Great press releases have common elements. These include headings, body paragraphs, and boilerplates. While boilerplates can easily be overlooked by those who are new to issuing press releases, they are important for a lot of reasons. Do not send out a press release that does not include a great boilerplate.
A great press release heading will make sure that your news gets noticed. Keep it focused, use an active voice, and throw in some impressive stats if you can. If it catches a journalist’s attention, he or she will read the body paragraph.
A great body paragraph will provide a journalist with the details of the news. It expands on the headline. It helps a journalist to understand why the news is significant.
It gives them everything they need to share the news with their readers. If your headline says you have made a great new hire who will take your company to the next level, the body explains who the hire is, why they are so great, and why they are a great fit for your company.
A great boilerplate gives details about the company behind the news. When your press release becomes a press report, it will most likely include some details about your company.
The boilerplate provides those details. If you do not include a company boilerplate, you make it harder for the journalist to write a good story. Make it too hard, and they might just pass, even if your news is great. So, as I said, do not send out a press release that does not include a great boilerplate.
See also: How to Write a Press Release
What is a boilerplate press release?
There are no rules that outline the elements that must be included in the boilerplate copy. The key is that you provide information that makes your company look great.
There are a lot of brands competing for media space. All of them hit milestones, make hires, and log successes. As media outlets weigh which are the most newsworthy, the info in the boilerplate could be what swings the scales. Do your best to position yourself as a credible brand that deserves press by including a great boilerplate.
Here are some elements that you should consider including:
- Your products or services – The body of your release might make it clear that you are a fintech company. Provide some details in the boilerplate about the fintech products and services you provide. If you have a flagship product, include it. If you have a unique area of expertise, explain it.
- Your clients – Sometimes a high profile client will grab a journalists attention. If you have some, list them in the boilerplate. The volume of clients that you serve can also attract attention. If you don’t have something impressive to include, qualifying it might boost its value. For example, “Less than one year after launching, our brand has already served more than 500 clients in 11 countries.”
- Your awards – Do not be shy about sharing information on awards you have won. Establishing your credibility is one of the goals of a boilerplate. Awards help to do that.
- Your vision – While you need to keep it brief, it is good to put a little bit of heart into your boilerplate. Even it if is just including your tagline, give information that says why you do what you do, especially if it makes you unique.
- A call to action – It is good to include some links in your boilerplate. These can go to your website, your CEO’s LinkedIn profile, or your social media account. If you do this, package them as a CTA rather than just listing the link. For example, “Click here for background on our CEO” or “Click here for a product highlight reel on our YouTube channel.”
Where do I put the company boilerplate in the press release?
The boilerplate paragraph will always go at the bottom of a press release. You do not want it to get in the way or distract from the information that is driving the release. Once the heading and body do their work, the journalist or editor will look to the boilerplate to supplement their story.
You may be tempted to include information in the body of your release that you also have in your boilerplate. Fight that temptation. The boilerplate provides supplemental information so that you can focus your body on the news. Journalists will know to look to the boilerplate to get the information that they need about your company.
Why is it sometimes called a boilerplate template?
Once you develop a boilerplate, it should be a standard copy that appears in every press release. In essence, it is a template that is copied and pasted to your releases.
While you want to make sure that you do not include out-of-date information, such as old stats or old links, you should not refresh the information every time you send out a press release.
Keeping the boilerplate static will assist in communicating a consistent message to the press. It will also help with SEO, which we will get to a little later. Set a reminder to review your boilerplate every quarter to see if anything needs to be updated. Otherwise, set it and forget it.
What kind of boilerplate press release copy do journalists love?
Just like with the copy in the rest of the release, you want to make sure that your boilerplate copy is easy to read. Bullet points are sometimes the best way to go.
Keep it short; aim for less than 100 words. Keep your target audience in mind; it is for journalists looking to add some details to an article, not potential clients or customers you are trying to sell. Avoid jargon that someone outside of your industry may not understand.
You might want to think of the boilerplate as an executive summary of your company. It is more than a tweet but less than a pitch deck. To quote Mary Poppins, “Enough is as good as a feast.”
Should you consider SEO and keywords when writing company boilerplates?
Often, press releases are sent out via a press release distribution service, which allows them to get before a large audience with little effort.
These newswire services distribute the release to journalists and influencers as well as traditional and digital media outlets. Because these services often post releases to online outlets, they can act as low-tier media placements for your brand. As a result, addressing SEO in your release can help to boost your brand’s findability.
To take advantage of SEO, include in your boilerplate press release any keywords that you want to connect with.
Do you want to rank among crypto companies that care about sustainability? Make sure your boilerplate includes those keywords. As your press release gets shared in more and more outlets, including relevant keywords can help with brand awareness by pushing you higher in the search engines.
How to Build a Media List That Works
Where can I find boilerplate press release examples?
Newswires like AP News, Business Wire, and Yahoo! Finance are great places to look to find examples of press releases that companies are putting out. Click on a few and check out their boilerplates.
If it is a release put out by a global, well-known company, you can probably use it as a model for creating your own. You might start by looking at companies in your industry, but you don’t need to stop there.
A recent press release from Intel put out on Yahoo! Finance includes this boilerplate:
Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) is an industry leader, creating world-changing technology that enables global progress and enriches lives. Inspired by Moore’s Law, we continuously work to advance the design and manufacturing of semiconductors to help address our customers’ greatest challenges.
By embedding intelligence in the cloud, network, edge, and every kind of computing device, we unleash the potential of data to transform business and society for the better. To learn more about Intel’s innovations, go to newsroom.intel.com and intel.com.
JCPenney included this boilerplate in a recent press release on AP News:
JCPenney is the shopping destination for diverse, working American families. With inclusivity at its core, the Company’s product assortment meets customers’ everyday needs and helps them commemorate every special occasion with style, quality, and value.
JCPenney offers a broad portfolio of fashion, apparel, home, beauty, and jewelry from national and private brands and provides personal services including salon, portrait, and optical.
The Company and it’s 50,000 associates worldwide serve customers where, when, and how they want to shop – from jcp.com to more than 650 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
Pinger issued a release on Business Wire that included this boilerplate:
Pinger’s employee-centric culture includes competitive salaries and benefits like unlimited time off, full medical coverage even for part-time employees, and pet insurance. Employees have the freedom to work remotely and are encouraged to take every other Friday off. The company also organizes regular online and in-person get-togethers.
Pinger started the communication app revolution in 2005 by enabling the first smartphones to send free texts with its TextFree app. The company further expanded the versatility of mobile phones through Sideline and Sideline Pro. Today Pinger’s apps have been downloaded more than 150 million times and have powered over 100 billion text conversations.
Pinger is a privately held company headquartered in San Jose, California, with remote staff throughout the United States and Europe. Learn more about Pinger and its apps at www.pinger.com.
If these examples don’t help you to get started, explore until you get inspired. If the thought of diving into a project like this is overwhelming, find some help. A quality public relations firm can help you to develop a boilerplate that will give media outlets everything they need to tell your story.
