By Glenna Musante (The Practical Muse)

Glenna Musante

Writing a press release?  You have some competition, my friend.

Corporations large and small across the country collectively send out thousands of press releases every day. This means that editors, writers, news producers, and blog authors are flooded daily with news releases.

Every time you send out a press release you are competing with dozens, hundreds – maybe even thousands — of other press release writers for attention. If your release is not written in a way that quickly and authentically engages the attention of the news media, the story in it may never see the light of day.

And what a shame that would be. Think of all of the time, money, hope, and dreams that are invested in a typical press release. Unless your company has a legal obligation under SEC rules to send out regular news advisories and is simply going thru the steps of writing a release to meet that obligation, you could be wasting time, money and a valuable opportunity if your release is not well written.

Below I have listed five common mistakes that you absolutely do not want to make when writing a press release. As you read, keep in mind that the inverse of each of these “don’ts” is a yes rule you can follow that will help you write successful, competitive press releases that earn attention, get news traction, and set the stage for positive media coverage for your company.

Using vague, meaningless adjectives and empty or misleading claim language:

Do not say that your company is a “leading” anything (especially world leader), the best in its category, the best selling in its category, is the largest, is the most respected, has experienced tremendous growth or represents some sort of breakthrough and so forth unless you can immediately back up that claim with verifiable numbers and testimonial from respected, credible (and ideally impartial) sources. If you can’t back up that claim don’t use it or you will lose credibility. Why is this important? News people are in the credibility business and will back away from you like the plague if your claims seem vague, overstated or shaky.

When you wrote your press release, you forgot to think like a reporter:

Press releases are an extension of the news process and the content of a press release should reflect news. What is news? Given the fact that the operative word in news is new, your press release should reflect something new. Actually – it needs to reflect more than that. It should reflect something important, interesting (or both) that is new. This could include a new deal, a new product, a new breakthrough (a real one), a new line of credit, a new change in operations that somehow changes your world – or the world around you.

You have a valid story but it is buried deep in the press release:

This is a cardinal sin. Reporters, editors and news producers do not have time to search for your story. If you do not quickly succinctly and passionately capture your story in the headline and lead paragraph, they probably will toss your press release aside.

Your press release is not fun to read:

Although not a cardinal sin, this is a common mistake. Too many valid press releases are boring. Let’s say that you have followed my yes rules above and used valid adjectives, captured the story and it’s larger meaning in the headline and first paragraph and (remembering to think like a reporter) are bringing a valid news story to the world through your press release. But did you forget to write in an interesting way? Press releases are a form of storytelling. It’s OK to use humor and irony and interesting twists of phrase. Your press release is a conversation with the public. Make it entertaining or at least interesting. Are your words boring or riveting? Riveting wins, my friends. Does it put people to sleep? They snooze, you lose.

OOPs, no boiler plate:

Whether you send out one press release every ten years, or ten press releases a week every week , you need to end each press release with a short branding paragraph called a boilerplate. This is the one consistent piece of information you need to attach to every press release. The boilerplate is a summary description of your company, your division and its mission.

Well, there you have it — Glenna’s do’s and don’ts for crafting a winning press release. Happy writing!

Glenna Musante is an award-winning publicist and the founder of Nouvelle,  a strategic marketing communications firm.  She is the former Director of PR and Investor Relations for MSA and is a former staff writer for the Raleigh News & Observer. She can be reached at gmusante@nouvellePR.com, Glenna@musantecommunications.com.

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Tags: Business advice, Glenna Musante, press releases, Viewpoint