How to Write a Press Release: Part 2
Episode #8 of the course How to get press for your business by Lucy Werner
Hi there!
We are nearly finished with your guide to PR. Today, you’ll learn more tips that will help you kickstart your press release writing experience.
Tips for Writing a Press Release
There are so many ways to write a press release, and across different countries and industries, the formats can differ, but here are golden rules that should be always followed:
• Keep your press release to one side of A4 (without shrinking down your font), including your quote.
• At the end of the press release, finish with -ENDS-, and underneath, put your contact information, including email and best phone number, so if the journalist needs to query, they can get hold of you easily.
• Mark it clearly if there is an embargo date. An embargo is when you are issuing the story ahead of schedule and giving media time to draft ahead of when your story goes live. This is often used with congressional news, like the announcement of a budget, or perhaps when a celebrity is planning their next big promo.
• Include a section called Editor’s Notes. This might include your opening hours, product descriptions and stockist information, price, references to any research quoted in your release, and methodology if you have created a research story—anything that’s a succinct bullet point needed as key background information.
• Finish with your boilerplate, which is essentially your “About Us” paragraph that you might use on your website or other marketing materials. Keep it short and succinct, and don’t waste the opportunity to weave in SEO keywords and details of who and what you are about.
Example
I’ve written hundreds of press releases, but below is a great example of how putting a great package together can create news. This press release worked well for the following reasons:
• It was new and bespoke research that unveiled a trend.
• It had a regional news hook, which meant both national and regional publications wanted to feature.
• We provided an infographic as part of the story, which meant there was a free asset to boost the story for the writer.
• We were not overtly trying to sell a product or sound like an advert.
Southerners have the hots for curry
New Curry Heat Map reveals British ‘hot spots’
To celebrate the launch of the Hari Ghotra Curry Kits, online Indian cookery portal Harighotra.co.uk, reveals that surprisingly Southerners prefer the hottest curries with research conducted using Brandwatch.
Curry has long been a classic staple of British cuisine but the latest curry heat map shows that when it comes to the spice of life, Kent and Essex are hitting that hot spot.
Although a few Northern cities (Lancashire, Staffordshire and Manchester) typically prefer hotter curries, when you group the UK by areas its Southerners overall who take “top of the hots.” Whilst Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, suffering the typically coldest weather fronts are only fans of a very mild curry.
The Midlands true to their middle of the map roots sit in the middle enjoy a middle chilli heat in their curry.
Commenting on the findings, Hari Ghotra, Chef and founder of Harighotra.co.uk says: “It’s exciting to see the cross-section of consumers who love spicy curries and to reveal some interesting trends across the UK through my curry heat map. I created my curry kits to help Brits cook easy and authentic curries so knowing the heat range across the UK means I have developed something to suit all tastes.”
Harighotra.co.uk and Brandwatch has collated the findings using five years of research of tweets containing names of curries and assigned a heat rating to each location based on the dishes mentioned.
-ENDS-
For further information, recipes or to try a Hari Ghotra curry kits please contact Lucy@thewern.com or 077XX XXX XXX
Notes to Editor: [link to research]
About Hari Ghotra:
Hari Ghotra is the founder of the online cookery portal www.harighotra.co.uk featuring hundred of recipes for consumers to learn to cook traditional Indian food at home. Alongside Ghotra’s recipes, she sells a variety of products to further inspire authentic Indian home cooking, including a selection of 12 curry kits which from classics.
Don’t forget to join us tomorrow, where you will learn how to use your press release in a more relevant way.
Recommended reading
Five Tips for Writing a Great Press Release
Seven Examples of Successful Press Release Boilerplates
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