Signs of a Bad Press Release

The press release is the bread and butter to a Franchise PR company and really, to the PR industry.  Perfecting your press release writing skills is essential to achieving good PR for your company.  We advise working with a skilled PR company to do all of your company or franchise’s public relations since experts know how to make your company or franchise succeed with the use of public relations.  As a Franchise PR Company, we write plenty of releases for our clients and secure media coverage for clients on a daily basis.  Why do our releases go over so well?  Because we know the signs of a bad press release.  Do you?  Here are some of the top signs that you’re reading or writing a bad press release:

(1) All quantity and no quality: Writing just to write is pointless and in fact, most press releases that rely on quantity instead of quality are very easy to spot.  Press releases are by no means supposed to be lengthy.  They are supposed to give all the relevant information to the story up front and give the reader a little more of the meat to the story.  There shouldn’t be a word count quota.  Get the main points across, make it well-written and you’ve got yourself a good press release. 

(2) Takes too long to get to the main point: The main point, or juice, of the press release should be summed up in the very first sentence.  The first sentence should address the who, what, when, where, why and how of your story.  Read any good press release and you’ll see that the first sentence answers all the w’s and the h.  

(3) Too much jargon: A translator should not be needed to read a press release.  Bad press releases use terminology not commonly understood by the general public.  The jargon should be dropped and the press release should be easy to understand to keep people reading and interested.  Good press releases generate attention, not lose it.  

(4) Spelling and grammar errors: Misspelled words, misplaced commas, unnecessary hyphens left in a press release are definitely signs of a bad press release.  Your press release represents your company, so do not let it go out with any errors.  Read it over not once, not twice, but three times.  That will ensure no errors.

(5) Boring- If you read a press release that bores you to tears, or if your own release is yawn-worthy, it is definitely the sign of a really bad press release.  In fact, a press release should have the opposite effect.  It is supposed to sound the alarm to the press about your event or company.  It should make people want to read it and act on it.

Looking for more tips on making your press release effective or looking for PR work for your franchise or company?  Contact us, we’d be glad to talk PR with you.