The History of Press Releases and PR Best Practices
Companies and business executives everywhere use press releases to their advantage to promote themselves, brands, products, and to take control of newsworthy situations. But how did the news release come about, and how can it be used most efficiently for a successful image?
How Press Releases Began
Although two examples stand out in history, many say that press releases go back as far as Julius Caesar—who sent out a publication reporting his military achievements— and the 17th century Catholic Church, which developed the term “propaganda,” although the word now has a negative connotation.
Arguably, all business public relations work has a foundation in the press release.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Crash
Most historians credit the first press release to a man named Ivy Lee, whose agency worked with the Pennsylvania Railroad in October 1906 when a fatal accident occurred.
Lee knew that he didn’t want a horde of journalists covering the story with their own spin; he wanted to get the first word out there so that his version of events was first in people’s minds. (Click here for the science behind what people first hear or read and what they tend to believe in the end.)
With this press release distributed to the journalists, Lee was able to shape what they wrote and how people felt with an official statement from the railroad members themselves.
How Ivy Lee Handled the Situation
The Atlantic City railroad crash was publicized by The New York Times, which took the Pennsylvania Railroad Company’s statement word-for-word, for example, the quote, “‘The Pennsylvania Railroad Company is leaving nothing undone to get at the cause of the accident”, the company stated.
Today, journalists don’t simply publish press releases verbatim, but they were taken that way when they began.
Lee came into public relations after moving on from newspaper journalism for better pay. Thus, many news media employees and press workers viewed him with suspicion. Soon, large news companies such as The New York Times began saying that press releases were not “fit to print,” which many journalists took issue with.
Lee, however, didn’t agree and wrote an essay titled The Declaration of Principles, which emphasized the value of news being presented by PR executives. He stated that it was the duty of companies to inform the public and the press with prompt, reliable, accurate information regarding subjects that affected them. He believed that this would present companies in an honest fashion and that they would be positively regarded for their goodwill to consumers.
How Edward Bernays Put His Own Spin On Press Releases
So, the press release was technically Ivy Lee’s “concept.” However, historians concur that Edward Bernays took this idea and gave it some refining and polishing, receiving the title of “the father of public relations.”
Bernays’ uncle was the legendary psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud. Bernays wrote many books on public relations and was a significant contributor to the theories now taught regarding this social science. Bernays’ most famous PR work was for Lucky Strike cigarettes.
The goal was to increase the female desire for the brand when women said that it wasn’t attractive because the box’s green color didn’t match their clothes. Instead of changing the entire company’s packaging, which was incredibly expensive.
Bernays chose to change the fashion world instead by encouraging designers to incorporate Lucky Strike’s shade of green into their clothes. It worked.
How a Press Release Should Be Structured
Press releases and their guidelines haven’t changed much over the last century. The most effective ones did, and still should, come in this template: logo, header, sub-header, dateline, lead paragraph, body text, quotes, boilerplate, and contact information.
Let’s look at each of these with detailed tips.
Logo
The logo is what people will recognize. When they see your brand’s or company’s logo, it stops them in their tracks (or their scrolls, if you will). They’re ready for whatever stories you will be putting out there.
Header or Title
The header, or title, gives the attention-grabbing idea of the reason for your press release. Why should a journalist take notice of what you’re saying? Why is it important?
The subtitle of a press release statement gives a little more detail as to what the title is referring to. Your dateline should give the important information as to when and where this release was written.
Lead Paragraph
The lead paragraph in your press release statement should expand on the hook that was given in the header. You want to continue holding the reader’s attention while beginning to set up the story, scene, or situation. It should give a decent summary of what you are discussing while leaving room for more details in the body of the press release.
Body Paragraphs
The main paragraphs of a press release statement are where you can expand and add key details about the subject. Typically, they will be skimmable, but should still hold concrete information.
Quotes
Quotes from participants, lower-level organization executives, or industry experts are not necessary for a press release, but they make for higher quality and more reliable source material. People love to know what the real humans involved have to say; it makes them feel as if they were a part of the action and actually “know” what was going on.
Whoever’s voice you want to be heard—and from which perspective—should be evident with the quotes you are using.
News Release Boilerplate and Contact Info
When you get to the boilerplate of the press release, you can speak to your organization and what it stands for. Here is where you will add contact information, links to your websites and/or contact information, and the websites where readers can follow you on social media.
Your contact information should be clearly visible and easily notated at the end of your press release, even if it is included in the boilerplate as well.
The Subtle—Yet Important—Changes
Compared to a century ago, press releases differ nowadays with regard to distribution and multimedia. Obviously, there weren’t computers and the Internet when Lee and Bernays began writing press releases, so they printed them on printing presses and distributed them in newspapers. It took time.
Even later, when wire transferring was a highly technological distribution service, paper was still used as well. Now, journalists receive press releases via the old school paper and wire services but also make use of email, website posts, and social media updates.
Internet Advantages
These additions of using press releases on the Internet mean that the writers can also make use of keywords, SEO, images, videos, and other techniques on websites to make sure that their words are being found by the right people.
Keywords and SEO
When considering keywords and search engine optimization in a press release for websites, think about what your audience will be searching for when they go to look for a story. Whatever you imagine they would type into Google, DuckDuckGo, or Safari, that’s the phrase that you should add into your press release. Not only should it be in the body, but it should be in the headline as well (the headline pulls are even stronger with Internet algorithms).
Obviously, this is just a baseline—SEO algorithms are quite complicated—but this will give you a solid foundation.
Video Clips
Video is king! People love to see live-action media coverage of events in a press release, especially when it’s something controversial or a “train wreck” that they can’t take their eyes off of. They want to draw their own conclusions, make assumptions, base their arguments on what they’ve “seen with their own eyes.”
Videos are entertaining, engaging, and provide a sense of having been there to your readers.
Photos
Photos aren’t quite as exciting as videos, but they can be just as useful. Photos can give a specific moment in time regarding the story that you are telling in your press release. They help provide understanding and, depending on which photos you choose, can help your story be understood in the way you want it to read.
Hyperlinks
Hyperlinks are critical for an article or press release that you would like to be highly trafficked. They will drive users to your website, furthering your strength and credibility on the web.
Final Thoughts
Press releases have been a crucial part of news stories services since they came into the industry and they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon—probably ever. Although they have evolved a bit as technology and society have allowed and required, their foundation remains the same.
Learning to write an effective press release is an essential part of any public relations, journalist, or business person’s repertoire of skills. However, if you’re short on time, contact Words You Want for your press release writing needs.