider what post-surgical life has been like for some pets undergoing common
surgical procedures; intense hours WITHOUT pain medication. …now
all that may come to end with the release of 123 drug by XYZ Drugs...
Lead with the benefits
to your intended market
or media outlet.
Present the key element … that explains
how your story can benefit
the newspapers
readers.
"Employers now have a better way
to measure, monitor and manage employee absences, thanks to
XYZ expanded online Comparative Reporting & Analysis
(CRA)
information services.
Give
a
great biography.
Do your executive or director bios read
like a resume...
very boring even if you are Bill Gates?
Wake your biography up with human-interest
details and storytelling. Here’s a great example
I recently picked about Embassy Suites hotels:
It all started when Carlton
Calvin was reading a brief item in the Los Angeles Times about the growing
popularity of push scooters in Japan. With a spark of creative thinking,
Carlton, president of Razor USA LLC, spawned the “Razor scooter,” one of the
hottest trends to hit the United States within the last two years.
Hint: “It all started when …” leads
draw the reader in. The moment of creative inspiration is a great place to
start an executive or director bio — or any story, for that matter.
Use human interest.
What’s more
compelling: an announcement about custom-fitted breast prostheses,
or a “breast
cancer survivor profile”?
Let people tell
your story with leads like this one: "In 1989,
Wangari Wanjohi of
Karatina, felt a knot in her left breast. Her physician told her that she
needed a biopsy, but was 99 percent sure it would be benign. Ms
Wanjohi kept
putting it off — until the pain in her breast woke her up at night. …"
Now you can go ahead and introduce your product and its benefits to Wangari
Wanjohi.
Instead of just
filling in the blanks, use any or all of these approaches when you write your
next
press
release or pitch. Make your copy creative and compelling, not just one more
cliché.
Tune-Up: Use customer and reference sites to reinforce your messages. Ask satisfied customers to give a few sentences on the benefits they have derived from your product or service, and their return on investment. A list of testimonials, with the company they come from and ideally a contact name should be available to all journalists. Joseph Reriani - PR Consultant
This article is part of Joseph Reriani's "PR Tune-up Blog" newsletter posted to over 6,000 subscribers weekly. The newsletter was first published in 2002 at http://www.Reriani.com. For more articles and PR tune-up tips, please visit www.PrudentPressAgency.com and www.SkyNewswire.com. Joseph Reriani is a Media Consultant and Fellow with the Chartered Institute of Public Relations- United Kingdom. He is the President/CEO of Prudent International Inc and Executive Editor of Prudent Press Agency. He is also an Assistant Editor of SkyNewswire.com directed by Jackie Mugambi . He is a trained journalist and specializes in helping businesses, organizations, and individuals improve their public image by effectively employing the power of public relations. Mr Reriani can be reached at admin @ Reriani.com. You may freely copy and re-publish this article without altering any part in the body.