Local newspapers are a good way to reach a specific target audience. Here are our top tips for writing a press release that gets published.
Identify who you are writing for
Think about who will be interested in your news. Once you have identified your audience, put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself the ‘so what’ question. What is it about your news that is interesting?
Write the opening paragraph
Having worked out who you are writing for, you can now write the all important opening paragraph. This will be the hook that will help a reader to decide whether to read on or move on, so make it count.
Writing a press release is a little bit like an upside down story. The first paragraph should communicate the news and clearly identify who might be interested. You do not need to begin by writing several scene-setting paragraphs, as this will fail to grab people’s attention.
Who to quote
Having communicated the news, you can expand your release by adding a quote from a relevant person. Always name them, include their job title if it will be meaningful to the reader and use the quote as an opportunity to give an opinion or to show the human side of your organisation.
How to end your press release
End your press release with a paragraph rather than a quote. While this information should be relevant, it shouldn’t be crucial to the release. The reason for this is that if a press release needs to be cut, it will usually be the last paragraph that gets the chop.
Press release checklist
Remember to:
If you are a charity or a school in the Farnham, Haslemere, Alton area and you would like some feedback on a press release you have drafted, please email us. We are giving free advice to the first three to respond.