Part 1 – How to write a press release (with real-world examples)

What is a press release and what’s its purpose?

Let’s break it down to the basics; a press release is an official announcement from a company, organization or individual, providing information about a newsworthy event. The goal is to gain media coverage by sending the press release to journalists, bloggers, and influencers.

They’re often one of the main components of a well-balanced PR and media strategy, alongside other mainstays such as guest articles, expert comments and opinions, and media appearances.

But earning media coverage is just the means towards bigger-picture objectives, which are usually one or more of the following:

• Build brand awareness. You can reach your target market very effectively through earned media.
• Increase your legitimacy. Crucial for startups. Potential customers or investors need to have faith in your business, positive media coverage can really help with this.
• Gain referral traffic. Media coverage generated from a good press release, especially when talking about a new product or service, can generate referral traffic.
• Increase backlinks. This can be an effective way to combine PR and SEO^[3], but this depends on a few factors. We’ve written a guide, explaining when press release backlinks are good for SEO^[4].

When should I write a press release

So as discussed above, press releases are used to share and communicate news about important company announcements. The most common press release announcements include :

• Company launch/startup launch
• Securing funding
• New product, service or territory launch
• Winning or renewing a partnership
• Publishing research findings
• New hire
• Winning an award
• Customer or user acquisition milestone
• Industry-first
• Upcoming event 

But not everything that falls into the above list is necessarily newsworthy. And there are some instances when alternatives to a press release^[5] could be more appropriate for you.

What news is press release worthy (and what isn’t)

A common mistake many companies make is to issue press releases when they have nothing newsworthy to announce, often dictated by an arbitrary press/outreach calendar cycle. The golden rule we always stick to with our clients is: