When a client asks me to write a press release, I first ask: Why? You need a good hook if the press release is not only to be written and sent, but also read and, ideally, used by journalists for their reporting. The ‘why’ for a press release must be immediately clear to the reader, in this case, the journalist or editor: What is new, what is different, why should I report on it?

This makes it clear: ‘I wanted to draw attention to the fact that I have high-quality chicken feed …’ –– That’s not a good hook. A press release needs news, a current occasion. The good news is that such hooks can often be found or created.

For our chicken feed manufacturer, for example, one such ‘found’ occasion would be Chicken Day. (Incidentally, this was on 19 March in 2023.) The press release could therefore have the headline: ‘For Chicken Day on 19 March, only the best for poultry!’

The journalist might find it fun to write something about Chicken Day. And if it goes well, they might want to give the report even more ‘colour’ and come up with the idea of conducting an expert interview with the managing director of our chicken feed company, e.g. something like: ‘Information for private owners: What makes good chicken feed?’ (Incidentally, this is usually also done in writing –– after all, the editors don’t have much time). Then our chicken feed manufacturer has good PR and more attention for its product.

This step, i.e. answering the why for a press release well, is the main challenge. PR professionals have even more aces up their sleeves to ‘craft’ current events for a given topic.

The rest is pure craftsmanship because every press release follows a clear pattern:

  • Heading
  • Introduction with location and date
  • Body text with one or two quotes (but only those that contribute relevant information)
  • Credits with footer (company details, contact option for enquiries)

The structure of the text follows the principle of ‘from most important to least important’, whereby the completely unimportant should of course not be included at all and the text as a whole should be kept as short as possible. A press release has to get straight to the point because editors get a lot of them and will quickly move on to the next topic if we don’t convince them straight away that there’s a story in here for them.

And then we just need one or two pictures and the press release is ready! 😊