Nadia Kelly, founder of tech PR firm Burlington PR^[1], shares some key advice on how you can make your press release stand out.

A successful funding round is a milestone, the result of hard graft, endless meetings and perhaps months of uncertainty. After all the work, you want to mark it with an announcement.

Funding releases are the ‘hooks’ for journalists, a reason to write about your company right here and now. And they’re an excellent opportunity to showcase your business, but they are also a challenge.

Here’s how to make your release stand out: 

1. Decide on your objectives

Your aim could be to attract new talent or new partners, scare off potential competition or attract new customers.

Whatever your objectives, being able to define them clearly will help everything else fall into place.

2. Evaluate your business

Write a question and answer list on your company, covering the good, the bad and the ugly. The key positive messages will emerge clearly from this.

Don’t forget the basics: Who are you? What is it you’re announcing? What is unique about your product? Why is this a pivotal moment?  

Whatever your product, you will need convincing evidence that somebody wants or needs it, and that they will pay good money for it.

Why is your solution better than other options? The fact that you use AI, for example, isn’t enough. You need to explain why AI makes your solution better.

And don’t forget the bad and the ugly. What is the worst question a reporter could ask? You may be able to pre-empt it in your release. You must certainly be ready to answer it in an interview.

With a clear idea of your objectives and your story, you are ready to write.

3. Your words and your audience

Avoid jargon and clichés. Resist the temptation to dub your company ‘the Amazon for pet-pampering’ and go easy on the rhetoric of ‘disruption’. Journalists have heard these pitches too often to take such claims on trust.

If your business ‘disrupts’, explain exactly how.

Establish a core proposition – why your product provides a benefit that customers will pay for.