Did you just start a new business or start-up? Congrats! Now, you probably want the whole world to find out about it, and you certainly think that what you’re doing is a quantum leap.
If you’re responsible for writing a new business press release (or a company launch press release), here’s how to write an effective one in 4 steps:
- Think of an inspirational brand-driven story for your business
- Keep the basic rules of press release writing in mind
- Find media contacts who will be interested in your new business press release
- Define a long-term communication strategy
If all of these steps aren’t clear right away – don’t worry. Let’s go over each step one by one.
How to write a new business (company launch) press release
Think of an inspirational brand-driven story for your new business
When writing a press release, don’t focus on the best features of your product or the details of the service, which the majority of people may not understand. Instead, write a press release about a problem or a need that your company’s product will provide a solution to.
Think of a catchy topic for the media in the context of your new business. If it is the CEO’s exceptional personality, then highlight it at the very beginning and mention their experience.
Let’s assume that you are opening an agency that will provide services to law firms. You’ve got a charismatic leader with a journalism background—perfect, go ahead and write about it.
Do you feel that you have a chance to offer something different in a monopolized market? Emphasize this at the very beginning. That’s what a company named Juul did. This US startup wanted to conquer the market of tobacco and nicotine products. That is why they defined themselves as a “smoking alternative, unlike any e-cigarette and cigarettes.”
Keep the basic rules of press release writing in mind
The new business press release shouldn’t be too long or too technical. At this point, you might deal with the so-called curse of knowledge that affects startups. It’s a kind of cognitive distortion that makes startup owners unable to explain to others what seems obvious to them.
For example, you run a technology company that deals with big data processing. Over the years, you’ve been learning new languages and systems. You have reached a high level of knowledge and expertise, but when someone asks us what you are doing, it’s difficult to respond in a simple way.
Keep it simple and follow the new business press release format:
- Headline – an attention-grabbing headline about your company launch. Make it count!
- Lead – a brief overview of the whole story, including answers to the questions: Who? What? When? Why? With what effect?
- Dateline – to confirm that you’re providing the most up-to-date information
- Body – an explanation of the information provided earlier in the lead, starting from the most newsworthy info about your product and finishing with secondary details
- Company details – a short paragraph about your company and its products to help journalists understand the nature of the business and make writing about it easier
- Media contact information – the author’s or company’s/agency’s contact information
Looking for a small business press release guide or press release example to get inspired? Take a look at our press release templates page, where you can find various samples.
Find media contacts who will be interested in your new business press release
In the beginning, try answering this simple question: in which media outlet would I want to have a story published about my new business?
A key factor in getting your press release picked up by the media is pitching to relevant journalists and bloggers—people that are interested in writing about your type of business.
If you don’t have your own media lists built yet, you can try finding relevant media contacts for your story in Prowly’s Media Database. You can filter journalists by industry and location, and even get recommendations on who to pitch based on your new business press release.
This is a much better approach than the “spray and pray” method of sending out a press release to everyone, hoping that someone will be interested in writing about your new business.
If you have a bit of time, it’s worth doing some more in-depth research.
For example, if you’re writing a press release about a business that specializes in natural cosmetics, check which journalists that you found are actually interested in natural and organic products, and not just cosmetics in general. It’ll improve the chances of your press release getting picked up and published.
Usually, journalists are interested in:
- new pieces of information they have not heard of
- ideas and theories that challenge some current beliefs
When pitching a journalist, bringing up what they wrote about or other small details about them can go a long way. And at the very least—include their name in the email instead of using a generic email greeting.
Define a long-term communication strategy
So, your product is already on the market, and you’ve just landed a client who happens to be a big and well-known company? Guarantee yourself the right to use that fact in the contract, and then prepare another pitch on the subject.
Did you sign your first contract with a foreign brand that will represent you on another continent? Or perhaps you’re opening a branch office in another country?
There are so many topics you can cover, which is why having a clear PR outreach plan for each news, backed by an actual communications strategy, can really pay off in the long run.
Conclusion
Writing a new business press release is like writing any other press release. Remember the following:
- Think of an inspirational brand-driven story for your new business
- Remember about the standard elements of a company launch press release: headline, dateline, lead, body, company details & media contact information
- Make sure you have a list of media contacts interested in your niche and can cover your story
- Include information on why your business is worth writing about
- Come up with a long-term communications strategy
Ready to create and send your new business press release, then? Remember that you can do it all with Prowly.
