What format should be used for an e-mail press release? Currently, mine is formatted like this:
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[Company] launches [kick ass product] to redefine [some] industry**
Seattle, Washington, 16 February, 2005 - Body Text Body Text Body Text Body Text Body Text Body Text Body Text Body Text
About [Company]
[Company], founded in 2003 by [name], is the only blah blah blah
Press contact
Mr. Name
Tel: 555 555 5555
Fax: 555 555 5555
Email: email@email.com
Does that look okay? I’m most concerned about the Headline part, right after “for immediate release.” Should that be there? If it should, how would I make it bold in an e-mail so it’s clearly a headline and not some random sentence?
The only press release e-mails I’m familiar with are the ones NASA sends out. They put the headline in the title of the e-mail, and then again in the body. In the body, there’s a double-return immediately before and after the headline, and the headline is in all caps.
What you’ve shown looks fine to me. I see plenty of press releases from several different sources, and believe me, they come in all kinds of formats. So long as you make yourself clear, I don’t think you need to sweat too much over the details. Remember, it’s going to be read by people who are used to these things, not robots.
Thanks WotNot. Your thoughts seem to coincide with my findings, which is that none of the examples I’ve found have been idential.
Just one more question: Should the subject line be a repeat of the headline, or unique in its own way? In my case, at best, it’d be a rephrasing of the headline as I don’t know how else to put it.
The main thing to keep in mind is that you want to be as nice as possible to the reporter who will read your release, and make it as easy as possible for them to do their job.
So I’d suggest having the subject be “Press Release: <headline>” That way, the reporters know even before they open it what’s going on. Saves them time, makes them happy, makes them want to be nice back to you and write a good story.
I’d use all-caps for the headline, just because it’s kind of traditional.
I’d also put the contact info much sooner, maybe even before the headline.
The idea is that in (print) news stories, all the important stuff comes first, and the later paragraphs have less and less important info [that way the editor can just trim from the end, and the story still works]. The point is that reporters are used to that kind of format, and so will tend to ignore the end of releases.
Sure, if they really want to contact you, after not finding contact info at the top, they can scroll down to the bottom of the e-mail, but why make them go through all that work?
I’d also suggest having the first line in the e-mail itself be “PRESS RELEASE” or something like that, so a reporter just looking at the e-mail itself knows what it is. And finally, put the date of the release immediately after “For immediate release:”.
These are kind of generic suggestions for general news releases to daily newspapers. Since this is a a product announcement, I suspect your targets are trade journals and the like, so if you really want to know what’s useful, call up one of your target reporters and ask them.
Thanks for all the tips. About the hadline though, should it be bolded as well? My only concern would be that someone viewing the e-mail in plaintext would see the bold commands.
Also, in one case, I’m unsure of who to send the press release to. Here’s why: In the case of one website, I’ve had a brief, but positive encounter with the “director” (or the big cheese, in other words) who was a fan of what we were doing (this was about a year ago).
However, I would imagine that the “News Editor” of the site would generally be the person to target for a press release. So who should I send it to, the director who we’ve had brief contact with in the past or the site’s news person?
Oh, and just to elaborate a bit more, even though they have a “news editor,” it seems the entire staff, including the director, contributes to the news stories posted, moreso than the editor does.
I would assume anybody reading the e-mail can only see plaintext, and would not apply bolding, HTML or any other fancy stuff. It’ll only piss off the people who can’t see it (or worse, end up seeing all the tags), and won’t particularly help those who can (I’m assuming you’re target audience is not “HTML Design Monthly”)
If you want them to see it all prettified, then post it on your web site, and include a link (in the third line or so, “To read this release on-line, see www.thiscompany.com/media/kickassproductrelease.html”)
And if you’re unsure about who to send it to, call them, starting with the person you know. That way you get to personally tell them how good a story the new product is, rather than having to rely on a piece of paper.
For websites that we’ve contacted before (specifically, one year ago to review a product) would it be better to send them the same press release I’ll be sending to other websites or contact them directly and see if they’re interested in doing a story or review of some sort? Which would seem more professional?
Both. You obviously don’t want to have people get so many copies that it’s annoying, but there’s nothing wrong with sending out a generic mailing of the press release to each web site, then also sending personal e-mails to people you’ve had contact with, giving them a heads up (and thanking them if they reviewed your last product, asking how the kids are, etc. of course).