The press release has adapted to a historical evolution that stretches from the earliest beginnings of communication through to the age of social media. In this context of constant change, the expansion of digital channels has revitalised traditional tools, making an understanding of how they work more relevant than ever today.
Social platforms—contributors to major moments in pop culture and catalysts for political movements—have transformed the media ecosystem. However, companies are still discovering that the press release (or news release) remains the definitive instrument for communicating with the public and consolidating their strategic objectives with truthfulness and rigour.
What is a press release?
A press release is the instrument that allows announcing the presence of a new product or service, due to the ease it offers for its distribution in the main search engines, as well as the platforms of all the social networks.
In addition, a press release can be easily sent to journalists and the media in general; due to these characteristics, companies can send many press releases when needed.
They are used as an instrument for direct communication; through them, companies can easily communicate messages to their specific audience as well as to the general public.
An important detail to take into account is that although press releases are very effective, their duration is very short, so they need to be attended frequently.
Elements of a Press Release
Headline
The headline of a press release is the first indication of what the reader will find when reading it; it must be elaborated with words and phrases that capture the reader’s attention.
All words should be capitalized, except those with three letters or less, and should be no longer than 125 characters.
First paragraph
A good press release should include the 5 W’s; information indicating Who, How, Where and When should be clearly contained in every press release.
Experts recommend that a good press release should include a brief overview of the company and its products or services, links to social media platforms and the necessary contact information for journalists.
A press release is a brief news item that has been written by a public relations professional to send to specific members of the media.
It should contain all the required information from which a journalist can write and produce their story.
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Tips on how to make a good press release
Newsworthy
You should write about new and interesting topics that arouse curiosity about the announcements made.
Concise
Your content should be concise and precise, only one page.
Personal
Messages should be communicated in a dynamic, simple, interesting and easy to interpret way.
If you use an email to send a press release, it should be placed on the home page, never as an attachment.
Be objective
You should always use simple language, with no complicated phrases or words that are difficult for the public to understand.
No sales intentions
A press release should not be intended to sell anything, it is about providing information.
Optimize
A press release must be optimized to the maximum, because in this way it can generate high traffic to your web page, besides favoring the increase in the page rank.
To achieve an excellent optimization, keywords should be used to facilitate the search.
Contact details
Placing the contact details is important when writing a press release; the data included should be, full name, phone number, email and mobile address.
Proof
It is important to proofread press releases to check that they are correct and that there are no errors of any kind; a release full of errors can damage everything else.
