Tips To Write A Press Release For Investors
One of the most important uses of the press release is to keep investors informed about the success (or otherwise) of a company. Depending on the type of company, businesses often have financial reporting requirements they need to obey regularly, such as once a quarter (every 3 months). A good press release can sometimes also attract investors who are impressed with what they read.
What is a press release?
Press releases have been used for more than 100 years by businesses that wish to convey certain information to the media. These days, many press releases are published online, usually through a press release distribution service. Some services are used for all types of press releases. Others specialize in financial reporting. Those media representatives who cover business and finance will subscribe to the service so they can have the latest news at their fingertips and decide which stories they want to cover. If they find the story of interest to their target audience, you get a media pickup and all the publicity that goes with it.
So what are the most important elements of a press release targeted to investors?
A strong headline
The headline should contain your company name and a preview of results. “XYZ Company has record quarter.”
A powerful subheadline
In the distribution service interface, there is a field for a subheadline. What you write should support the headline by giving more information, and serve as a preview of what the rest of the release will say.
A subhead for the headline above might read: “The substantial boost in profits is due to streamlining, and their recent merger with ABC Company.”
Keywords
Make sure to use your company name and keywords related to your industry in your headline and subheadline so media representatives searching in the distribution service interface for stories to cover will be able to find your content.
An opening paragraph and overview
The opening paragraph should introduce what will be in the press release and give an overview of what happened and why.
When journalists write news stories, they use a formula known as the 5Ws:
- Who
- What
- When
- Where
- Why
If you put your press release in this format, you are more likely to impress journalists and get more pickups because you are making their job easier.
Mention new products or new staff who have contributed to the success. Also, mention any new people or companies you’ve partnered with that have helped boost the company’s bottom line.
Your numbers
Investors are interested in facts, figures and real numbers, so be sure to provide them. You can produce them in text and/or images like bar charts. Make the data visually attractive. Images will give you a greater chance of getting media pickups—seven times more likely, in fact.
Interesting quotations
Have a few relevant comments about the successful business quarter.
Add the boilerplate
A boilerplate is a standard paragraph about the company and how to contact you. Write it and use it as a template. Put it at the end of every press release. Give a brief overview of the company’s mission. Include your name, email address, phone number, and a URL to send them to.
Create a media page with all the information journalists would need about your company. Send them to that URL rather than just your homepage, where they could easily get lost and click out.
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