There are, of course, certain conventions to writing a press release, and in a moment we're going to discuss just what they are. First, though, I'm going to let you in on a secret:
It doesn’t really matter.
Or not as much as you might think, anyway. The most important thing is the story. If your story is good enough, it will get published. No journalist or editor in their right mind will turn down a great story just because the press release they received wasn’t laid out properly, and didn't follow the standard format.
Remember, the newspaper, magazine or website you send your press release to is just as interested in printing great stories as you are in giving them one. So don't get too caught up in worries about the way your press release sounds. That said, if you bury your great story under a pile of badly-written, unfocused rubbish, you could find yourself without the coverage you need. So here's how to set out your press release:
>>> The Headline
The temptation here is to try and make your headline something clever and witty – something creative that will make the reader smile and think how clever you are, and to maybe use a pun or two if you can come up with them, just like newspapers do.
That's the wrong way to do it.
The most successful headlines – for press releases at least – are ones which tell the story as succinctly as possible. Ideally, you should try to sum up the entire release, or as much of it as possible, in the headline. So, if your press release tells the story of how your business has won a national award, make your headline something along the lines of "Local business wins national award".
No, it's not going to win you any prizes, or impress the editor with your writing abilities. They're probably not going to offer you a job on the subs desk. But none of that matters. The purpose of a press release headline is not to show off your writing skills, but to inform. If the newspaper wants a witty headline, they'll write one themselves - that's what they're getting paid for, after all.
Remember what we said about those busy journalists, who don't have time to read every last press release that lands on their desk? Cut them some slack here. Help them out by making sure that they know what your press release is about at a glance. Don't make them guess what your story is about.
Of course, if you're able to be informative and clever with your headline, so much the better. Go for it: write a great headline and you save a sub-editor the job. Just make sure it tells the reader what the story is about.