I’m going to give you the press release advice you actually need, and you’re probably not going to like it.
The traditional press release, the one with “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” at the top and a 200 word boilerplate at the bottom, is one of the least effective ways to get media coverage in 2026. I’ve seen this firsthand. I’ve sent press releases that got exactly zero responses. I’ve also sent 80 word emails that landed national coverage.
After analyzing over 5,200 media placements and maintaining a database of 27,000+ journalists, I can tell you that the format itself is the problem. Not your writing. Not your timing. The format.
But I know why you’re here. You searched “how to write a press release” because someone told you that’s how PR works. So I’m going to do two things: first, I’ll show you how to write a press release that doesn’t get immediately deleted. Then I’ll show you what actually works better.
Why 95% of Press Releases Fail
Let me paint the picture of what happens on the other end.
A journalist at a mid tier publication gets somewhere between 50 and 300 pitches per day. Not per week. Per day. They’re on deadline. Their editor wants the piece by 3pm. They’re scanning their inbox for anything they can use right now.
Your press release lands. Subject line: “XYZ Company Announces Exciting New Product Launch.” They don’t open it.
Even if they do open it, here’s what they see: a 600 word document written in corporate speak, three paragraphs about how “thrilled” your CEO is, a quote that sounds like it was written by a committee, and a boilerplate about your company that nobody asked for.
They close the tab. They move on. Your press release joins the graveyard.
I know this sounds harsh. But I’ve been on both sides of this equation. I’ve sent those press releases and wondered why nobody responded. Then I spent years studying what journalists actually respond to, and the gap between what companies send and what journalists want is enormous.
Here’s why the standard format fails:
No news value. “Company launches product” is not news. “Company hires executive” is not news. “Company wins award” is not news. These things matter to your company. They do not matter to a journalist’s readers.
Company centric instead of story centric. Your press release talks about you. Journalists need stories about their audience. That’s a fundamental mismatch.
Too long. Journalists scan. They don’t read 600 word documents from strangers. If your angle isn’t obvious in the first two sentences, it doesn’t exist as far as they’re concerned.
No hook. Why should they cover this today? Why not next week? Why not never? A press release without urgency is just a brochure.
I’ve written about this in detail in my piece on why press releases get ignored and what to send instead. But let me give you the practical version here.
The Press Release Template Everyone Uses (And Why It Doesn’t Work)
Here’s the standard format you’ll find on every “how to write a press release” article:
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> [City, Date]
>
> [Company Name] Announces [Thing]
>
> [City, State] — [Company Name], a leading provider of [industry thing], today announced [product/partnership/milestone]. The [thing] will enable customers to [benefit] while [other benefit].
>
> “We are excited to [blah blah],” said [CEO Name], CEO of [Company]. “This [thing] represents our commitment to [buzzword] and [buzzword].”
>
> [Two more paragraphs of features and benefits nobody asked for]
>
> About [Company]
> [200 word boilerplate about your company history, mission, and how many countries you operate in]
>
> Media Contact:
> [Name, email, phone]
I’ve received press releases that look exactly like this. You probably have too. And here’s the issue: this format was designed for the wire services in the 1990s when journalists relied on press wires for story leads. That world doesn’t exist anymore.
Today, journalists find stories on Twitter, in their beats, from colleagues, and from pitches that catch their attention. The formal press release format signals “this is probably not a real story” before they even read a word.
Pro Tip
Write your headline as if it were a news article headline, not a marketing message. “Company X Launches Product” fails. “Industry Data Reveals 40% Shift in Consumer Behavior” works.
How to Write a Press Release That Actually Works
If you absolutely must write a press release (and sometimes you do, like for regulatory announcements, major executive hires, or funding rounds where the news is genuinely significant), here’s how to make it not terrible.
Rule 1: Lead with the headline a journalist would write
Not the headline you want. Not the headline your CEO approves. The headline a journalist would actually put on this story.
Bad: “TechCorp Announces Launch of Revolutionary AI Platform”
Good: “UK Workers Lose 4.2 Hours Per Week to Broken Internal Tools, New Study Finds”
See the difference? The first one is about the company. The second one is about the reader. A journalist can use the second headline almost verbatim. The first one goes in the bin.
Rule 2: First paragraph answers “why should anyone care?”
Not “who is your company” or “what did you do.” Why should a reader of The Guardian or TechCrunch or Business Insider care about this right now?
Bad: “TechCorp, a leading enterprise software company founded in 2019, today announced the launch of TechFlow 3.0, its next generation workflow automation platform.”
Good: “A study of 2,000 UK office workers found that the average employee loses 4.2 hours per week to malfunctioning internal tools, costing British businesses an estimated £28 billion annually.”
The data is the lead. The company comes later. Much later.
Rule 3: Keep it under 300 words
If you can’t explain why your news matters in 300 words, it either doesn’t matter or you don’t understand why it matters yet. Either way, a longer document won’t fix that problem.
Rule 4: Include data, not adjectives
“Revolutionary,” “innovative,” “cutting edge,” “best in class.” These words mean nothing. They are the verbal equivalent of elevator music. Journalists have been trained to ignore them.
Numbers tell stories. Percentages surprise people. Comparisons create context. Use those instead.
Rule 5: Write a quote that sounds human
The biggest giveaway that a press release was written by committee is the executive quote. It always sounds like this:
> “We are thrilled to be at the forefront of innovation in the workflow automation space. This launch represents our unwavering commitment to empowering businesses with transformative solutions.”
Nobody talks like that. Nobody has ever been “thrilled to be at the forefront” of anything. Write a quote that sounds like something a human would say in conversation.
> “We found that most office workers spend nearly a full day every week fighting their own tools. That’s a problem worth solving, so we built something to fix it.”
Same information. Completely different energy.
What Works Better Than a Press Release
Here’s where I get honest with you. In most cases, you shouldn’t write a press release at all.
I’ve seen the data. Across thousands of placements, the campaigns that generate the most coverage don’t use the press release format. They use one of three approaches:
Approach 1: The Data Pitch
Instead of announcing something about your company, you pitch a data story that happens to involve your expertise. You lead with the finding, not the company.
This is the approach I used to go from buying links to earning editorial coverage in national publications. The journalist gets a story. You get a link and a mention. Everyone wins.
Want to see this in action? I wrote an entire guide on how to pitch journalists with templates that you can steal. The data pitch template in there has generated more coverage than every press release I’ve ever sent combined.
Approach 2: Reactive Expert Commentary
A news story breaks. It’s in your area of expertise. You reach out to the journalist covering it and offer a data point, an expert quote, or a unique perspective they haven’t considered.
This works because the journalist is already writing the story. They need sources. You’re not asking them to cover something new. You’re adding value to something they’re already working on.
The window is usually 2 to 4 hours. If you can move fast, you earn the link. If you’re waiting for legal to approve a press release, the moment is gone.
Approach 3: The Original Study
Instead of a press release about your product, publish genuine research that creates its own news value. Design a study with real methodology. Collect real data. Publish findings that surprise people.
This is the approach that generates the most links over time because other writers cite your study for months after publication. One good study can outperform a year of press releases.
We built Presslei around this approach. Our first campaign was for Chatronix, studying political bias in AI chatbots. It didn’t hit all our targets. I’ll be honest about that. But the methodology created a citable asset that continues to generate interest.
Side by Side: Bad Press Release vs. Good Pitch
Let me show you exactly what the difference looks like.
The Traditional Press Release
> Subject: StyleBrand Announces Revolutionary New Sustainable Fashion Line
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> London, UK — StyleBrand, a leading sustainable fashion company, today announced the launch of its Spring 2026 collection, featuring 100% recycled materials and carbon neutral manufacturing…
>
> [400 more words about the collection, quotes from the CEO and the head of sustainability, a paragraph about StyleBrand’s mission, and a boilerplate]
Result: 0 responses out of 150 sends.
The Data Led Pitch
> Subject: Data: UK consumers pay 340% markup for “sustainable” fashion labels
>
> Hi Sarah,
>
> Loved your piece last week on greenwashing in fast fashion. We just analyzed pricing data across 200 UK fashion brands and found that items labeled “sustainable” carry an average 340% markup over comparable non labeled items, with some brands charging over 500%.
>
> Full data breakdown here if useful for your coverage: [link]
>
> Happy to share the dataset or connect you with our sustainability analyst for a quote.
>
> Salva
Result: 8 responses, 4 placements, including one in a national publication.
Same company. Same general topic. Completely different approach. The press release talks about the company. The pitch gives the journalist a story.
Key Takeaway
The first paragraph of your press release is the only paragraph most journalists will read. If the news isn’t clear in 50 words, you’ve already lost them.
The 5 Minute Press Release Test
If you’ve already written a press release and you’re not sure whether it’s good enough to send, run it through these five questions:
1. Would a journalist use your headline verbatim? Read your headline out loud. Does it sound like something you’d see on the BBC or TechCrunch? If it sounds like something from a corporate newsletter, rewrite it.
2. Does your first sentence contain a number? Data hooks outperform everything else. If your opening line doesn’t include a specific statistic, percentage, or finding, it’s probably not newsworthy enough.
3. Is your company mentioned in the first paragraph? If yes, you’ve led with the wrong thing. The story comes first. Your company comes later, as the source of the data or the expert providing commentary.
4. Can you delete the boilerplate without losing anything? If removing the “About Company” section doesn’t change the story, it was always dead weight. Journalists will Google you if they’re interested. They don’t need your mission statement.
5. Would you forward this to a friend? Not as a professional obligation. Would you actually send this to someone and say “interesting, right”? If not, why would a journalist think their readers would care?
If your press release fails more than two of these tests, don’t send it. Rewrite it as a pitch instead. Use the data pitch template above as your starting point.
Common Press Release Mistakes I See Every Week
After years of analyzing what gets covered and what doesn’t, these mistakes show up over and over:
The “we’re thrilled” opening. Nobody cares that you’re thrilled. Start with the story, not your emotions about the story.
Sending to “Dear Journalist.” If you don’t know the journalist’s name, you haven’t done enough research. A generic salutation tells them you’re mass mailing, and they’re right.
Attaching a PDF. Most journalists won’t open attachments from strangers. Put everything in the email body. If you have supporting materials, link to them on your website.
Including three company quotes. One quote from one person. Maximum. Journalists need one quotable expert, not a panel discussion. And make sure the quote says something a human would actually say out loud.
Burying the data. If you have a surprising statistic, it belongs in the subject line and the first sentence. Not in paragraph four after three paragraphs of company context.
No visual assets. If your story has a visual element, including charts, infographics, or photos, make them easily accessible via a link. Don’t attach them to the email, but make it clear they exist. Visual stories get more coverage because they’re easier for editors to publish.
Forgetting the ask. What do you want the journalist to do? Reply for the full dataset? Interview your expert? Visit your study page? Make the ask clear and make it easy.
Pro Tip
Include a pre-written quote that’s actually quotable — specific, opinionated, and under 30 words. Generic “We’re excited to announce” quotes get cut every time.
When a Press Release Is Actually the Right Move
I should be fair. There are situations where a traditional press release is appropriate:
Funding announcements. If you raised a Series B, a press release to the relevant startup/VC press is standard. The news value is the money itself.
Regulatory or legal requirements. Public companies and certain industries have disclosure requirements. Press releases serve a compliance function there.
Crisis communications. When something goes wrong and you need to get an official statement out quickly. This is one of the few cases where the formal tone of a press release is actually appropriate.
Major executive changes. CEO transitions at significant companies are genuinely newsworthy. The wire format works here.
For everything else? Skip the press release. Write a pitch. Lead with data. Make the journalist’s job easier, not harder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are press releases still effective in 2026?
Yes, when written as newsworthy stories rather than promotional announcements. The format has evolved but the channel still works.
How long should a press release be?
400-600 words. Lead with the news, include one strong quote, provide data, and end with a clear call to action.
Should I send a press release or a pitch?
Pitches for exclusive stories and relationship building. Press releases for broad announcements and SEO value.
What makes journalists ignore a press release?
No news angle, excessive jargon, missing data, and sending to the wrong beat reporters.
The Bottom Line
I’m not telling you this to be contrarian for the sake of it. I’m telling you because I wasted years sending press releases that went nowhere before I figured out what actually works.
The shift from press releases to data led pitches transformed my results. It’s what made me start Presslei after seeing the model work for Hockerty and Sumissura.
If you want to test this yourself, start with our pitch headline analyzer to see if your angle is strong enough. Or check out 10 PR campaign formats that actually work for ideas that go way beyond the press release.
Your story deserves better than a format that was designed for fax machines.
Ready to earn press coverage?
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About the Author
Salvador Jovells
Founder of Presslei. 12+ years in ecommerce SEO across international markets. After a decade of link buying for Hockerty and Sumissura, I reverse-engineered 5,272 earned media placements and founded a reactive PR agency that builds authority through data-driven stories journalists actually want to publish. Based in Zurich.
