E-mail News Releases


Something that I like to do on this blog is letting you know about future clothing and makeup collection releases. Nowadays, a makeup/fashion brand can easily inform their audience of new products by posting it on their own social media. But there's something about someone else promoting and informing others of your new products. We trust their opinion/review more than the seller's.

With my opinion and review of, let's say, Fenty Beauty's wide variety of Pro Filt'r foundation shades, it is more believable than Fenty Beauty's review of their own product, since it's always going to be positive. We want to know the good and -- if there's any -- the bad.

In any case, Fenty Beauty's PR team most likely prepares a news release: a statement with information, distributed to reporters, editors, bloggers, etc.

According to R. D. Smith in Becoming a Public Relations Writer: Strategic writing for emerging and established media, news releases can be sent in these four forms (out of many other forms): e-mail, social media, trans media news package, and online newsroom. We'll be focusing one email news releases today.

With e-mail news releases, according to Smith, "[it is] written as the text of an email rather than as an attachment. As such, it can be read by any recipient with email capabilities using not only desktop and laptop computers but also smart phones and even smarter tablets and other mobile devices."

E-mail news releases are to be written in a way where it can be accessed by the person with any device they are using. Other than that, e-mail news releases should be shorter than your typical printed news release.

Here's a quick break-down on e-mail releases that I compiled from Smith's book:

1. About 350-400 words in about 5 or 6 paragraphs, each with two or 3 sentences.
2. News Flag - on subject line, clearly make it known it's a news release.
3. Clear Subject - topic of news release.
4. Personal Note to editor if circumstances allow.
5. Release Date - "Immediate release" after subject line to let the receiver know they can use the material immediately.
6. Strong Headline - Summarize news presented.
7. Summary News Lead- Summarize!
8. Secondary Information - Few details in body of e-mail.
9. Strategic Quote - plug-in interesting quote to grasp reader.
10. ID Paragraph - Concluding with a short summary of organization.
11. End Mark - Conclude with ##### on bottom center of page to indicate the end of news release.


Now you're somewhat informed on e-mail news releases, but I encourage you to read Smith's book if you want to fully submerge yourself in understanding news releases!

Smith, R. D. (2017). Becoming a Public Relations Writer: Strategic writing for emerging and established media (5th ed.). New York: Routledge.

https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Public-Relations-Writer-Established/dp/1138123056


Xo,
Stacy.

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