Journalists Will Leave Your Press Release In The Trash If You Make These 12 Mistake
If You Make These 12 Errors, Journalists Will Throw Your Press Release in the Dumpster
A press release is a great way to get your business's message out there in the media. But if you're not careful, it can also become an unnecessary waste of time and money. That's because journalists have very few resources to read through every press release they receive, and they are very busy people who don't have time for useless messages that might not even be interesting enough to read at all. In order to ensure that your press release format gets published in the right places, here are 12 mistakes that you should avoid making when writing one:
Subject line has no news value
Your subject line is your first impression, so it’s important that it has news value. The best way to do this is by being short and to the point. Journalists are bombarded with messages every day, so they need something interesting right away in order to keep reading. If your subject line doesn’t make sense or seems unimportant, they won't bother opening it up at all!
Your subject line should also be relevant: if you're writing about an upcoming event but don't have any details about what's happening (or who will be attending), then don't send out an email saying "Hey! Come check out my new album!" It just makes no sense for anyone who isn't already interested in hearing about your music—so keep things focused on why we should care about what you have going on right now rather than just blindly promoting yourself as some kind of musical genius without giving anything else context behind why those fans might really want themerviewing those videos/photos etcetera."
No sentence telling me why this story is important
If you're sending a press release template, it should be complete and with no more need for further information. This means that your headline needs to tell me why I should care about the story in question, as well as its relevance to my audience.
You can also add some context by telling me why this is important for journalists or media outlets who might want to cover it later on down the road (this will help them write better headlines). For example: "The University of Michigan’s [insert name] College of Engineering has partnered with [insert organization] to launch an innovative initiative aimed at increasing access and diversity among engineers."
Boring opening paragraph
Start with a strong intro.
Make it interesting and relevant.
Use quotes to make it more interesting.
Don't use a boring opening paragraph
Blatant self-promotion
Don't use your company name in the subject line.
Don't include a link to your website in the body of the email.
Don't use the word "we" when describing your company or product/service offerings. Instead, say "our product" or "our service."
Hyperbole overload
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which an exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect. It's often used to describe something that's more than what it actually is, like "the biggest rock star in the world."
Having said that, hyperbole can also be a problem when you're writing about your press release template because it makes readers question whether what you're saying is really true or not. For example, if I had written "I am going on tour with my bandmates from college," most people would probably assume that there are at least two other people involved in this tour—and maybe even several more! But if I had written “I am going on tour with my bandmates from college” instead (or maybe even just “my bandmates"), then no one would be able to tell who was meant by those words: just him alone? Or perhaps him and another person? Or maybe even three other individuals altogether? The point being: avoid hyperbole overload by making sure everything you write has meaning behind them--and don't use too many adjectives!
Badly and unethically sourced quotes
A quote from the source is the most effective way to get your message across. If you don’t have a direct quote, you can use a third party quote or paraphrase. But make sure that it’s not taken out of context and isn't attributed to someone else.
The journalist will see this as an attempt at spin or manipulation by not giving them enough information about what you are trying to say with your media release template - something that may come back fire in court if used against you later on when there's no defense available from legal experts who know how journalism works (and will likely work).
Distracting headline syntax conventions
As a writer, you should be aware of the most important part of your press release: the headline. The headline is what people will read first and it sets the tone for your entire article. It’s important to make sure that this section is clear and concise, relevant to the story and easy to read.
So how do you write an effective headline? There are several aspects that go into making an effective one:
Make sure it's clear what your content is about (for example: "How To Avoid Being A Victim Of Identity Theft")
Use active verbs (using “I” instead of “you”) so readers know who's going to benefit from reading this information
Buzz words that don't mean anything (and are meant to make you think you are reading something profound)
Buzz words are not a substitute for good content. They're used to make the reader think they are reading something profound, and often used to make the writer sound more intelligent than they really are.
Buzz words can be found in many media release example, and even more so if you’re writing one from scratch. Here are some examples of buzz words that don’t mean anything:
“Groundbreaking…game changer…revolutionary…groundbreaking …revolutionary …redefining…nearly every aspect of healthcare delivery model."
Too much information, too little value for the receiver of this message
The first rule of press releases is: give the journalist enough information to make a decision on whether to publish.
You can't expect them to write a story if you send them too much information, or if they have no idea what's going on in your company. Your release should provide enough facts, figures and data so that they can decide whether or not it's relevant for their audience.
If you're sending out a long-winded sample press release template that contains too many details about how great everything is at your company—and what a great job all employees do—the journalist won't be able to digest any of it because there's just too much information! They'll feel overwhelmed by all this extraneous info; so instead of reading through your entire piece of writing (which might take hours), they'll just throw it in the trash unread and move onto another story.
Journalists will pass over your press release and not publish it if you make these mistakes.
Journalists are busy people, and they get hundreds of press releases a day. Most of them aren't interested in your press release. Don't waste their time by making these mistakes:
The first thing you should do when you send out a release is make sure it's accurate. If there's an error in the text, then journalists won't want to read it!
The second thing you should do is make sure that everything is spelled correctly (and look up how to spell something if necessary). Also check for grammar errors and typos before sending out any emails or documents—these can make readers feel uncomfortable reading through an entire document because they're afraid they'll find something wrong with its content instead of being intrigued by it!
Conclusion
If you are looking for a new way to get your event press release template in front of journalists and other media outlets, there is a lot more work to be done. The best way to ensure that your message makes it into the inboxes of journalists all over the world is by following these tips and practices when creating one yourself.
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