Press Release Template: Create a Reusable Resources for Your PR Strategy
Press releases are a powerful and cost-effective tool in any public relations (PR) strategy. They allow businesses and organisations to share important news, announcements, or achievements with both the media and the public.
However, writing press releases from scratch every time can be time-consuming, especially if your organisation issues them frequently. Even experienced writers spend unnecessary time formatting and organising content when a simple reusable press release template could streamline the process.
In this insight, we’ll explain the basics of writing a press release and show you how to create a reusable template that saves time, ensures consistency, and improves the effectiveness of your PR efforts.
What is a Press Release?
A press release is an official statement shared with news organisations to announce something newsworthy. News outlets may either publish the press release verbatim or extract key elements for inclusion in a larger article.
A press release serves multiple purposes. It can:
- Provide information
- Announce an event, product or achievement
- Communicate statements from a business
A well-crafted press release can provide numerous benefits for your brand. It offers media exposure, helping your announcements reach journalists and news outlets. At the same time, press releases boost brand recognition, build credibility, influence public opinion, and even drive interest in your products or services.
It’s important to remember that a press release is not the same as paid or guaranteed coverage. Journalists and media outlets are under no obligation to publish your release. That’s why crafting clear, relevant, and well-written press releases is essential, as they are far more likely to be noticed and picked up by news organisations.
How do I write a press release?
Let’s break down the best practices for writing a press release. Whether it’s a one-time release or a reusable template, these steps will help ensure your message is clear, effective, and professional.
1. Find your angle
Ideally, a press release tackles one angle at a time.
An “angle” in media terms is a perspective on a specific topic or event. Let’s take the opening of a new theme park. A “business” angle would talk about the company behind the theme park and how successful they are. A “family” angle talks about how much fun the theme park would be for kids. An “economy” angle talks about the jobs the new theme park will bring in and its effect on the community.
Different media outlets will have their preferred angles of interest, and it’s up to you to decide which to prioritise before writing the press release.
2. Answer the 5 Ws
Your press release structure has to adhere to the 5 W’s of journalism.
- Who
- What
- When
- Where
- Why
Who. Who is the press release about? Who are the people involved in the story?
What. What is happening? What are the circumstances behind this story?
When. When did this story occur? Is it timely enough to still be relevant?
Where. Where did this happen? Is it a local story or is it of global interest?
Why. Why does this story matter? Why should people care? How is your target audience affected?
This information will help your reader better understand the value of your news and why it’s worthy of their attention. Having all this information on hand will also make your press release easier to write.
Especially if you have a press release template.
What is a press release template?
When you write, you have to follow a defined press release format. While this may seem to limit creativity from a standpoint, it serves an essential purpose.
Journalists read dozens or even hundreds of press releases every single month. Following a professional format makes it easy for them to see important information and assess whether your story is worth exploring.
Let’s look at the most critical sections of the press release structure:
Press release: Template headline
The headline or title is a one-sentence summary of your press release. A well-written headline stops people and encourages them to dig deeper into the article.
Your headline should be both catchy and honest. Misleading or clickbait article headlines annoy readers and journalists and will create a negative response.
Press release template: Release language
You can control an article’s release by including FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE at the top. However, if you want to hold or embargo the release until a specific date, you should say HOLD RELEASE UNTIL [Date].
Press release template: Contact info
This is where you would list the contact information of whoever is talking to the media. Name, email, and telephone number are standard.
Press release template: Summary bullet points
Boil your article down to its most essential elements and list them in one to three bullet points. This is the first place journalists will look when scanning your article, and the first test of its relevance.
Press release template: Intro paragraph
This is going to be your article overview. It will walk a fine line between detail and brevity. It should contain enough information for the reader to understand why the article is so important, but not long enough to bore or overwhelm the reader.
A summary paragraph averages 3-5 sentences long.
Press release template: Body
This is your opportunity to provide more information about the press release topic. Go into as much detail as necessary to communicate your message, but keep the press release length down to one page whenever possible.
A good press release will also include a quote from someone relevant to the discussed topic. This can be a senior company officer, a subject matter expert, a public figure, or someone closely involved or related to the matter.
Press release template: Boilerplate
In PR terminology, a boilerplate is a brief description of your organisation provided at the end of a press release. Boilerplates are included so that readers who don’t know our company can understand why the press release is so significant.
Now that you have the basic skeleton of a press release, you can adapt it for any future press releases.
What makes a good press release?
Every day, countless press releases are sent out into the world, but they’re forgettable. Some talk without offering meaningful information, while others provide facts without context or relevance.
So what separates a forgettable press release from one that actually grabs attention? How can you craft a release that makes journalists stop scrolling and readers sit up and take notice?
Significant and specific
The first and most important thing you can do to increase your press release’s success is to choose a significant topic relevant to a specific audience.
Many companies make the mistake of assuming journalists and their audiences have the same set of priorities that you do. For example, you might have expanded your team or hired new leadership, but not every publication will find that interesting enough to report on.
Your chosen topic should also be targeted to a specific audience. A new line of manufacturing products is significant, but only for trade magazines in the same industry.
Match the topic with your ideal audience.
Quotable quotes
As mentioned earlier, journalists often use a press release as a basis for their own article. The copy you include might not make it into the final release untouched, but the quote definitely will. That’s essential in your press release. It encourages journalists to carry it over to flesh out their own piece.
What makes a good press release quote?
First, the quote has to be from a significant source, like a high-ranking company officer or a recognised subject matter expert. This increases the authority of the information being provided.
Second, the quote must be free of jargon or unnecessary technical terms. The more understandable the quote is to the intended audience, the better. It’s okay to use more technical terminology if the press release is an industry publication where everyone speaks the same language.
Include facts and hard numbers
Journalists are fact-checkers. It’s part of their job. If you’re going to make a statement or claim, be sure you include the facts and statistics to back them up.
The more evidence you include, the greater the chance journalists will include it in the final version.
Bringing it all together
By following the proper format and sticking to best practices when writing, you’ll be able to regularly generate newsworthy pieces that have a better chance of getting picked up by news media.
If you want to create excellent press releases, we highly recommend browsing the rest of our blog for more resources. We’re constantly expanding the topics we cover.
On the other hand, we’re happy to write and distribute excellent press releases for you. We also offer PR writing bundles for those looking for consistent PR.
Just click here, pick which option is right for you, and we can get your press release the visibility your content deserves.