Press releases can be a terrific addition to your copywriting tool kit and can be yet another way to win your client’s devotion. However, there’s one big mistake that many press release writers make that leaves their clients feeling like they wasted their money.
Full disclosure: I went to school for public relations (majored in it, actually). I quickly discovered that I liked the writing of releases much more than I liked the pitching of the stories.
I also quickly discovered that many PR firms will take a client’s business (and money), even if they don’t think they can get them any press coverage. They may try valiantly to get them on the news or in the paper, but they often know from the outset that their client’s “news” probably isn’t going to get any pickup.
Clients Often Want Coverage for Non-Newsworthy Events
The “news” that the client wants to get coverage for often isn’t news. People inside the organization care that they participated in a book drive for the local library, but the general public doesn’t.
I’m giving you all this backstory and context because the best tip I can give you for writing press releases is the thing that is most likely to make them useful and also the thing that most press release writers forget: newsworthiness.
When you write a press release for a client, you must find a way to make it newsworthy.
Believe it or not, that’s the number one thing that press release writers fail to do. More often than not, they get tasked with writing a release for a client, and they put their focus into quickly churning out a well-written release. However, they should be thinking about whether that release will even get any attention.
What Makes Something Newsworthy?
Now, “newsworthiness” is highly subjective. The truest definition for it is whether a news outlet’s audience is going to care about something. Of course, purists would argue that true newsworthiness is if a story affects humanity and talks to the greater issues in society. But since we’re living in an age in which NBC Nightly News runs YouTube videos of dogs dancing, I think that definition has evolved a bit.
If an audience cares about something, it’s generally because it benefits them in some way. It entertains them, informs them, or inspires them. To craft a release that has the best chance of getting covered by a news outlet, you have to write a release that very powerfully does at least one of these things.
If your client gives you a story to write that doesn’t do any of these things, it’s up to you as a professional writer to try to find an angle that makes this story newsworthy.
Example Angles for Successful Press Releases
- Is there a first/best/only angle to it? (“First to do X,” “Best X,” “Only to do X,” etc.)
- Is there any element that could help people live their lives better?
- Is there an element that will tug on their heartstrings? (Or elicit some other emotion?)
- Is there a celebrity, even a local celebrity, involved?
- What can you write about that will set this release apart from others the news outlet receives?
Any press release is already up against hundreds of others any day of the week. Releases that aren’t newsworthy automatically get deleted or tossed. You owe your client the service of helping to give that release its best chance of getting covered, and you do that by making the news important.
Your Turn!
Have you written press releases for a client? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments below!
Last Updated on July 27, 2023
This was good to read! I’ve been wondering if copywriting & PR are at all intertwined, or if they’re totally separate. Thoughts?
Hi Christina,
The writing for the two can be similar—you need to think carefully about what your target audience wants and needs. For PR, you’re thinking about your target audience (journalists), and you’re also thinking about *their* audience and what they want to read.
In both professions, you’re trying to figure out how to make your message as important as possible for the right people. In PR, though, you have the challenge of not being able to predict when or how (or, most crucially, if!) your message will be used, whereas in copywriting, your client or boss has control of the message, either by putting in on a website or in an email or by purchasing ad space. This can be part of the reason why people put more faith in messages that come through the media since the implication is that they haven’t been paid for, but that trust is decreasing a bit now and, actually, that paid versus unpaid line is getting a little blurry, especially in the digital world. Did this help to differentiate a bit?
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki