In this guide, you will find an expert press release template for every possible occasion, pretty much!
All you need to do is download the press release template that fits the story you want to tell about your business and fill in the square brackets.
To make it super easy, and effective, each press release template tells you what you MUST include in each paragraph of the press release – and in what order.
With each template, we suggest the strongest news angle, the media to target and the best image to send with your press release, including an example.
If you follow these instructions you will get the media coverage you want for your business, according to your PR plan.
What we will cover today:
- The 17 press release templates for every story and occasion
- How to write a press release in detail
- How to pitch your press release to the media
Let’s get into it:
17 Press Release Templates for Your Business
- Award Nomination Press Release Template
- Award Win Press Release Template
- Book Press Template
- Charity Event Press Release Template
- Crisis Statement Press Release
- Event Press Template
- Grand Opening Press Release Template
- Music Press Release Template
- New Employee Press Release Template
- New Location Press Release Template
- New Product Template
- New Service Template
- Product Update Press Release Template
- Rebranding Press Release Template
- Record Sales Press Release Template
- Resignation Press Release Template
- Takeover Press Release Template
1.Award Nomination Press Release Template
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News angle: Being in the running for an award is by itself newsworthy, as it shows you have done something exceptional – this is what the media loves.
Potential target media: Depending on the size of your business this will usually be a story of interest to your trade sector media or your local/regional press.
Image to go with your press release: A high-resolution photograph of your key team member(s) looking excited with their fingers crossed. Something like this:
2. Award Win Press Release Template
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News angle: Winning an award is naturally a news story so this template should write itself! The key here is to target the appropriate media with this press release. This is public relations 101.
Potential target media: Depending on the size of your business this will usually be a story of interest to your trade sector media or your local/regional press. Every town loves to see their local businesses doing well.
Image to go with your press release: A high-resolution photograph of your team with their winning award trophy. Something like this:
3. Book Press Template
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News angle: Releasing a new book will be of interest to literary critics who review new book releases each week, so that is your target here. This is not really a news story unless perhaps it is autobiographical and includes some particularly salacious revelations!
Potential target media: The book reviewers of national media outlets or perhaps specialist interest titles if they are relevant to your book.
Image to go with your press release: A high-resolution photograph of the front cover of the book and maybe one of the author. Something like this:
4. Charity Event Press Release Template
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News angle: Make sure your charity event has something exceptional about it, a particularly brave or ambitious challenge and that it raises a large amount of money!
Potential target media: Usually this type of press release is most suitable for the local/regional press.
Image to go with your press release: You have two options here. Either a traditional image of someone from your company presenting the charity with a large check/cheque (a bit boring) or a member of the fundraising team competing their challenge, i.e. crossing the finishing line at a marathon wearing the charity’s t-shirt. Something like this:
5. Crisis Statement Press Release Template
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News angle: This is strictly speaking not really a press release, this is a media statement in response to a crisis communication scenario so you want to keep this factual, sober and draw as little attention to your brand as possible.
Potential target media: This depends on the size of your business and the nature of the crisis. You could well be issuing this to major national media outlets.
Image to go with your press release: This does not require an image.
6. Event Release Template
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News angle: To get media coverage for your event it needs a strong news hook. Think of inviting a high-profile celebrity as a guest speaker or hold the event in an unusual location. There is more here on how to write a press release for an event.
Potential target media: Depending on the size of your business this can be the mainstream national media, major influencers or your local newspaper.
Image to go with your press release: If the event is for a product launch, have your CEO pictured on stage with the product you are launching, so people can see what will happen. Something like:
7. Grand Opening Press Release Template
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News angle: To make your grand opening newsworthy, think images – so much news coverage is picture-led. Think about some sort of PR stunt that would give your opening the real ‘wow’ factor.
Potential target media: Local/regional and trade sector media for most sizes of business. Always keep it relevant to your target audience.
Image to go with your press release: Your image needs to convey that your new business is open, welcoming and ready for business. Sure you can include images of ribbon cuttings (yawn) but we prefer something a little more sophisticated. Something like this:
8. Music Press Release Template
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News angle: Releasing a new single/album will be of interest to music critics who review new music releases each week, so that is your target here. This is not really a news story, unless you are a global megastar – ‘hello Beyonce’, if you’re reading this.
Potential target media: Depending on the level of fame of the artist/band you should target music critics from the national mainstream media down to niche music genre blogs and websites.
Image to go with your press release: Include a copy of your album artwork and then also a decent high-resolution image of the band/artist. Something like this:
9. New Employee Press Release Template
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News angle: Only issue one of these press releases when you are appointing a senior member of your team. This will always be of interest to your sector trade media.
Potential target media: Trade press.
Image to go with your press release: A standard profile picture of the person you are hiring. Something like this:
10. New Location Release Template
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News angle: Try and focus this press release on the fact that, yes you are moving to a new location, but the benefit you will be bringing to that location – the jobs you will be creating.
Potential target media: Local/regional media and possibly trade press.
Image to go with your press release: Include a high-resolution image of your new premises, ideally with team members outside. The media like people more than buildings. Something like this:
11. New Product Template
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News angle: You must focus on what makes your new product particularly innovative and ‘game-changing’. What does it do that nothing else can do, what makes it a first? This is key in media relations.
Potential target media: Your trade sector media and influencers who are interested in your product/brand.
Image to go with your press release: Include a high-resolution image of your new product, whatever that is. No example is needed here as you know what your product is!
12. New Service Template
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News angle: You must focus on what makes your new service particularly innovative and ‘game-changing’. What do you do that no one else can do, what makes your service a ‘first’? Give it an attention grabbing headline.
Potential target media: Your trade sector media and influencers who are interested in your service/brand.
Image to go with your press release: If your service is tech-based then include an image of your app. If it is an offline service then include a high-resolution image of people using your service. So, for example, if you run a restaurant you could go for something like this:
13. Product Update Press Release Template
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News angle: Focus on what has changed for your best-selling product, what makes this upgrade new, innovative and disruptive. The media loves stories of disruption – it’s a great way to get free PR.
Potential target media: Your trade media and those influencers who are fans of your product.
Image to go with your press release: Include a high-resolution image of your new product update, whatever that is. No example is needed here as you know what your product is!
14. Rebranding PR Template
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News angle: The media don’t so much care about a new logo but they do care about the fact that your business is having a complete refresh and perhaps a change of direction. Focus on what the rebrand is FOR. What do you hope to achieve from this?
Potential target media: Trade sector media and influencers who are followers of your business.
Image to go with your press release: Include high-resolution copies of your newly branded artwork – logo etc and also your products with the new branding included. You will need these for your entire public relations campaign.
15. Record Sales Press Release Template
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News angle: The key to this press release being of interest to the media is because you have broken a record, the business has done something for the very first time. The higher and more exceptional that figure is, for your sector, the more likely the journalist is to care.
Potential target media: Trade media only.
Image to go with your press release: Include a high-resolution image of your team toasting their success. If you want to get really creative you could have them smashing a target with a hammer, or some similar act of creative destruction! Here are loads more public relations examples. Or keep it more celebratory, like this:
16. Resignation Press Release Template
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News angle: You would only issue a resignation press release when a senior member of your company leaves – it also depends under what circumstances they leave too. If it is a celebration of their contribution then focus on thanks and appreciation.
Potential target media: Trade sector media only.
Image to go with your press release: An image of the outgoing employee. A simple profile headshot will do for this story. No example needed here.
17. Takeover Press Release Template
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News angle: The fact that one business is being taken over by another is usually always a story for the media, particularly the trade media that covers your sector. If you are in a particularly big business, the national business press may also cover the story. Focus on the monetary value of the deal in your news angle and what the deal encompasses.
Potential target media: Trade sector media and business press.
Image to go with your press release: An image of the two CEOs shaking hands on the deal. Something like this:
How To Write A Press Release – Quick Tips
Now you’ve seen the 17 press release templates for your business here’s a quick refresher on how to write a press release.
Getting the flow of a press release right is critical if you want a journalist to read it and think that you have a story worth telling.
This is our full guide on how to write a press release but the main elements are below:
Section 1 – Sounds obvious, but write ‘Press Release’ at the top. You’d be surprised how many people forget to do this.
Section 2 – Always date your press release. It ensures that the journalist knows that this is a new story and it also tells them WHEN you want the story to run.
Section 3 – The headline. Keep the headline to under 10 words – this discipline will force you to focus on your news angle.
Section 4: The Intro Paragraph. You’ve got 25 words or less to get across your entire story. Get to the point immediately and include at least five key news points.
Section 5: In the second and third paragraphs develop your story and include more key facts so the journalist can develop their story.
The quotes for your press release
Section 6: The quotes section delivers the ‘why’ behind the story. Include two or three paragraphs from your spokesperson and use their full name and job title.
Section 7: Main body copy. This is where you include your key messages, such as how much your product/service costs and where people can get hold of it.
Section 8: The closing quote. Your closing quote can be from your main spokesperson or you can introduce a third party spokesperson whose endorsement gives your product/service more credibility.
Section 9: ENDS. Always finish your press release with the word ‘ends’ so a journalist knows it is the, er, end.
Section 10: Contact details. Include full contact information for the person handling all press and media enquiries.
Section 11: Notes to Editors – also known as the boilerplate. It includes additional background information which could be of use to the journalist but is not critical to the story.
How to Pitch Your Press Release Template to The Media
This is our complete guide on how to write a media pitch.
If you don’t have time for the deep-dive, these are the essentials to ensure your press release gets noticed by a journalist.
- Email pitch subject line – The subject line of your email pitch must contain your news hook – the one thing that makes your story stand out and demand a journalist’s attention.
- The journalist’s name – For gawd’s sake make sure you spell it correctly!
- Your first sentence – Get straight to point with what makes your press release newsworthy. This is all the media cares about.
- Show you care – Reference something else the journalist has written recently, show you like their work and know your story is relevant to them.
- Don’t be a copycat – Do NOT, under any circumstances, include a line in your pitch which basically says “I saw you wrote a story about ‘X’ last week. My business does the same thing, will you write about us?”.
- How to include your press release – Attach it to the email as a word document and also copy and paste the text into your email, below your pitch.
- Images – Never embed images in the press release, this is useless for serious media. Attach them as high-resolution files, greater than 1mb.
- Close your email pitch – Invite the journalist to contact you if they need any more information.
- Triple check – Before you hit send make sure your email pitch is typo-free and as strong as it can be. You get one chance to impress upon the reporter that yours is a story worth telling.
So there you have it.
Download the template that is right for you – or get the entire bundle so you’re always prepared.
Good luck!
