1. Don’t bury the story – BE SUCCINCT. Remember in high school/college English courses when your teachers wanted elegant prose? This is NOT that time. Make sure your news is described within the first few lines. The Who, What, Where, When, and Why.

2. Find the angle – just because you aren’t using flowery prose doesn’t mean you can’t have an interesting angle to your story. Does your news tie into something currently trending? Can your business solve a problem that has been taking up headlines recently? Does it handle a major pain point for dealers? Are there some great statistics you can share that are on point?

3. Keep it simple: If you are explaining a complicated technology be careful with your terminology and do not assume journalists and your audience know the terms. Use language the average man on the street can understand. And if you must use acronyms, spell out the term first and then use the shortened form for the rest of the release. Also, keep the buzzwords to a minimum. I promise you terms such as “best, “leader,” “top,” and “Unique,” will not help draw attention to your press release.

4. One-page rule – PRs should be a single page. This is a tough one that many cannot manage, so make it two pages at the most. Reduce your word count until you get there. You can do it. Especially if you cut out all those unnecessary buzz words and superlatives!

5. Stick to “the format” – Journalists get inundated with PR requests. If yours is difficult to read purely based on incorrect format, they’ll likely toss yours aside in favor of one that’s easy to read:

– Headline – attention grab but no clickbait
– Date
– Lead – a brief overview of your news. Who, What, When, Where Why?
– Body – full explanation, rounding out the details of the introduction in the Lead section
– Company Info – introduce your company in a way that makes writing about it easier
– Media Contact information – for the journalist to contact you but also to be included in the PR for prospects to get in touch with your brand.

Lastly, let’s move on to getting your news in front of the reporter.

6. Do your research and make it personal. Research for the correct journalists to tell your story. Look through your industry publications and see who covers the area that your press release is about. When sending your press release ensure that your email to them reflects that. You can also include links to articles that journalist has written before that you liked that made you choose them.


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