Press releases are the cornerstone of the PR trade and if you’re beginning to incorporate PR to your marketing activity, it’s likely a press release will be one of the first pieces of public-facing material you’ll need to create.
Press releases are the most efficient way to make public announcements to the media. They’re short, concise, documents that focus on the news you want to share, giving journalists all the information they need to write an article.
A press release should be no more than two pages long (including notes and boilerplate) and should be very focussed on your announcement.
Before you write your first release it is useful if you have pulled together your key corporate messages – you can find out more about how to do this in the section PR FOR FINTECHS (thefinancetalks.co.uk)
Here, we’re sharing a template you can use as a guide to create a successful press release.
HEADLINE [this should be a maximum of around 25 words and should encapsulate your news and why people should be interested]
Sub-headings [include a few bullet points, giving the important secondary points about your announcement]
[these points should support the headline in enticing the journalist’s interest in the story]
[include key stats here, if you have them]
[Location, eg LONDON], [date], [for immediate release OR embargoed until x time] - x company is announcing x today. X company is the [leading, first, etc.] provider of x.
[After sharing what your news is, use the second paragraph to explain why it’s important, who it affects, and give any key facts or figures you have to back up your claims.]
[In the third and fourth paragraphs, you can share a little more background about the business, use some of your key messages, explain what the business’s overall mission is and how today’s news feeds into that.]
XX, CEO of X company commented on the news, “[include a quote from a member of the senior team, explaining why they are excited/proud to make the announcement, what it says about the company’s journey etc.
Parts of the quote are likely to be lifted directly from the press release by the journalist, so take this opportunity to get across your key messages.]”
[Use the final paragraph to sum up the news and perhaps give an indication of what might be coming from the company next. You could also add a link to your website where people can find out more about your announcement.]
-ENDS-
Footnotes
[Include any necessary footnotes for stats you’ve used in the press release]
For more information, contact xxx
[Include contact details here so journalists can find out more, it’s best to include a phone number and email - make sure this is a person who can comfortably answer questions, or set up an interview.]
About x company
[Share your company boilerplate here - this should be short, maximum 150 words.]
There should also be a list of other content available to journalists, for example:
Photographs
Case studies of customers or investors who are also willing to talk to the media
Any links to relevant financial information or research.