A press release is a compelling and succinct news article that is often prepared by a professional in public relations and disseminated to targeted media outlets to announce something newsworthy.
The ultimate objective is to receive coverage from relevant periodicals and garner the attention of the company's target audience.
Typically, press releases cover important news such as:
- The distribution of a special report
- A company landmark
- A product announcement or introduction
- A new fundraising round
- The revelation of a new executive
- And even more
Mark Twain once stated, "I lacked time to write you a brief letter, so I wrote you a lengthy one."
Likewise, the same principle applies to the composition of press release material. It requires expertise and experience to develop concise and effective content.
How Many Words Should a Press Release Contain?
The optimal length of a press release is between 300 and 400 words and should not exceed one page when considering spacing and layout.
Keeping this in mind, authors must now concentrate on the substance.
What Should Each Paragraph Contain?
Start with a press release overview. Here is where you can give supplementary material that sets the stage for your announcement.
The first paragraph will then summarise your announcement and the news. It answers the 5 W's: who, what, where, when, and why, which form the basis of the inverted pyramid.
In the second paragraph, you can incorporate a quote and continue to support any statements with additional evidence.
The final paragraph offers readers additional information supporting the press release's general theme and encouraging them to take action.
For instance, if you're announcing the publishing of a new study, you should provide information on the release date and where people may locate the information once it is published.
Each release should conclude with a boilerplate that summarizes the organization quickly.
As you can see, press releases contain a great variety of information, and it is simple to exceed the recommended word count of 300 to 400.
Therefore, authors must focus on conveying the most vital information that readers want and need to know.
Contact us immediately to chat with one of our PR Strategists if you are new to press release writing or need assistance optimizing your press releases to attract earned media attention.
