Quick answer: A press release is the written news announcement a company sends to the journalists, the bloggers, and the media. It follows a standard format, and the first paragraph contains the entire story in compressed form.

The format

  1. The release timing. "For immediate release" or the embargo date.
  2. The headline. The news in one line.
  3. The subhead. The optional detail.
  4. The dateline and the lead. The city, the date, and the five Ws.
  5. The body. The context and the detail.
  6. The quotes. The founder and the customer.
  7. The boilerplate. The company paragraph.
  8. The media contact. The name, the email, and the phone.

The headline

The headline states the news:

  • The product and the launch.
  • The customer and the job.
  • The result or the scale, if genuinely newsworthy.

The headline is the news, not the marketing slogan.

The lead

The first paragraph answers the five Ws in two or three sentences:

  • Who. The company.
  • What. The launch.
  • When. The date.
  • Where. The availability and the market.
  • Why. The customer's problem and the change.

The journalist should be able to write the story from the lead alone.

The body

The body gives the detail the reporter needs:

  • The problem and the old workflow.
  • The product and the differentiator.
  • The workflow and the result.
  • The pricing and the availability.
  • The facts and the figures, with the sources.

The product description is the source for the product section.

The quotes

The two quotes serve different jobs:

  • The founder explains the why and the vision.
  • The customer explains the result, with the permission to use the name.

The quotes are the actual statements; the invented quotes are removed before sending.

The boilerplate

The one-paragraph description of the company:

  • What the company makes.
  • The customer.
  • The founding and the location.
  • The website and the leadership.

The boilerplate is reused across the releases.

The media contact

The release ends with the named contact who can answer the journalist's questions quickly. The media inbox is monitored, since the reporter's deadline is often the same day.

The distribution

The release reaches the media through the relevant channels:

  • The direct pitch to the journalist who covers the category.
  • The press wire for the larger companies.
  • The launch posts: Product Hunt, Hacker News.
  • The media kit with the logos and the screenshots.

The assets

The media kit includes:

The kit is usually produced in a single batch from the product description, and a tool like Neatico can generate the correctly sized images for the social and the gallery assets so the release goes out with the complete visual set attached.

The review

The release passes the standard review:

  • The facts, the dates, and the numbers are correct; the fact-check applies.
  • The customer quote is approved.
  • The claims are shipped; the review pass is the checklist.
  • The competitor statements are factual.

The template

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

# [Headline: the news in one line]

[Subhead: the optional detail]

[CITY, COUNTRY — DATE] — [The lead: the five Ws in two or three sentences.]

[The body: the problem, the product, the workflow, the result.]

"[The founder quote]," said [Name, title].

[The availability and the pricing.]

"[The customer quote]," said [Name, company].

[The boilerplate paragraph.]

Media contact:
[Name]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Website]

What to avoid

  • The lead that hides the news.
  • The quote that is a marketing paragraph.
  • The invented customer or the unapproved quote.
  • The unsupported claim and the superlative ("the world's first").
  • The missing media contact.
  • The jargon and the dense paragraph.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the press release? One page; the 400–600 word range is common. Does the small launch need one? The launch post often suffices; the release helps when the journalist or the wire is in the plan. What is the embargo? The shared date when the news may be published; the embargo is only used with the reporters who agree. Where does the release go? The direct pitch, the wire, and the press page; the media kit links to it.

Put the news in the lead, the detail in the body, and the real quote on the page. The press release is written for the reporter who has ten minutes and a deadline.