Press releases.
Designed to get as much attention as possible from as many media sources as possible about you and your company’s latest developments.
Sadly, far too many press releases fail to do the job, instead lost in the mountainous pile of other laughably ridiculous PRs that someone took the time to write but never bothered to think about.
Don’t doom your next press release to the same fate…
Here are 5 tips on how to structure your press release for maximum attention and effect:
1. Make it newsworthy
This kinda goes without saying really. There’s no point sending out a press release if what you’re announcing isn’t of interest to anyone. Make it relevant, something people would want to know about. Remember, that’s not the same as something you think people should want to know about!
2. Make it current
One of the best ways to get attention with a press release is to tie it into something that’s already big news. For example, maybe you’ve just released a new version of your online casino software, which now happens to also be available to Spain residents. Angling the PR around the issue of Spanish licenses to certain players in the gaming industry will put your PR at the top of the pile. Try to find relevant articles in the news, stuff that’s going on right now, that you could tie your PR into, therefore attracting more attention to it.
3. Stick to the facts
Press releases are supposed to be informative and relevant, so don’t tangent off onto the subject of your sister’s cousin’s dog. For a start, no-one cares. For another thing, it has nothing to do with the price of fish anyway. Get straight to the point and keep it there throughout your PR.
4. Make it reader friendly
Think about who’s gonna be reading your press release. Mostly newspaper and news website publishers. They must trawl through tons of PRs before they find something they deem worthy enough to get printed or posted so do them a favour, make your PR easy to read. Forget the fancy business jargon and excessively long words, thinking it makes you and your business sound important and smart. What the reader of your PR wants to know is if there’s an interesting story in your PR. There’s not a chance in hell he’s gonna spend the next half an hour trawling through the Merriam Webster for the meanings of all the fancy words you crammed in there. As is a recurring theme when talking about effective copy: speak to people like they’re people.
5. Give it a killer headline
The most important part of your press release is the headline cos that small piece of text will determine whether your PR even gets looked at or not. The main content of your PR could be the biggest news since sliced bread but if that fact isn’t reflected in your headline, you can forget the mention of success coming anywhere near it. That doesn’t mean you need to cram all the details in there either though! An overstuffed headline will get as much attention as no headline at all – after all, where’s a reader to focus? Killer headlines come in all shapes and sizes but they all do one crucially important thing: pull the reader into the copy.
So there you have it. A brief rundown of the key elements of a successful PR.
Think about these the next time you’re writing yours.
Or better yet, have me write it instead. 
Sarah McIver Copy 