When writing a press release, you might wonder how long it should be. In other words, what’s the ideal word count?
Since I serve small businesses, I sometimes receive this question from new clients. My rule of thumb is below 400 words. 200 words will be ideal, if you can manage to get your story across.
Here’s why:
- Most newswire service platforms allow 400 words per press release. Each additional 100 words cost 30% or more, depending on the market selections you choose.
- Most journalists spend less than 1 minute reading your press release. The average reading speed for an adult is 200 to 250 words per minute, so your first 200 words must get your message across. If not, the journalist won’t finish reading it.
- Surveys show that journalists think press releases are too long in general (Green Target).
- Due to our increasingly digital lifestyle, people generally lose concentration after 8 seconds – less than a goldfish’s 9-second attention span (a Microsoft study).
We as PR professionals tend to write long releases. When I managed PR in a life sciences company, our average length was 600 words, not counting the “About the company” boilerplate section. The long lists of key features of our system, software, or service alone can add up to 200 words. I have also come across longer press releases that have over a thousand words.
But how can you get your story across in 1 minute or less? It requires you to think like your reader. Ask yourself, “What are the essential points and story angles that would resonate with the media’s readers?” Get to those points fast with your headline, subheadings, and first body paragraph. Writing a short and succinct release requires you to spend more time to distill your messages and story angle.
But it’s not easy to write concisely. The following quote illustrates this point:
“I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.”
The quote, along with many of its variations, has been attributed to Mark Twain, Blaise Pascal, and other well-known high achievers. Indeed, it is not easy, but would you rather be the few that write twice as good and half as long?
Consider it before you write your next press release.
