A press release is an official news item addressed to media professionals in traditional or digital media. It usually includes interesting news or information such as: announcing a new product, announcing an acquisition or merger of your company with another, or denying rumors about the company and its products. Entrepreneurs need to learn how to write press releases, and when to use them to draw interest in the company or to respond to rumors that damage its reputation.

Why do you need a press release?

Press releases are one of the oldest marketing strategies, as companies have relied on them to market and promote their products, and to attract attention and advertising since a long time ago. Some may argue that press releases have been eaten and drunk and that they no longer have a place in current digital marketing strategies, and this is not true for the following reasons:

1. Reach a wider audience

Although digital marketing provides other excellent tools and approaches, with a high return on investment, such as email marketing or mobile marketing, press release marketing is still widely used, because it has an advantage that is not available in other marketing methods. It mainly targets journalists, experts, bloggers, social media account holders, and YouTube news channels, who usually have a following of thousands and sometimes millions.

2. Exploiting the local accent

There is another advantage of press releases, which is that they relate to the local language and according to the local culture of the audience, as journalists and bloggers usually reformulate the press release, by translating it and modifying it to the local taste. If you want to do the same and translate your press release and draft it in all languages ​​and cultures, it will cost you a lot.

3. One of the sources of information

Someone might say that today's media professionals no longer rely on press releases as a source of information. Everything has become available on the Internet, and they can search themselves for news of interest to their readers. However, this is not true, as statistics indicate that about 88% of journalists believe that press releases are useful for their work as sources of information.

4. Indirect marketing

Another benefit of press releases that distinguishes them from other marketing methods is that they promote your company and products across multiple parties. Unlike the different marketing methods that are based mainly on the idea of ​​praising your company and your products in front of people, whether on websites, e-mail, or television and talking about their advantages, press releases are different, because you leave the task of talking about your company and your products to other people, including journalists, bloggers, and account holders. And news channels and websites, which gives the news more credibility. 

Press release marketing is similar to influencer marketing, except that it's free and won't cost you anything. Unlike influencers who get paid for talking about and promoting products, the task of the journalist or media person is to convey the news, especially if you provide him with news that interests people, and he will be happy to publish it.

When do you need a press release?

You can't issue a press release every day. A good marketer knows when to issue a press release, and when to use the rest of the marketing channels. So, before you try to publish any press release, you should first make sure that it is interesting, whether to media professionals, industry experts, or your target audience.

Not all news is important to people. If a press release is uninteresting and does not provide any attractive information, it will pass unnoticed. Therefore, be careful not to issue a press release until you are sure that the news is interesting, especially to the target segment of the audience, or that it has a direct impact on a large number of people.

In addition to making sure that the press release addresses a popular topic in the media and on the Internet, or that it is associated with a well-known name or brand, suppose, for example, that you run a local project that is active in a specific city or geographical area, what events are worth publishing a press release about? 

  • Obtaining a deal to complete a project in the region or announcing the contract with a major client
  • Announcing a new product or an updated version of the product.
  • A change in company policy or the announcement of an ambitious plan for the company
  • Respond to accusations or rumors that threaten to tarnish your company's reputation
  • Advertise a service, facility, or feature that is not available to competitors
  • Share numbers and data that enhance the image of your projects in the community, such as quarterly financial results or the number of jobs created by the project and its social impacts, project growth, and others.

How to write a press release?

As we mentioned earlier in explaining the importance of the press release to your business, we now come to the writing stage in which you should write your press release well and formulate it in an interesting format. In this section, we will try to review some recommendations on how to write a successful and eye-catching press release.

Write the address

The first thing a reader sees is the title, so if the title isn't interesting, people will skip it and never see the content in the first place. The title should be a short sentence that piques the reader's interest, gives an idea of ​​the content of the press release, and entices the reader to continue reading.

Within the statement, you should write your title in bold, center, and center, and be as short as 10 words as possible. You could also add a short description of between 10 and 13 words under the headline, to give some additional detail, and to set the context for the story. In this case, the description should be in a smaller font than the title, and the font should not be bold.

the first paragraph

After the title, the first thing the media person reads is the first paragraph. It is important to know that many will not skip this paragraph, because you are not the only one who corresponds with them, and they do not have time to read all the press releases that reach them, so many of them are satisfied with reading the first paragraph of the statement.

 Therefore, you should put the summary of the news and what you want to communicate in this paragraph, and not rely on the rest of the contents of the press release. You have to put the important aspects of the news in this first paragraph, and explain to the media person why this news is important, and why it deserves to be published at the present time.

Text of the press release

The body of the press release is the part where you display the details of the press release and all the information related to the news you want to publish. But this does not mean that you dwell on it and prolong it. There is no specific number for the ideal number of words in a press release, it depends on the type of news, some news is very important and can be lengthy and some are less important and can be written in a few lines.

Make sure that the language of the statement is correct and avoid linguistic errors because it alienates the reader, especially since the media professionals who will evaluate your press release before publishing it are likely to have high linguistic flair, and they will certainly not waste time correcting your linguistic errors before publishing, so make sure that the statement is written. In sound language far from the m concavely uses common terms and words in a way that everyone understands.

If you do not have a strong and sound linguistic style, or you want to publish an important statement for your company, and you want to seek the help of a professional expert in writing press releases, The advantage of this option is that it allows you experts with good experience and knowledge in a style of Journalistic writing.

Company profile

In this paragraph, you will give an overview of yourself and your company, project, or organization, and include a link to your website and social accounts. This paragraph is very important, because it helps the journalist to know important information about you and your company, such as the name of the company and its headquarters, and contact information, such as e-mail and phone numbers, in this way he can visit the company's website and social accounts if he wants to know more information.

Tips on crafting a press release

How to write a press release

Here are some additional tips that can make your press release more professional and useful:

  • Write professionally: The press release carries an official tone, so you have to formulate it professionally. Journalists should feel that they are empowered in the industry in which they work. You should also avoid using first or second-person pronouns. Do not use phrases such as “I believe that…” or “From my personal perspective, the…” and instead use “It is believed that…” or “Experts say that….”
  • Strive for simplicity: avoid concave style, write in simple and easy language, and stay away from complex technical terms that only industry professionals know.
  • Keep the press release brief: Avoid unnecessary verbosity, get to the point, and try to get the story across as quickly as possible. You should also include the essence of the news in the first lines because most readers will not finish reading the news.
  • Observance of the rules of SEO: You should take into account the rules of SEO when writing a press release, as what applies to digital content also applies to press releases. You can include one or two links within the press release to your site to attract interest.

You can also include the keywords you target in the content of the press release, especially in the title and first paragraph so that the pages where your press release will be published will rank high in the search results. But do not exaggerate the stuffing provocatively, the content should be natural. 

For example, here's a bad example of a press release from a cybersecurity firm:

“The cyber security company [sic] managed to close a deal in the field of cyber security with the government sector to provide cyber security services in..”

Obviously, this statement contains a crude tautology of the keyword “cyber security,” and the journalist will most likely delete it as soon as he reads it.

  • Include statistics and quotes: To give your press release more credibility, include statistics and numbers from neutral and reliable parties. Also, try to include relevant quotes from experts in the sector, shareholders, members of the local authorities, or local celebrities, as this will give your press releases more attractive to journalists and the public alike. 
  • Within additional files and media: You can include text files, videos, and images in the press release for those who want to expand on the subject of the press release. You can include videos of testimonies of experts and officials or even ordinary people, and you can also include files for studies, research, and surveys related to the subject of the statement.

How to publish the press release

The next step for writing the press release is to publish it and distribute it to the largest number of media professionals, and the best way to do that is via e-mail. Put your press release in a mailing message, and send it to the addresses of your mailing list, and to everyone who you think can publish your press release from journalists, news sites, or Bloggers who specialize in your field.

Try to collect the mailing addresses of the media outlets that interest you. Most news sites and media outlets give you the ability to communicate with them via e-mail, or through their social accounts. Go to the news sites you want to publish your press releases on, go to the footer and find the site's contact information, and add their mailing address to your mailing list.

And if you are interested in publishing your press releases on social networks, go to the news social accounts pages that are active in publishing news similar to the content of your press releases, and search for contact information. Most accounts provide the ability to contact account holders, and the same is said about YouTube channel owners.

You can also benefit from your public relations, if you are personally acquainted with journalists, media professionals, or owners of media platforms and social accounts, communicate with them directly, preferably in person or over the phone, as this will increase the chance that they will publish your press release. Don't forget to also post your press releases on your social accounts, and on the company's website and blog.

After you've assembled your mailing list, send your press releases to the list's addresses. At this point, you can take advantage of email marketing techniques, which rely on tools to schedule mailings and help send large numbers of emails to targeted addresses at one time.

Don't forget to start the email description with a short paragraph telling them why you're writing to them, and why this press release is important and worth sharing. Also, avoid over-emailing them, and don't send them a press release every day. Because exaggerating in sending messages annoys people, and reduces the chances that they will publish your data.

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