Five Things I Hate About Press Releases

I think it’s a real shame how so many business owners agonize over the proper format of a press release. What’s important about a document that is supposed to be both informative and persuasive is the content, not the layout.

Should it have some semblance of order? Absolutely. But that should not be the author’s first priority, particularly when the great majority of them end up in one of two places: The recycling bin or an editor’s deleted items folder.  

It’s not that assigning editors don’t want news or that press releases aren’t effective. They can be very effective when done right.  But most are formatted in such a way that’s counterintuitive to the sender’s end goal. 

That leads me to my list. Here are five things I hate about press releases. 

1. They are too long.

2. They bury the lead, or put the most crucial information in the middle of the document. 

3. They provide too many details.

4. They don’t provide context or tell me why the event/subject is significant.

5. They can be too formal.

if you’re guitly of even “one” of the above, you could be your own worst enemy.