The Dynamics That Shape Successful Press Release Headlines

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The most important part of a press release is the heading or title because it is what determines if the reader will read it.  A client requested we write a press release about his newly started pet-grooming business. Well, what can you say that’s new and exciting about pet grooming? — the way he washes the dog, the shampoo he uses, the brushes, the combs? No. That’s all mundane stuff. So we looked for the hook. What was unique about his business? What made it newsworthy? What would the reader get out of it?
We found the unique aspect; he outfitted a van and made it a movable pet-grooming salon. Thus the phrase “mobile pet grooming went into the heading. What was newsworthy? He wrote a book about how to start up a mobile pet-grooming business. It was available to the public. Thus the announcement of the new book went into the heading-New How-To Book. What would entice the reader? The book revealed secrets about the business that only an insider might know. We included the fact that secrets were spilled. The final heading of that press release was: New How-To Book Spills Secrets About Lucrative Mobile Pet Grooming Business

The meat of the entire press release is contained in that simple, direct but attention-getting heading. It tells the story; it entices the reader who wants to know the secrets; it’s newsworthy.

Let’s go to a second example of a successful press release we did for another client. A New York designer wanted to release the fact that her graphic design company won the honor of creating a Millennium logo for the city of New York. Her original design was chosen from many entrants in a contest. What was newsworthy? What was unique? What would attract the reader?

Quite frankly, graphic design studios in New York City are a dime a dozen. But only one was chosen to do the important year 2000 logo. That was the hook. What was newsworthy? At the time, anything Millennium was newsworthy. If you recall, you could barely pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV without hearing something about the New Millennium. So the word Millennium perked up the title for the news media. What was in it for the reader? Everybody was interested in the New Millennium. What would happen, Y2K, would the world come to an end? So a year 2000 logo design for one of the great cities of the world would arouse enormous reader interest.

Thus the heading for the release became: Bonfilio Graphic Design Studio Chosen to create NYC Millennium Logo. The heading is simple, direct, and factual yet it contains the essential hook, the newsworthiness, and the potential reader interest.