The most important thing to understand about press releases is the fact that they are not crude advertising vehicles but objective and newsworthy accounts of a particular feature of your organization.
They follow certain guidelines as far as composition is concerned. You don't just write the pertinent details of your announcement in any which way you choose. You have to follow a standard format that is quite different from other types of written material. This is important because many media organizations opt to run press releases without making many modifications to it and the format makes your material reader-friendly.
Guidelines
Always write in the third person - as if you're the reporter and you're simply telling another person what happened. Even when you're the one concerned in the event, you need to write it from the point of view of an onlooker. Never write using the first person (I). It's also important to maintain the accuracy of every detail that you put in the press release. The last thing that you need is to get the dates all wrong.
And most important of all, remember to keep the release as brief as possible. A maximum of 500 words should suffice.
Flow
The first line on the material could either read, "For immediate release" in all caps followed by the date or it could also read "Hold for release until (date when you want the information publicized)" in all caps. The headline follows after that line. Your headline should be kept limited to a single captivating sentence. It's always a good idea to start strong when it comes to press releases in order to engage your reader. Don't use capital letters on all the words and neither should you place exclamation marks on the headline because this makes it sound like an advertisement.
The first paragraph answers all the basic and most important information about the event, release or company news that the press release covers. You don't have to cram everything in this part but make sure that it contains just enough information for the reader to know what you're talking about while encouraging him or her to read further.
The succeeding paragraphs are supposed to provide more details about the topic. They could contain quotes by people who are associated with the event and any other information that you want to be included in the actual news article, in case the press decides to run the press release or a potential customer finds your release by searching for what the press release provides.
Your concluding paragraph or the boilerplate comes next. This should contain a brief background of your company or organization. You can incorporate what you do and what your goals are in this part but keep it short. Three to five lines should do it.
Contact Information
Lastly, you need to put in information for the media's POC (point of contact) within the company and a way for a potential customer to find you in case they have any inquiries regarding the contents of your press release or in case a customer wishes to buy from you there and then. This part is important because you want to encourage your reader to learn more by asking you about what you just relayed. You need to place the company or organization's name, address, telephone number and website address.
At the bottom-center of the material, you may also want to place the marks, ###, to signify that nothing else follows after that point, though not everyone follows this convention.
