A good press release that stands a chance of being published needs to be clear about the project, its USP, and its relevance to the publisher.
You’ve been building up your crowdfunding campaign’s profile through word of mouth, email marketing, posters and leaflets, social media and events – so far, so good – and now you want to get the press involved. The best way to do this is by writing a killer press release, which doesn’t have to be as difficult as you think.
Headline
This is not the time to play hard to get – your headline needs to shout out loud and clear what your story is. Leave clever headlines to the editors and use your headline to explicitly state the key information.
The Hook
The first thing to figure out is why would people be interested in your story? Running a crowdfunding campaign in and of itself isn’t enough to get a story published – your story has to offer excitement (a quirky project like a giant water slide or a celebrity endorsement), stats (is this the biggest, fastest, most backers), human interest (what inspired you, what obstacles have you overcome..) or impact (what difference is your project going to make to the area – new job opportunities, increase house prices, include different aspects of the community). With local press, often it’s the community element that is most important. Once you find your angle you can start putting together your pitch.
What to include
Your first paragraph needs to tell the journalist everything they need to know including;
- Who – the people involved
- What – the objective of the project
- When – the timeline for your campaign and the project as a whole
- Where – the geographic location of the project and the greater area of people who will be positively impacted by it
- Why – what’s the reason for doing this, why is it important
- How – your approach to making this happen
Add in
For added impact add in the following;
- Quotes – from high profile people in the area (businesses, celebrities, MPs etc.) and from the team behind the project
- A high-resolution image – make the journalist’s job as easy as possible by including photos that capture your story whether it’s of the team, the project area or of a community event which highlights people’s interest.
- Contact info – include the contact details for the person who can answer any queries, be interviewed if necessary and who will be able to sign off any quotes or the piece itself.
- Editors notes – this is where you can add links to any additional information that is relevant to you story whether its reports and stats or more information about the project itself