Press release: Guide and examples for your communication

Understanding Press Releases

What Is a Press Release?

A press release is a communication tool used to distribute specific information to a targeted group of journalists. Generally brief, this document is designed to inform media about company news, such as launching a new product, an appointment, or a notable event.

The primary objective of a press release is to capture journalists' attention and pique their curiosity so they relay the information to their audience. It's an effective way to gain visibility, strengthen company credibility, and promote brand image.

However, a press release shouldn't be confused with a press kit, which comprehensively presents the company and its activities.

What's the Purpose of a Press Release?

In a world where information circulates at breakneck speed, it's crucial to stand out. Writing a press release offers several advantages. It's an effective way to communicate important information about your company or organization to the media. It allows you to control the message being distributed, ensuring essential information is transmitted. Additionally, a good press release can lead to broader media coverage, increasing your company's visibility and recognition.

It's also a valuable tool for improving your web search rankings. Among the criteria used by search engines, your brand's recognition is considered. Having media mention you is very useful whether or not there's an associated backlink.

When to Send a Press Release?

During a Special Event

Sending a press release during a special event requires precise planning. The ideal approach is sending the press release about one month before the event and following up one week prior. This gives journalists sufficient time to absorb the information and decide whether to cover your event.

You must also consider the sending day. Generally, it's preferable to send press releases Monday through Thursday, as newsrooms are often short-staffed on weekends.

• However, each media outlet has its own rules based on publication frequency and deadline schedules

• It's also important to consider journalists' schedules and avoid holidays, weekends, and school vacation periods

Finally, ensure your press release subject is appropriate for your target audience and considers timing-related data.

For Product or Feature Launches

When launching a product or feature, press releases are effective ways to generate media coverage. They should be sent sufficiently in advance to allow journalists to plan their coverage. This press release should include all relevant details about the product or feature, such as characteristics, pricing, and availability. It's also crucial to make the press release visually attractive by including graphics, animations, infographics, and videos when possible. These visual elements can significantly increase interest in the press release and reading rates.

For Partnership Announcements

Partnership announcements are significant news worth sharing with media. The timing of sending the press release depends on the partnership's nature and timeline. Generally, it's preferable to send it as soon as the partnership agreement is finalized and all relevant information is available.

It's essential to structure the press release clearly and concisely. The press release title should indicate partner company names and partnership nature. For example: "[Your Company Name] Partners with [Partner Name]."

The first paragraph should indicate key partnership details, including objectives and benefits for all parties involved.

• Partnership Rationale: Explain why the two companies chose to work together and expected collaboration benefits

• Anticipated Synergies: Describe how each company's skills and resources complement to create added value

• Partnership Benefits: Highlight partnership advantages for companies, their customers, and the market generally

Don't forget to include press contacts from both companies to facilitate journalists' work seeking additional information.

Typical Press Release Structure

The Lead: Captivating Introduction

The lead, also called the introduction, is a crucial element in press release writing. It's what's read first, sets the tone, and encourages readers to continue. The best technique involves describing all key information in a few sentences using the 5W+H method. This method answers six essential questions: What? Who? Where? When? How? Why?

To be effective, it must be carefully written, concise, and easy to read. A good lead can make the difference between a read and ignored press release.

Main Announcement and Relevant Details

The main announcement is the central part of the press release where you reveal your primary information. This is where you must be precise and provide all relevant details that will help journalists understand your announcement and its relevance to their audience.

• Use clear, concise language: Avoid technical jargon or overly complex terms. Your goal is making your announcement understandable to the broadest audience

• Provide concrete figures: Numbers bring credibility to your announcement. They allow journalists to quickly grasp your information's importance

• Stay focused on your announcement: Each press release should concentrate on one main announcement. Avoid mixing multiple pieces of information that could blur the message

• Make your announcement relevant: Connect your announcement to current issues, trends, or recent events. This helps media understand why your announcement is important now

Company or Organization Information

In this section, it's essential to provide an overview of your company or organization. Briefly present the industry sector, company mission, and history. For example:

"[Company Name] is a startup specializing in sustainable development, founded in 2010. With a dedicated and passionate team, the company focuses on creating innovative solutions to promote a greener, more sustainable economy."

Also add key information such as:

• Company headquarters location

• Number of employees

• Main products or services offered

• Important partnerships or recent acquisitions

• Notable achievements, such as funding rounds or awards received

Ensure you regularly update this information to reflect company evolution.

It can also be useful to include links to company social media profiles or website to allow journalists and the public to learn more about your organization.

Finding Templates for Your Press Release

Starting from a template can be reassuring, but in reality, press release structure is fairly simple, and looking at a few examples will suffice for inspiration.

We provide four examples later in this article with press releases from Brevo, Canva, Atos, and Sales Odyssey (one of ours). This allows you to draw inspiration from their formats.

Additionally, tools offer press release templates, such as Canva, which we use at Sales Odyssey.

How to Write an Effective Press Release

Define Your Press Release Objective

Before beginning your press release writing, it's essential to clearly define its objective. This will set the tone and guide your press release structure.

The objective may vary depending on circumstances: announcing a new product, acquisition, upcoming event, important achievement, etc. Sometimes the objective may be more subtle, like improving your brand image or strengthening your industry positioning.

Press release objective examples:

• Increase brand awareness

• Present a new product or service

• Announce an important event

• Communicate about an acquisition or partnership

• Manage a crisis situation

• Gain credibility and recognition

Once you've determined your objective, keep it in mind throughout your press release writing. It should guide your content choice, message tone, and recipient selection.

It may also be interesting to establish KPIs to measure your media relations operation success, using the SMART objectives method.

Clear and Concise Writing

Writing clearly and concisely is essential for press releases. Here are some tips to achieve this:

• Use simple, direct words: Avoid technical jargon or overly complex terms. Your goal is making your announcement understandable to the broadest audience

• Be precise and factual: Avoid generalizations and vague statements. Be precise in your descriptions and use facts to support your claims

• Avoid long, complex sentences: Prefer short, simple sentences. They're easier to read and understand

• Eliminate unnecessary words: Every word should provide useful information. If a word adds nothing, remove it

• Use active voice: Active voice makes text more dynamic and direct

• Stay focused on your subject: Don't scatter. Each paragraph should concentrate on one point

These tips will help you write a clear, concise press release that will capture journalists' attention and facilitate their work. You can also consult our copywriting article for additional help!

Include Relevant Quotes

Including relevant quotes in a press release is an effective technique for adding weight to your message and establishing your authority. A well-chosen quote can also help humanize your announcement and establish emotional connection with your audience.

Some tips for choosing your quotes:

• Choose quotes from people recognized in your sector. This could be your company CEO, an expert in your field, or a respected public figure

• Ensure the quote adds value to your press release. It should provide insight, opinion, or unique perspective on your announcement

• Favor short, impactful quotes. A quote that's too long or complex risks losing your reader

• Ensure the quote aligns with your press release tone and style

Quote example: "This is a major advancement for our company and the sustainable development sector. We're proud to contribute to a greener, more sustainable economy," declares John Smith, CEO of [Company Name].

However, avoid overly promotional or forced-sounding quotes. They could discredit your press release and discourage journalists from picking up your information.

Include Elements to Facilitate Journalists' Work

To facilitate journalists' work, several elements can be judiciously included in your press release:

• Company logo: Place it at the document top; it allows journalists to quickly identify the press release sender

• Photos: Journalists will naturally need visuals; make their job easier by providing high-quality photos they can use to illustrate their articles

• Contact information: Include a press contact (name, function, email, phone number) for any information requests or interviews

The objective is making your press release as "ready to publish" as possible. This increases your chances of being picked up by media.

Examples of Successful Press Releases

Product Launch Example: Brevo & Canva

We share two press release examples for product launches with Brevo, a French marketing automation solution, and Canva, a very user-friendly design suite.

Event Example: Sales Odyssey

For this example, we share one of our own press releases for the private event we organized on AI themes for our clients and partners. We include the complete PDF; you'll see its format is somewhat different from other press release examples you'll see.

We were accompanied for this campaign with our press release relay on the relation-publique.pro website:

Partnership Announcement Example: Atos

Finally, a press release example for announcing a partnership between Atos (digital services company) and Microsoft.

Where to Distribute Your Press Releases

Distribute Press Releases on Your Website

Distributing your press releases on your website has several advantages. First, it increases your announcements' visibility among your existing audience, particularly regular visitors to your site. Second, it can improve your natural search ranking by creating fresh content and strengthening your site's internal linking. Finally, it provides a central reference point where journalists, bloggers, and other influencers can find all your past and present press releases. Don't forget that your clients explore your site, and seeing press releases and publications contributes to reassurance about your brand.

To succeed with this distribution, here are some tips:

• Create a dedicated section for press releases on your site. This can be a blog subsection or dedicated page depending on how many press releases you produce

• Ensure this section is easily accessible from the homepage

• Incorporate internal links to other relevant parts of your site to encourage visitors to explore further

• Promote your press releases on social media to drive more traffic to your site

Send Directly to Journalists

Generally at Sales Odyssey, we recommend entrusting this task to specialists. The journalism world has its own codes that must be respected, or you risk quickly being "burned" for future press releases. Additionally, media relations specialists often have their own networks and privileged contacts with certain media and journalists.

If you prefer to handle this yourself, ensure you target those relevant to your sector or announcement. Instead of mass-sending your press release, select those likely to be interested in your subject. To do this, you can:

• Purchase a journalist database classified by activity domain

• Do personalized follow-up with each journalist by referencing an article they wrote related to your press release

When sending, take care with your accompanying email. Prefer:

• A varied, captivating subject line to generate interest

• A polite greeting appropriate to your contact

Also choose the sending method that best corresponds to your needs: email, online distribution platform, or postal mail.