Creating a boilerplate for your media releases

The boilerplate is one of the most important sections of your media release. If you are unsure of what this is, in simple terms it is a snapshot (note: small in size!) of your organisation: summarising who you are and what you do. I always like to include any significant achievements such as major awards won.

The boilerplate is positioned at the end of the media release and before the detailed contact information.

If you don’t send many media releases and the recipients are unfamiliar with you and your organisation, they will often read the opening paragraphs and go straight to the boilerplate to help them determine the author’s or organisation’s credibility.

This means you need to ensure it is factual, that it correctly reflects what you do and that all statements can be verified.

It needs to be clearly written in third person in journalistic style.

In preparation for creating a boilerplate, write a list of 5-6 impressive facts about your organisation. For example, it might be that you:

• Have reached a milestone of operating for 30 or 50 years;
• Are a third generation business;
• Have won an industry or business award;
• Have a patent for your flagship product;
• Export products to 10 countries;
• Are a start-up;
• Have offices or facilities in numerous locations;
• Have a significant revenue for your industry;
• Employ 10, 50, 100 or 500 staff;
• Are Australian owned and operated;
• Have XXX franchisees;
• Have achieved XXX accreditation.

Don’t forget to say where you are based, what you do and include your brand names. And, if applicable, do say that your products are sold through XXX nationally. If the reseller is a national chain, this looks good and is an endorsement of your brand.

I would also suggest you include who your product or service is designed for and why it is unique.

Once you have the key facts for the boilerplate, it is just a matter of organising them into an easy-to-read and interesting paragraph. It should not be made up of dot points.

So rather than your brand being a blank sheet like the photo on the left, its backstory is told with valuable and interesting information.

Include your hyperlinked website address at the end of the boilerplate and ensure the contact information includes telephone numbers and email address.

Just remember to keep it short — about 100 words in length — and don’t use flowery, sales-oriented language such as “industry-leading” unless you can back it up; avoid assertions such as “revolutionary” and “innovative”; and make sure it is kept up to date.

And finally, make sure you put the media release on your website, unless you’ve offered it to someone as an exclusive. I would also use your keywords in the boilerplate to assist with SEO as media may run your story and include the boilerplate, which will help drive traffic to your website.