Tips on Crafting The Perfect Press Release

The magazine I run is holding a contest, and we’ve been working hard with our PR consultant on creating the best press releases possible to advertise our event. It’s not as easy as one might think to craft a good press release—even if you are a professional writer. I found this blog post on 5 Tips on Writing a Good Press Release really helpful—and I thought I’d share it with you.

Do Your Research Before You Pitch

I get press releases all the time that make me wonder if the person who sent it to me had even picked up a copy of the magazine I work for. We are a regional publication that has strict guidelines on what we publish. And we publish the same columns and categories each month. National news or news outside of our coverage area does not interest me, or our readers.

Yet I constantly get emails and phone calls from PR people pushing their agenda on me, the editor of a publication that would never consider publishing their news. They are not only wasting my time, they are wasting their time. And, if they are charging their clients, they are wasting their client’s money.

Make sure you do research on the magazines, newspapers, TV stations, whoever you are pitching your press release to before you pick up the phone and call. There is no reason to pitch the opening of a new Los Angeles-based restaurant to a home improvement magazine who caters to people living in Boston, Massachusetts.

Is It News?

One of the press release examples featured in the blog post I read was pitching the new fall menu from a restaurant to a food blog.

Restaurant Y wants us to know about their fall menu, which is useful, I suppose. But we’d never do an article simply saying “Restaurant Y updated its menu,” because restaurants do that all the time. “Housemade bread and a sumptuous amuse-bouche” is not newsmaking. Is there anything we can write about? Suggest a way in, because we don’t see one. —www.openforum.com

Is what you are trying to promote really news? You need to know why publications should write about your pitch before you even create the press release. If there is no news hook, you will most likely strike out.

Information Trumps Opinion

Don’t try to sell yourself in your press release. A good journalist will realize it’s not in their best interest to trust an opinion coming from a press release—because the release is coming from the client or a PR firm that is being paid to represent the client.

Think of it like a dating profile. Are you going to kick off with “I’m brilliant, witty, dashingly handsome, an incomparable lover, and women can’t get enough of me?” Or are you going to write something about yourself that gently showcases your personality? Show, don’t tell. —www.openforum.com

Make it a Conversation

Never start off a press release with small talk meant for the editor. Unless we have worked with you before, we most likely don’t know you. What we care about is not your witty banter, it’s if your press release is something our readers would want to know about.

Change the tone of the press release depending on who you are pitching it to. Personally, I like a casual tone that brings me into the conversation and lets me know that the story idea is tailored to my magazine. “There is a small business owner in your coverage area who has created a new board game that will be manufactured by XYZ National Corporation. I thought it would be a good fit for your Talk of the Towns section. What do you think? Email me back if you would like to chat.” Now that would be a targeted pitch! They know what my coverage area is, that we have a Talk of the Towns section each month, and it’s something newsworthy that will speak to my readers.

Knowing that someone is sharing a story idea with just me and not 520 other people across the globe makes me sit up and listen. Even if you have to write a separate press release for 12 different publications, it’s worth it. Editors will realize you have taken the time to learn about their publication and will appreciate it.

Writing a good press release isn’t something that can be done in 15 minutes. But the effort and time you put into crafting an interesting, newsworthy, and targeted letter will be worth it in the end. It will impress your clients as well as open doors with the publications you successfully pitch in the future.