How to write an effective press release?

A press release is an official statement by a company addressed to the media, in which it clearly conveys important information: about a product, results, a change on the board or its position on a given matter. A good press release immediately answers the journalist's questions of who, what, when, where and why – and only then develops the subject with evidence.

What is a press release?

A press release is an official statement by an organisation, addressed to the media and the public. Its main purpose is to convey significant information about a company, product or event clearly and concisely. A journalist can use it in full, quote a passage or treat it as a starting point for their own piece.

A well-written press release can:

• Build brand credibility by providing reliable and timely information.
• Shape the narrative around the company or product before others do.
• Generate media interest and potentially lead to wider coverage.
• Support business objectives by increasing brand awareness and potentially generating leads.

A press release also serves an archival function: it is an official record of a company's decision that can be referred back to in future. For listed companies, issuing releases regularly is a legal requirement that ensures transparency towards investors.

Press release and press information: are they the same thing?

W praktyce te dwie nazwy bywają stosowane zamiennie, choć różnią się tonem. Informacja prasowa najczęściej zapowiada coś nowego – produkt, wydarzenie, wynik badania – i ma zachęcić do zainteresowania tematem. Komunikat prasowy częściej jest oficjalnym stanowiskiem firmy w konkretnej sprawie, szczególnie w sytuacji trudnej – liczy się w nim precyzja słów, nie opowieść. Więcej o tym, jak budować taki materiał krok po kroku, piszemy w poradniku czym jest public relations i jak wpływa na biznes.

Who in the company should write press releases?

In small companies a press release is most often written by the owner or the person responsible for marketing – without formal journalistic training, but with inside knowledge of the subject. In larger organisations the task belongs to a PR specialist or press spokesperson, sometimes with the support of an external agency. Whoever writes the text, the final version should be approved by someone who knows the facts first-hand: a factual error in a release costs more than an imperfect style.

Key elements of a press release

An effective press release is built as an inverted pyramid: the most important points first, the details below. A journalist who reads only the headline and the first paragraph should already know enough to decide whether the topic interests them.

1. Headline – zwięzły, konkretny, najlepiej 60–80 znaków. Zawiera najważniejszą informację, nie przymiotniki w stylu „przełomowy” czy „innowacyjny”.
2. Lead (pierwszy akapit) – odpowiedź na pytania kto, co, gdzie, kiedy i dlaczego, w 2–3 zdaniach.
3. Develop – dodatkowe szczegóły i kontekst, ułożone od najważniejszych do mniej istotnych.
4. Quote – wypowiedź osoby z organizacji, która wnosi opinię lub wniosek, a nie powtarza to, co już napisano wyżej.
5. Informacje o firmie (boilerplate) – krótki akapit „o nas” na końcu.
6. Media contact – name, telephone number and email of the person who actually picks up and knows the subject.

When is it worth issuing a press release, and when is it better not to?

Not every change in a company deserves a press release. News is a concrete fact: a new product, a financial result, a change on the board, an investment or a position on a matter important to the industry. It is not the general statement that a company is “growing dynamically” or “strengthening its leading position”. Such phrases carry no verifiable content, and journalists skip them. A practical rule: if you cannot say in one sentence what exactly has changed, the release is probably not ready yet.

How do you write a headline and lead that grab attention?

The headline decides whether the message is opened at all, because a journalist's inbox usually shows only its beginning. The most important word (a product name, a number, a place) should come as early as possible. An example of a weak headline: “Company XYZ proudly presents a new chapter in its history”. An example of a good one: “Company XYZ opens a service centre in Katowice. Repairing machines will take 2 days instead of 5”.

The lead is a summary of the whole release. Many journalists stop reading there, and some newsrooms carry it into their own piece almost unchanged. A good lead: “From 1 October, Company XYZ is launching a service centre in Katowice for businesses in Upper Silesia. Machine repair time will fall from five working days to two”. It has the fact, the place, the date, the number and the benefit, all in one sentence.

The most common mistakes in press releases

• Excessive focus on promotion instead of information.
• Lack of specifics and overuse of generalities.
• Incorrect structure and lack of hierarchy of information.
• Linguistic errors and typos that undermine professionalism.

A press release should be written in clear, precise language, without long sentences or an excess of adjectives. A journalist may use it as the basis for their own article, so the more factual the text, the greater the chance of publication. It is also worth adapting the tone to the target audience: one style suits a release for youth media, another the B2B trade press, where an overly casual style can undermine the credibility of the topic and excessive jargon makes it harder for the journalist to turn it into a text that a reader outside the industry can understand.

Distribution of press releases

Writing a good press release is only half the battle; reaching the right audience with it is just as important. According to Cision's “2025 State of the Media Report” (over 3,000 journalists from 19 markets, published 7 May 2025), 85% of journalists prefer the first contact to be a short, personalised email, not a mass mailing of the same text to every newsroom. The same group is ruthless about off-target pitches: 86% of journalists immediately reject material that does not fit their beat.

Traditional emailing of communications to editors still has its place, but other options are worth considering:

• Platforms for press release distribution (e.g. PR Newswire, Business Wire)
• Publication on its own website in the "News" or "For the media" section
• Sharing on social media
• Use of tools to target specific journalists and industry influencers

The choice of distribution channel should suit the specifics of the industry and the target audience. A business newsroom may prefer an email with an attached document, a trade portal a short note in the body of the message, and a local outlet a telephone confirmation before publication. Good distribution practice looks like this:

• Prepare a list of newsrooms that really do write about your topic. Do not send the same release to every contact in the database.
• Write a short, personal email explaining why the topic suits that particular newsroom, and put the text of the release directly in the message, not only in an attachment.
• Publish the release in the press office on your own website, with the date and contact details. This is the address you point to in the email.
• Choose a day and time of sending that fits the newsroom's work cycle – most often the start of the week, in the late morning.

The press release, search engines and AI models

Today a press release reaches not only journalists but also artificial intelligence models such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot, which answer questions about companies and markets. A model is more willing to cite material that is published at a permanent address in the company's press office, gives figures with a source and a date, and is consistent with what the company says about itself elsewhere: on the home page, on social media and in earlier releases. Contradictory versions of the same information in different places lower, rather than raise, the chance of being cited.

How do you measure the effectiveness of a press release?

Assessing the effectiveness of a press release goes beyond simply counting publications. The AMEC industry standard (an international association dedicated to measuring communication) recommends looking at four levels: how much material was sent out, how many publications resulted and with what sentiment, how the audience reacted (website visits, enquiries) and whether this translated into a business result. Do not convert publications into so-called advertising value equivalency; it is an outdated indicator that the AMEC standard does not recognise and that Commplace does not use.

It is worth noting

• Quality and prestige of the media that published the information
• The tone and context in which the information was presented
• Publication reach and potential impact on the target audience
• Interaction and commentary on social media
• Impact on website traffic or product interest

A sample press release: a template to use

Below is a template for a short press release. The names and figures are examples, so replace them with your own data.

Headline: XYZ Technologies wprowadza system oczyszczania wody redukujący zużycie energii o 50%

Data i miejsce: Warszawa, 15 listopada 2026

Lead: XYZ Technologies ogłosiło dziś wprowadzenie na rynek systemu oczyszczania wody „AquaPure”, który redukuje zużycie energii o 50% przy jednoczesnym zwiększeniu efektywności oczyszczania o 30%. Pierwsze instalacje ruszą na początku 2027 roku.

Body: System wykorzystuje procesy biologiczne połączone z nanotechnologią. Pierwsze wdrożenia zaplanowano w trzech miastach, docelowo firma planuje rozszerzyć technologię na ponad 100 oczyszczalni w Polsce do końca 2028 roku.

Cytat: „Nasza technologia ma potencjał poprawić dostęp do czystej wody przy niższym zużyciu energii” – mówi dr Anna Nowak, główna technolog projektu w XYZ Technologies.

O firmie: XYZ Technologies to firma technologiczna specjalizująca się w rozwiązaniach dla ochrony środowiska, z siedzibą w Warszawie.

Media contact: Jan Kowalski, Dyrektor ds. Komunikacji, [email protected], tel. 123 456 789

How do you polish the language of a press release before sending it?

Before sending, it is worth reading the release aloud. Sentences that are too long to say in one breath are usually too long for a reader to grasp quickly. It is also good practice to ask someone outside the project, who does not know the details, to read the text. If they do not understand what it is about, a journalist may struggle too.

The most common mistakes in press releases

• Nadmierne promowanie. Przesadne przymiotniki i marketingowy język zamiast faktów – dziennikarz odłoży taki tekst.
• Brak konkretów. Bez liczb, dat i nazwisk komunikat traci wiarygodność.
• The most important point comes last. Jeśli kluczowa informacja jest w szóstym akapicie, nikt do niej nie dotrze.
• Wysyłka do wszystkich bez wyjątku. Ten sam komunikat do redakcji motoryzacyjnej i kulinarnej to prosta droga do skrzynki ze spamem.
• Unchecked content written with the help of AI. Według Cision, „2025 State of the Media Report”, 72% dziennikarzy obawia się błędów w materiałach PR przygotowanych przez sztuczną inteligencję. Każdą liczbę i nazwę musi sprawdzić człowiek przed wysyłką.
• Martwy kontakt dla mediów. Numer telefonu lub adres e-mail, pod którym nikt nie odbiera w ciągu dnia, przekreśla nawet najlepiej napisany temat – dziennikarz nie będzie czekał kilku dni na odpowiedź.

It is also worth checking which of the company's earlier releases had the greatest effect and considering why: was it a better topic, a better headline or a better choice of newsrooms? Gathering feedback directly from journalists the company has already worked with usually yields more practical tips than analysing open-rate statistics alone.

How Commplace helps

Commplace od 2019 roku prowadzi biuro prasowe, w którym opublikowaliśmy 1796 informacji i komunikatów prasowych dla 74 firm (Commplace Press Release Barometer, stan na 22.09.2026). Pomagamy przejść całą drogę: od znalezienia tematu, który jest realną wiadomością, przez napisanie tekstu i przygotowanie eksperta do rozmowy z dziennikarzem, po wysyłkę do właściwych redakcji i pomiar efektów. Zobacz, How we conduct public relations – warunki współpracy znajdziesz w in the price list.

Wyniki działań – publikacje, wejścia na stronę, zapytania od klientów – zbieramy w jednym miejscu w kokpicie Commwork®AI, obok zadań i terminów. Warto też przeczytać: media relations – how to build relationships with journalists and PR tools that really work.

Sources: Cision, “2025 State of the Media Report”, 7.05.2025 (more than 3000 journalists from 19 markets); Commplace, Press information barometer 2019–2026, analiza 1796 informacji prasowych, stan na 22.09.2026.

See also: Brand communication with micro-influencers - it's hard to avoid it today!