Final Touches: Wrapping up your press release

Congratulations! If you have been following this Persuasive Press Releases Blog then you have successfully covered all of the components of a press release. Wooohooo! Give yourself a pat on the back. You have a newsworthy press release infront of you, now you just have to add the final touches.

What are these final touches?

1. Make your presence with your logo. The whole point of a press release is to get yourself out there and bring some exposure to your organization. Start with displaying your logo in the header and other relevant information.
2. What is your release date? Your press release may be for immediate release or it may be released for the next day. For these cases, indicate in capital letters FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (date) or EMBARGOED UNTIL: (date) at the beginning of your press release. Embargoed informs the media that the contents of the press release cannot be published until the specific date.
3. Be sure your heading is capitalized and bold for your reader to see. You could also have optional sub-headings in bold font below your main heading with key information. If you plan on adding a sub-heading, ensure it is catchy as it will still need to attract the audience to keep reading.
4. Your press release should be 1 - 2 pages. Try your best to keep it to 1 page, but if you do have two pages be sure to indicate this at the bottom of your first page by using the word more or continued between two dashes. ie. - more -, -continued-
5. Tell the audience who you are. Many individuals refer to this section as the biolerplate. This section gives a brief background about the organziation or individual issuing the press release.
6. How can they reach you? Be sure your very last section of your press release provides a name, phone number, email address, mailing address or any other contact information for the Public Relations contact.
7. End with ###. Your press release should  be wrapped up with ###, this indicates the end of a press release. Fun Fact: ### refers to XXX meaning 30 used to denote end in telegraphic codes used in early years[1].

A visual example of some of the final touches that are discussed above[2].

There you have it folks! These final touches adds that cherry on top to your newsworthy press release.

Do you have any burning questions regarding how to write a persuasive press release? Please share!





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[1] PR*URGENT: A Free Press Release Service. (n.d.). Help Section. Retrived from http://www.prurgent.com/press_release_help.htm
[2] Bill Stoller's PublicityInsider.com. (n.d.). How to Write a Great Press Release: A Sample Press Release Template. Retrived from http://www.publicityinsider.com/release.asp

Talking the Talk AND Walking the Walk: What the experts say on Persuasion

It has already established in past posts that your press release needs to look and sound credible. There are many experts that emphasize this point when speaking about press releases and making it persuasive. Experts identified some things that are important to keep in mind when writing your press release.

Avoid Clichés

Debra Goldblatt, founder of Toronto’s Rock-It Promotions, was quoted in a Toronto Star article, warning against using clichés and over-used phrases like “fashionista” or “food”. (Fischer, 2012)

It is important to keep away from this because it is not unique and catchy. You want your press release to stand out. It is also important to keep in mind that you need to be culturally appropriate as well. Your audience may include individuals from various backgrounds and clichés or western phrases may not make sense to them.

Keeping It Simple

It is best to keep your press release simple and straightforward. I personally have to keep reminding myself that I am not in university anymore. The high level and detailed writing required to write in my social sciences classes is a lot different from what I am required to write in the business world.

Some business institutes encourage using the ABC’s of business communication.

Authenticity: Be real and yourself. Sounding human builds your rapport with your audience.

Brevity: Do not overload your audience with information.

• Keep sentences short: aim for 18 – 25 words in a sentence
• Cut out excess words: Go back and edit your work and cut out unnecessary words
• Write within limits: set a word limit and practice to work within it. This will improve your skills of writing with brevity.

Clarity: Know what you message is and be clear in communicating it. Use plain, everyday language to communicate your message clearly.

(Business Writing Institute, n.d.)

Be Creative and Catchy

A Toronto-based Financial Planner Shannon Simmons offers her advice on creativity in a Toronto Star article, How to write a persuasive press release. She suggests to trigger the media’s curiosity you must be creative and your headline needs to be catchy; grabbing the reader’s attention in 5 seconds or less. (Fischer, 2012)

She also mentions to write in a tone to attract whoever you are writing to, which is exactly what the 3x3 writing process prepares you to do. In my posts Ready, Aim, Fire and Easy as 1, 2, 3 we talked about anticipating your audience and adapting your message to engage them.

Content should be engaging and straight forward, but looking visually appealing is also important, as discussed in my last post. Be sure to structure your press release in a professional way to look just as credible as you sound.

What other techniques can you think of that will help with your credibility when writing a press release?

References:

Fischer, Nathalie-Roze. (2012, Aug. 03). How to write persuasive press releases. Toronto Star. Retrived from http://www.thestar.com/business/small_business/marketing_sales/2012/08/03/how_to_write_persuasive_press_releases.html

Business Writing Institute. (n.d.). Business Writing Training: The ABC’s of Business Writing with Confidence. Retrived from http://www.businesswritingcourse.com/business_writing_training_The-ABCs-of-Business-Writing-with-Confidence.html

  

Catching Their Eye

A lot of press releases can be overlooked even when they have an attention grabbing headline and newsworthy content. Why? Because it's not visually appealing. Your content may be newsworthy, but if it's written in such a way that it hinders the audiences' readability you can be sure that your audience will move on to the next headline.

Just like our little red friend here, you want your press release to visually stand out to ensure your message is being communicated and viewed (ie. Listen To Me!).

Here are a few ways to make your press release visually appealing:

• Headlines: Make sure your headline is bold and prominent. You want it to grab the audience and intrigue them to read your press release.
• Graphics: Don't be afraid to add in a graphic or photo to enhance your press release. Be sure to make sure it is relevant.
• Length: Keep the text to one or two pages double spaced.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Kathleen Rhodes and Patricia Rogin emphasize some key techniques, in the Business Communication: process and product textbook, to enhance the look of business writing, as well as improve readibility for your audience.

There are a number of techniques to improve readability for your audience:

• Vertical list - for example: 
• Bullets
• Numbered lists
• Highlighting Words
• CAPITAL letters
• Underlining
• Bold type
• Italics

(Guffey, Rhodes, & Rogin, 2011)

Be sure to use some of these visual techniques to catch your readers' eyes. Your press release will have persuasive content, as well as a persuasive look, which will only add to the effectiveness of your message. 

References:
Guffey, M. E., Rhodes, K., & Rogen, P. (2011). Business Communication : Process and Product. (6^th ed.). Toronto: Nelson.

Helpful Tip for Writing: Easy as 1, 2, 3

It is always good to have a clear direction of where you are going. Processes seem tedious, but in reality it is the best way to ensure you are accomplishing your task efficiently. Everyone does it, some of us just have a little more practice at it. 

So what big process am I talking about? Well, if you are one of my fellow peers from my Business Communication class you already know I am talking about the 3x3 writing process. If you think about it, when we were younger we were brought up on this kind of process. First, we were taught to think about our idea and brainstorm. Second, we were told to draft and write your piece. Third, we were taught to revise and then to edit. Only then can we hand in a published piece of work. The 3x3 writing process is very straight forward and builds on these basics most of us were brought up on as children.

 

Phase 1: Pre-writing

1. Analyze: Why are you writing this press release? What is it's purpose? If you don't know what your press release is about then you have a big problem.  
2. Anticipate: Who are you writing to? We have already covered this in my post Ready, Aim, Fire! You need to anticipate who your audience is to ensure your messaging is targetting them.
3. Adapt: With the above steps you will be able to adapt your writing to ensure your message and purpose is framed in a way to engage your audience.

Phase 2: Writing

1. Research: In my post Where to start? Back to the Basics, you got a sense of your purpose for your press release, but you also started the research phase of your writing. There is probably a lot more information you will need to collect before you start composing your press release. Be sure to gather all the key information you will need before you start writing.
2. Organize: Remember Location, Location, Location? In this post we talked about organization and outlining. In the organizing step of Phase 2 you will need to organize your information and create an outline. Keep in mind location of certain information is key in a press release. Check out the post Location, Location, Location for more details.
3. Compose: Finally you are ready to compose! You have your outline and all the information you need so write away!

Phase 3: Revising

1. Revise: Take a breather and then come back to your press release. Is the message clear? Will this intrigue your audience? Is it in the right order? Take a look at your first draft and see what changes and additions you want to make to ensure your press release is effective in delivering your message.
2. Proofread: Once you have your content figured out, it is important to go back to proofread. Some individuals like to revise and edit at the same time. I find it helpful to do these two steps separately. This way you can ensure your content is exactly how you want it and you can spend the time to proofread with no distractions. You want your press release to be published, so be sure to set some of your time aside for proofreading.
3. Evaluate: The last step in the revising phase is to evaluate your press release. You need to ensure it attracts the audience you want. Will the press release be successful in getting out your purpose? How will you know if you succeeded in your purpose? I will be able to evaluate my press release by asking my event attendees in June how they heard about the event. Feedback can help you evaluate the success of your press release.  

Through the weeks you can see we have covered most of the steps in the 3x3 process. Look out for posts in the coming weeks that expand on Phase 3. When revising your press release there are some helpful tips you want to keep in mind to ensure you can engage your audience not only by your content, but by the way your press release looks as well.

Experiences are the best way to learn and practice. Share your wisdom...What are some challenges you have with press releases? Do you know of any helpful techniques that helped you overcome that challenge?

Getting the Lead

It's time to create our heading! In my second post I mentioned creating our heading and conclusion once the body of your press release has been completed. Now that we have the essence of our press release, we need to grab our audience’s attention. What is the first thing that will grab your audience’s attention? It's your heading, of course! It's the first thing that leads into your press release. It seems pretty straightforward, but I wonder how can I get the lead and make an eye catching heading?

Luckily, there are some great resources online with various helpful tips to create a bold and interesting heading. 

Here are several tips that I found helpful:

• Keywords: determine some keywords that relate to the subject, the audience, and will be picked up when entered into a search engine[1]
• Powerful Adverbs: Jot down a few strong adverbs that are relevant to the release[2]
• Relevant Heading: Be sure the heading relates to the content[3]
•  Be personal: Ask yourself what kind of headings would appeal to you as a person?[4]
• Actionable and Short: a long title might cause the audience to lose quickly before they even read the body of the press release[5]
• Do NOT Repeat Your First Sentence: Your heading should be one of a kind[6]
• Avoid Generic Cliché Words and Jargon: Make your heading unique and different. Give the people what they want![7]
• Be creative! Have fun with your heading, if your press release is light hearted maybe open with some humour

Check out the headings I used for various posts in my blog. I tried to be creative, but still keep to the theme of my writing. Attempt to create a few headings and see which one fits your press release. You can also ask friends and family to give their opinion on what catches their eye. These are some tips that I felt were very helpful for myself and hopefully will be helpful to you as well. One thing I would stress is using keywords. Most of our written material can be found online these days and individuals are constantly using google to search for key words. If you use the right key words, your press release will come to that reader’s attention and with a eye catching heading you can be sure to hook the reader in to read more.

What are some interesting headings from press release’s you have come across?

What was it about those headings that pulled you in?

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[1] PressDoc. (2011, July 25). How to create a #WINNING title for your press release. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://blog.pressdoc.com/2011/07/how-to-create-a-winning-title-for-your-press-release.html

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

[5] Ibid

[6] EzineArticles. (2009, May 7). How To Write The Perfect Press Release – Condensed [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqh0ADRfmvY 

[7] Ibid

Location! Location! Location!

A quick recap, we have covered a couple of components of a press release:

• What are we writing about? What are your 5Ws and 1H?
• Who are we talking to? Who is your target audience?

We have some of the key parts and now we have to put our press release together. One great technique I learned throughout university is organizing and outlining.  I know it seems like a tedious task, but it helps you organize your content and adds structure to whatever you are writing about. Trust me, for a 70 page honours research thesis organizing my content and outlining was the best thing I could have done to make sure all my content was readable and flowed. One thing I learned was that location is so important for the key points you are making. If you had three points to make in your essay your 2nd strongest point would go first, your weakest point next and then close it off with 1st strongest point. For a press release location is very important, but not in that order.

When you are organizing for your press release you want your important information to be first. The truth is your professor or TA might be required to read your entire paper, but your audience might not read your entire press release. So be sure to put your important information in the beginning, followed by your supporting information.

Here are a few helpful tips when outlining your press release:

1. Use Brainstorming Tools: These tools are very helpful in sorting out all your information and grouping important facts and data together. It makes it easier to place your points where they need to go in your press release. There are so many brainstorming tools out there, use the one that works best for you.  
• Cluster Diagrams is a tool presented in the Business Communication Textbook that is commonly use
• Affinity Diagrams are very similar to cluster diagrams, but are more for those Kinesthetic Learners who like to be more hands on. Check out the Inbound Marketing University Blog for more information.
2. Not sure how your press release should look? Check out these examples of press release outlines:
• Press Release Outline: Marketing Scoop
• Follow a standard press release format: AMEinfo.com
3. Put Your Important Information First
• You can read any blog out there or any article on press releases, they all will tell you to put the important information first. However, be sure you keep the audience's attention this will ensure your audience will read your piece right until the end. 

Organizing you information and taking some time outlining your press release or any type of business writing will pay off in the long run. Remember writing is a skill that is learned and practiced, so take your time and invest in your writing.

Ready, Aim, Fire!

Writing a press release can be very daunting. There are various components and they seem straight forward, but when looked at all together it seems like a big task to accomplish. Well at least for me it is. 

Let's explore why we write a press release. We are looking to inform or persuade an audience. You might have a product launch, some good news or even bad news to share. This press release is something the public sees! The general public or costumers are usually the audience of this type of business writing. Basically anyone could be reading your press release. Is it just me or is that a little bit scary? We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, as I am clearly doing right now. We have our 5 Ws and now we need to understand who exactly our target audience is to write a press release that appeals to them. 

Targeting the Audience 

Let me put it into context. My press release is to promote the Peel Leadership Centre. We will be honouring 20 graduates from the Collaborative Leadership in Community (CLiC) Program with a celebration. We hope to have individuals from the non-profit, public and private sector attend the event. There will be individuals who will read this press release and consider applying for the program next year. We also really want the community to come out to this FREE event and see what the Peel Leadership Centre and the CLiC Program is all about. Overall, this press release will be inviting our audience to celebrate the achievement of these 20 individuals, as well as get PLC some exposure.

This press release has the potential to bring in greater interest about PLC and CLiC, helping us grow our program. However, whenever you feel overwhelmed just keep focused and work through the components as mentioned in the first blog post. Now, I know who my target audience is and I can frame my press release to attract those individuals. 

We have the foundation with the 5 Ws and the next logical step is to figure out who we are targeting. I have my target audience, but for you it might be targetting youth entering university or the everyday worker. It is also important to note that you are not only writing for your audience, but also the editor who is reading and publishing your press release[1]. You want to maintain simple language and an informal tone; be friendly but professional. You want to make it newsworthy.

Keep your eye on the bull's eye (your audience) and you won't miss your target. Ready, Aim, Fire!

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[1] Ocular Concepts: Vision Driven Marketing Solutions. (2012, September 13).  Press Release Marketing: How to Reach Your Prospective Clients with News Articles. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.ocularconcepts.us/blc/blog/press-release-marketing-how-to-reach-your-prospective-clients-with-news-articles/