A press release is not marketing copy wearing a suit. It is a factual document with one job: give a reporter enough verified material to write their own story, without making them dig. Everything that gets in the way of that — adjectives, "excited to announce", executive enthusiasm quoted as though it were news — reduces the odds of coverage.
The structures below all share the same skeleton. Lead paragraph carries the whole story — who, what, when, where, why it matters, in roughly forty words. Then supporting detail in descending order of importance, then a quote with a name and title attached, then boilerplate, then contact. If a cut has to happen, it happens from the bottom.
The eight structures
1. Product or feature launch
Use when: shipping something with a clear release date and a defined audience.
[Company], a [one-line description of what the company does], today released [product name], a [category] that [specific capability]. It is available from [date] at [price] at [url].
The release addresses [specific problem] for [specific audience], who previously [what they had to do instead]. [One or two concrete details: capacity, limits, integrations, availability by region.]
"[Quote about a verifiable fact or a decision, not about being excited]," said [Full Name], [Title] at [Company].
2. Funding or investment
Use when: announcing a round, and you have the investor's permission to name them.
[Company] has raised [amount] in [round type] funding led by [investor], with participation from [others]. The company will use the funds to [specific: hire N people in X function, open Y, build Z].
Founded in [year] by [names], [Company] [what it does]. [One verifiable traction figure: customers, revenue range, growth, geography.]
"[Quote]," said [Full Name], [Title] at [Investor].
3. Partnership or integration
Use when: two named organisations are doing something specific together.
[Company A] and [Company B] announced today that [specific thing: integration, joint offering, reseller arrangement], available from [date].
The arrangement lets [specific audience] [specific action they can now take] without [what they previously had to do]. [Concrete scope: which plans, which regions, which systems.]
"[Quote]," said [Full Name], [Title] at [Company A]. "[Second quote from Company B]," said [Full Name], [Title] at [Company B].
4. Research or data release
Use when: you have original data and can state the method.
[Company] today published [report name], based on [sample: N respondents / N records / period covered], collected [method] between [dates].
The findings include [finding 1 with a number], [finding 2 with a number], and [finding 3 with a number]. [One sentence on what the data does not cover.]
The full report is available at [url]. "[Quote]," said [Full Name], [Title].
5. Event or conference
Use when: announcing dates, and the dates are confirmed rather than provisional.
[Event name] will take place [dates] at [venue, city], with [N] sessions across [topics]. Registration opens [date] at [url].
The programme includes [named session or speaker 1], [named session or speaker 2]. [One detail on who the event is for or what changed from last year.]
"[Quote]," said [Full Name], [Title] at [Organiser].
6. Leadership appointment
Use when: a role has genuinely changed hands and the start date is fixed.
[Company] today named [Full Name] as [Title], effective [date]. [Name] joins from [previous organisation], where [they did what].
In the role, [Name] will be responsible for [specific areas]. [Name] succeeds [outgoing name], who [what happens to them].
"[Quote from the incoming person about what they will do]," said [Full Name].
7. Award or recognition
Use when: the awarding body is named and the selection basis can be stated.
[Company] has been named [award name] by [awarding organisation] for [year]. The award recognises [stated criteria].
[Company] was selected from [number or pool, if published]. [One sentence on what the company did that relates to the award.]
"[Quote]," said [Full Name], [Title].
8. Response or statement
Use when: you need to put something factual on the record — an outage, a recall, a correction.
On [date], [what happened]. [Company] [what it did, in what order, with times].
The issue affected [scope: which customers, which systems, what data]. It did not affect [what was unaffected]. Current status is [state] as of [time].
"[Quote that acknowledges, states the action, and gives the next update time]," said [Full Name], [Title]. Updates will be posted at [url].
Five phrases that get a release deleted
These came up repeatedly in the drafts we reviewed, and all five reduce response rates:
| Phrase | Why it fails | Replace with |
|---|---|---|
| "We are excited to announce" | Your feelings are not the news. It delays the actual fact by a full clause. | Delete it. Start with the company name and a verb. |
| " Innovative / cutting-edge / revolutionary" | Unverifiable from the outside. Reads as unfounded. | The specific mechanism: what it does that the previous approach did not. |
| "Industry-leading" | Who judged, and on what basis? No reporter can print it. | A number: share, volume, count, or the named third party that assessed it. |
| Quote restating the headline | Tells the reporter you have nothing else to say. | A quote with new information: why now, what changes, what it cost to build. |
| Missing boilerplate | Reporter has to research who you are, or skip you. | Two or three factual sentences: what the company does, when founded, scale. |
Where AI helps and where it hurts
Useful for: converting your bullet points into inverted-pyramid order; tightening a lead paragraph to forty words; rewriting a quote so it sounds spoken rather than written; generating a plain boilerplate; spotting adjectives you can delete.
Risky for: inventing traction figures, customer counts or percentages; writing the quote and attributing it; asserting an award you did not receive; stating dates that are not confirmed. A release with one invented number is worse than no release — it ends the relationship with that reporter permanently.
A pre-send checklist
- First forty words contain who, what, when, and why it matters
- Every number has a source you can name, plus the method and the period
- Every quote has a full name and a real title, and says something not in the lead
- Boilerplate is two or three factual sentences, no adjectives
- Contact is a monitored address, with a phone number for same-day stories
- Reading it aloud, it does not sound like an advertisement
Get the structure right first
An AI draft follows whatever skeleton you hand it. Give it the inverted pyramid and the facts, and it produces something usable in minutes.
Try Rytr →Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a press release be?
One page is standard, roughly 300 to 500 words. The lead should carry the whole story, so a reporter who stops after one paragraph still has the news.
Should I include pricing?
Yes, if it is public. Named prices are quotable facts; "contact us for pricing" reads as evasion and usually stalls the story.
Can AI write the quotes?
Draft them, then have the named person rewrite them in their own words. A quote nobody said is a fabrication attributed to a real person.
Do I need a boilerplate?
Yes. Two or three factual sentences describing what the company does, when it was founded and at what scale. It is the most reused block in the document.
When should I send it?
Tuesday to Thursday, mid-morning in the recipient timezone. Avoid Friday afternoon and Monday before 10am.
Should I embargo?
Only for genuine exclusives with a reporter who agreed in advance. An unrequested embargo is generally ignored.