How Long Should a Press Release Be? – All You Need to Know

By Nikolina Cveticanin

June 19, 2023

If you’re just starting your PR journey, you are probably brimming with questions. What must every press release contain? How long should a press release be, ideally? For answers to these questions and more, you’ve come to the right place. In the following article, you will find some useful basic guidelines that should help you ace all of your press releases. Length is one of the most common questions and concerns people have when it comes to press releases. That is why we’ve decided to break it down for you and go through some other do’s and don’ts of creating a perfect press release.

As you already know, a press release is a short informative news story written by a public relations specialist and designed to arouse the attention of journalists and publications. We already said it should be short, but what exactly does that mean?

In general, when writing a press release, you should keep it somewhere between 300 and 400 words and fit it on a single page. It might not sound like much, but it will give you just enough space to include all the critical information while keeping the reader’s attention. According to research, editors and reporters spend from five to ten seconds on average reading a news release before deciding whether to publish or dismiss it. Therefore, you need to make sure to keep your press releases short and sweet. 

Press Release Guidelines

Before starting to write a press release, there are some questions you should ask yourself. 

  • Does your story include any newsworthy material?
  • Will it be of interest to your target audience?
  • Will the reader actually care about it?

It might sound a bit harsh, but the sooner you get to the bottom of these questions, the better the chances of meeting your goals are. Here are a few tips to help you stay on point.

Focus on answering the most important questions

Your press release needs to be informative but also appealing to the reader. It should be all about answering the who, what, when, where, why, and how questions in a couple of concise paragraphs.

Avoid the unnecessary fluff

When creating press releases, there’s no need to include every single detail that comes to your mind. It will just divert the attention from what’s really important, and you might overwhelm the reader with unnecessary information. 

Create a pyramidal structure

An online press release should always start with a hook that will intrigue the audience and make them want to continue reading it. You should start the story with the most important details and make the headline stand out to let the journalist know your press statement is worth reading. 

Make sure your grammar is on point

Spelling and grammar mistakes are an absolute turn-off when it comes to any official documents. Once you come up with the press release structure and finish your article, make sure to do proofreading and check your piece for any possible mistakes. In case you need help with that, there are some really good grammar checkers around you, and some are even completely free to use.

Think of the long-term strategy

Every press release you publish might be a groundbreaking step in your business development. It can help you enlarge your media contacts database and get broader media coverage. If you wish to promote your business on social media platforms but don’t know how to do it the right way, you can seek assistance from a press release distribution service.

FAQ

Can a press release be two pages?

A press release has a format you should always keep in mind while writing it. It should not be more than one A4 page long, as you would be risking losing the journalist’s attention by going into too much detail.

How many paragraphs should a press release have?

In general, a press release should have three paragraphs:

  • the opening paragraph
  • the body of the release
  • the closing paragraph that summarizes the release

By dividing the text into smaller sections, as we just did, you are making it easier to read and focus on the important bits.

Can a press release be 200 words?

Ideally, it’s best to avoid it and make your press release a bit longer. So, how long should a press release be? It’s probably best to keep your press release between 300 and 400 words long. This will keep them short enough to be engaging while giving you enough room to write enough information for your readers.

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