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Writing a press release for an event seems too easy to give it even a thought. Include relevant information, the date and the time, as well as the place and off you go. Well, not quite. Namely, suppose you consider the sheer amount of information your press release audience is exposed to daily. In that case, it becomes evident that your press release needs to captivate their attention, be informative enough to evoke interest, yet keep some important information to make them want to come and learn more about your event.
What is a Press Release?
A press release is a formal invitation to an event or a formal statement given by a company, a society, or a prominent individual (usually with the help of a PR) to the newspaper and reporters interested in covering a story. And while its goal is to be informative, it should also keep some of the information withheld to encourage further communication. A good press release will establish a good rapport with the journalists for current and future communication and mitigate any uncomfortable news leaking.
How to Write a Good Press Release
When writing a good press release, you should understand that it means knowing your audience well enough to know:
- What their fields of interest are
- What their base knowledge is
- How to communicate what you want to say
- How to anticipate any questions they may have and how to answer them properly
- How to mitigate any discomfort and avoid any tricky questions you may not want to answer
Knowing the audience is different in every imaginable niche in any industry, it is up to you to do your research and analysis work. In the meantime, let’s focus on more technical aspects of writing a good press release for an event.
There are two kinds of event press releases: press releases regarding an upcoming event and press releases regarding a past event that the public may want to know about or may not be aware of. With some small variations in the structure and obligatory elements, with the latter being a long-form, let’s dive in and see how we can improve our press release writing.
Mind Your Structure
The structure of your press release may be the sole most important factor to consider. There is a certain and expected flow that your press release should have. It should also have certain obligatory elements without which important information may not be communicated. The information presented below follows the standard English approach to information presentation and should be followed for a successful press release assembly.
Title and Introduction
The title and the introduction should communicate 90% of the information you want to present to your audience. The title should be short and catchy, without any jargon or colloquialisms. It should be clear-cut and witty, but you should avoid wordplay and ambiguity at all costs.
The introduction should be up to four sentences long and should be summative. It would help if you did not summarise anything. Quite on the contrary, you should summarise your knowledge so that your audience has no issues absorbing further information.
Lead
You should keep this information at a minimum to allow for an easy read and a skim if a member of your audience is particularly busy. This section should answer the 5W+H questions we’ve heard so much about. While the previous section gives the background and rough information, this section should captivate your reader’s attention and make them interested in the event itself.
Body
The body carries the most details. This is the place where quoting other people, giving more background information, and anchoring the new information to the information your reader may have come into place. Make sure to include the advantages of coming and more information on the speaker(s) if they happen to be of particular importance.
No Conclusion – Write Boilerplate Instead
The boilerplate, instead of a conclusion, serves a dual purpose. Firstly, you will avoid giving conclusions and therefore repeating the information. Secondly, the boilerplate is an excellent chance for the reader to know your company and form a basis for the rapport we discussed before.
Contact Information
No press release is complete without giving contact information. Ensure that you find a balance between the size of an event, how busy you are, and the comfort that your readers expect. Leaving an email only may not be serious enough, but leaving a phone number as well may end up in a lot of calls at times that do not work for you.
Press Release DOs
Use Strong Language
Use language as the backbone of your press release. Using language too soft can make you seem like a softie. Use bold statements without ornaments and use instructions and calls to action without hesitation.
Active instead of Passive
If you use too much passive voice, your message may seem passive as well. Neuro-Linguistic programming suggests that using a more active voice may also increase the chances of a response. The same goes for call-to-action segments.
Use Storytelling
Make sure that your press release is one of a kind, but also that it reflects the storytelling tendencies of your company. You should be able to fit the press release into the wider frame of your company and what you do instead of making an impersonal piece of text that may leave your audience confused.
Final Thoughts
Your press release should be the result of much careful thought and consideration. You should be able to fit in all the necessary information and explanations in a way that has its internal flow and cohesion but should also be anchored into your company’s storytelling, brand, and overall goals and aspirations. Follow our information on how to write a successful press release for an event and see the venue fill up.
Author bio
Erica loves streamlining and efficiency. The best job for her is the job that is done quickly and efficiently, without much ado or time wasted. She regularly contributes some paper writing services reviews and believes that collective experience and knowledge beats any stats on a piece of paper.
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