5 Tips to Writing an Effective Press Release

Writing by Maciej Fita on Monday, 4 of August , 2008 at 5:00 pm

It is easy to sit down and whip up a 350-500 word press release and submit it. But how easy is it to actually write one that has some compelling copy and will grasp an audience? Do you really want to write a press release just to see it get lost in cyber world? I am going to give you 5 important tips to always follow when constructing a press release for yourself or your company.

Tip #1 – Create an Outline
There is nothing worse than starting to write and an immediately hitting a roadblock after one sentence. Put together an outline of your thoughts and how you want them to flow throughout the press release. This will allow you to keep things on the straight and narrow and not let your thoughts go off on tangents. It will allow you to properly organize your thoughts before you get them onto the screen and submit them. This will also allow you to increase your efficiency and speed if you have a position where you need to submit many press releases.

Tip #2 – Make it News Worthy
Make sure whatever you are writing you would want to read yourself. If whatever you are writing sounds dull and boring and is not compelling to you than think about what your readers are going to feel when they lay their eyeballs on your press release. If it is not news worthy make it newsworthy. Tweak the writing so that it so exciting the reader can’t wait to read the following line. Let your imagination flow and take your reader on a trip. Everything in life tells a story and the stories are what make things move and prosper.

Tip #3 – Don’t Beat a Dead Horse
Don’t announce something has already been over announced. Nobody wants to read about the wheel anymore. Nobody wants to read about the new wheel either. I know sometimes there is only so much new information you can write about for overused and sold products but all you have to do is take a different approach. Writing is art so make it controversial. Controversy is what grasps peoples attention so go start writing and create a stink for people complain about.

Tip #4 – Don’t Cram Info
Keep your press release focused and in check. Don’t try to cover too many bases. If you try to announce too much into one release you are going to lose your reader entirely and jeopardize your release not getting picked up by anyone. Keep it to one topic and subject and focus on it. Press releases should be around 500 words and that is not enough room to write about too many different event or things going on in your company.

Tip #5 – Don’t Forget your Hyper Links
If you are distributing your press release and you have not hyperlinked your anchor text you better before you submit your press release. This is valuable link building that cannot go unnoticed. Hyperlink with your link 2-3 anchors texts and make sure your links work. Double and triple check to make sure they are pointing to the right pages that you want before you submit.

If you follow these simple tips you should be on the right track to have a solid online press release campaign.

                      Category: Press Release Writing                      

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