Writing Your Own Press Release 101

I work in the PR field. My biggest challenge are the client who come to me with impactful ideas that hold no water.  The biggest mistake my clients make is thinking someone in the media cares. The truth is, no one cares.  What you think is news, really isn’t. In fact, in order to tell what is news and what isn’t newsworthy, hit up Google News. If you own a bakery and your big news is the launch of a new flavor of cookie, type in “new cookie flavor” and see what is relevant and what is trending.  I tell my celebrity clients the same thing. I tell them to Google their brand. Then I tell them to Google other “ a like” celebrities and see what they are getting as far as news. 

I ask them why they think the media is covering their competition and not them.  The PR Agency has nothing to do with it. In fact, we all pretty much use the same AP methods on a daily basis.  More established PR agencies do have better weight to throw around as far as pushing an interview, but we all face the same challenges and procedures.  Usually, when a client isn’t getting pickup, it is because they have nothing that truly is newsworthy to offer and therefore- nobody cares. Being famous for being famous is no longer the thing to do because of social media and there is no such thing as overnight success. Research some of the world's most famous people. I promise you they didn't achieve success in 6 months, a year or even 5 years!

This said, I want to talk about the top 3 things to consider when writing your own press release.

1.       Remember that no one cares.  Writing a press release for SEO and deep linking purposes is very different than writing one for actual media pickup. If you are writing for media pickup, use AP formatting and make sure you really have something to announce.

2.       “Do” vs “Applause”. What’s this? Well, your press release should either be an announcement of something that is about to happen (do) or something that did happen and is something people will want to care about (applause).

3.       Be straight forward. Contrary to popular belief, a press release shouldn’t hype you or your products up. Reporters hate this. In fact, it makes reports distrust the source. Be direct. Have a quote. Don’t use words that make you or your products sound bigger than they are and don’t write a biography as part of your press release. Remember the “Do” or “Applause” rule!

Until Monday,

Coco the CEO