A boilerplate is a succinct summary of your company that is included in every press release. When you decide when to release a press release, it is imperative that the boilerplate embodies everything you want your target audience to know about your company. It is basically a one-paragraph-version of your mission, vision, and about-us page.
Press Release Writing Tips For Your Success
According to the University of Washington’s listing of the essential parts of a press release, your company or organization’s boilerplate should be used in all publications you circulate, and it should be strategically written. The first impression your company projects to a person unfamiliar with what you do depends on how well the boilerplate was written in these publications. So how exactly can you come up with a strategic boilerplate that reflects everything good about your organization when you release a press release? Read on for some tips.
Remember: Press Releases are Formal Journals
The first press release was printed out on the New York Times in the early 1900s. Unlike now where your press release can be read by your target audience seconds after it is posted in the Internet, print media dominated the early days of press releases. This means that essentially, every press release is a publication written and edited by a professional journalist released through the press via newspapers.
It is sometimes easy for companies nowadays to forget this fact because of the ease by which information can be created and shared through the Internet. So the first thing you have to remember for you to be able to write a succinct boilerplate when you decide to release a press release is this: write using professional journalistic styles.
Be Objective When Writing Your Press Release’s Boilerplate
When you are writing about yourself, it is very hard to be objective. Of course it isn’t a bad idea to let people know your skills and everything great about you, but you don’t just go ahead and say, “I’m the most skilled in my niche. With my track record and experience it’s no question that I’m your best choice!” to every potential client you meet right?
The same is true in the process of writing a boilerplate every time you release a press release. Be as objective as you can and accurately list your company’s achievements, goals, and expertise by presenting your credibility with minimal to nonexistent egoism and sales lingo involved.
Focus on your company’s unique qualities and write your boilerplate using adjectives and phrases that don’t imply false greatness; a common mistake made by organizations who think too much of selling themselves when writing their boilerplate.
Facts are Your Friends
For your decision of when to release a press release to bring in great responses from your niche, keep in mind that facts are your friends. Your boilerplate should revolve around verifiable information about your company, products, or services. Exaggeration is a no-no when you are writing your company’s boilerplate. When a potential client reads about you and does his research of what your company is all about, he should be able to verify all the information written in your boilerplate.
As previously mentioned, a boilerplate holds the first impressions of your company to potential clients. Have you ever heard of the forked tail effect and the halo effect? These are psychological concepts that indicate how people perceive you from the first meeting: either in a negative light or a positive light respectively. Who holds a pitchfork and has a tail? On the other hand, who sports a halo and has wings? You’d definitely want your company’s first impression to be associated with the latter.
Include only the verifiable facts about you and your company to avoid misleading your readers. Doing so will equip your boilerplate to bring about a halo effect whenever you release a press release. After all, if the first impression your boilerplate, and your press release as a whole, gets is a forked tail impression, you’d have to start from the beginning and re-think your strategy. Better to tread carefully and write a factual boilerplate than go through that don’t you think?
Remember: Statistics Change
If you want to include numerical data in your boilerplate, go ahead and do so. It’s good to have a well-written boilerplate you can use it in every type of publication about your company, but if you included some numbers in there, be sure to review it periodically.
Whenever you decide to release a press release, remember to check if the statistics you indicated in the boilerplate are still accurate. Are you still operating in 9 locations? Are all your products or services still available in specific divisions? Statistics change, and so should your boilerplate if it has them.
Use Major Keywords in Your Press Release’s Boilerplate
If you can’t decide when to release a press release because your boilerplate seems incomplete, think back on the most basic components of publications: words. Write your boilerplate using words that can relay what your company stands for and what you do in a single line or phrase.
Distinguish the core function of your company and find the keyword that can accurately encompass that function, and then go from there. For example, if your company offers business-consulting services, write the boilerplate in your press release describing yourself as a “business consultant.” Work from there and include other ways of referring to your services like “business analysis” or maybe “business process specialist.” In any case, if you are a masterful with your craft and niche, knowing the best keywords to include in your press release’s boilerplate will come with ease.
Before deciding when to release a press release, keep these things in mind to come up with a concise but effective boilerplate about your company. Write information about your company formally and objectively. Use keywords and verifiable facts to present your credibility, and stay on top of things to ensure that your boilerplate is accurate in every statement. When you compose an effective boilerplate each time you publish a press release, you maintain the loyalty of your old clients, and will be perceived in a positive light by new ones.