THREE STEPS TO WRITE A STRONG PRESS RELEASE
You have to write a press release, and you don’t know where to start.
Or you’ve written some, and no one has responded to you.
I’ll share a few tips with you that will make your release a more robust story and get a better response from reporters.
Here’s what you can expect from me...how to:
Find the journalist who cares about your piece
Get them to open your email
Third, how to get them to respond back
First of all - many media companies and reporters are inundated by requests, to begin with. WRITING IN ALL CAPS does not make them want to open your email, necessarily - your genuine story will.
Find the journalist who cares about your piece
When I was in TV news, a pet peeve is a press release that is clearly a blast. There was no personalization, outside of, “Hi Mega.” Now - if you’ve done a blast like that (I did make that mistake once) - it’s okay...here’s what you can do moving forward.
Do your research on the reporters you’re trying to reach. Check out their social media feed (especially Twitter) to see what they’ve been writing about.
Ask yourself whether they will care about your story? If so, how.
If you’re like - that’s a lot of work. It is.
There are tools to make this process a bit easier.
Free: HARO
HARO stands for Help A Reporter Out. It sends out email inquiries of what reporters are writing about, and you can pitch yourself as a source. It’s an incredible tool, I highly recommend it.
“Cision empowers communicators to identify influencers, craft and distribute meaningful stories, and measure the impact.”
Paid: MuchRack
“Muck Rack is the new standard in public relations software. Easily search for journalists, monitor news, and build reports.”
Get them to open your email
Personalization is key here. The first touchpoint you have is that email subject line.
Keep it short and simple, and personalize it to the journalist you’re talking to.
Adding their name in the subject line is a good start.
Essentially, the subject line should answer the journalist’s question: “why should I care?”
How to get them to respond back
This is my favorite part. This is where storytelling comes into play. (But spare all the details. I’ll touch on that shortly)
Let’s start off with questions your email should answer.
Who is it going to impact?
What is it about?
When is it happening?
Where?
And why?
Journalists often don’t have time to read everything you’ve written - you’re trying to get their interest so they can respond to you. Write effectively by including necessary and important information. If it’s not crucial to the story - leave it out for now.
Of course, include contacts that they can have a recorded conversation.
The last piece depends on the type of reporter you’re pitching to.
If it’s a fashion reporter - they’re probably going to want visuals.
If it’s a TV reporter - they’re going to love you if you have a horizontal video
If it’s a paper reporter - I recommend writing out who they can reach out for additional sources.
This is all basic stuff. I can't personalize your brand story in one single blog post. Every reporter, industry, and type of story is different. Schedule a call with me, paste your press release draft in the form, and let's work on it together.
Here's my made up example of how it would look like put together.
Hi Reporter,
My name is Mega Sugianto, and I loved your story about the dogs rescued from the lake. Your piece caused me to think about how important it is to protect our dogs.
Our shelter, Mega Dog Rescue, will be doing a fundraiser to support 2,000 dogs in the Orange County area.
When: November 12, 2025 at 6 p.m.
Where: Somewhere in Orange County, CA
Who you can talk to:
My husband
HisEmail@gmail.com
123-123-1234
Director of the shelter
simon@gmail.com
124-124-1245
There will be a lot of visuals the day of but I can give you some right now as an example.
I look forward to hearing from you.
All the best,
Mega Sugianto
hello@megasugianto.com