The press release format is old, rigid, and widely mocked by people who have never had to process two hundred of them in a morning.
It survives because it matches how a newsroom works. A journalist scanning their inbox needs to extract the news in two seconds. Every convention in the format exists to make that possible.
The lead is almost everything
The first sentence contains the news. Not context, not a description of the industry, not what year it is.
Most crypto releases open with something like “As the digital asset space continues to mature…” — which tells a journalist they are about to be asked to find the news themselves. They will not.
The second sentence supports the first with the checkable fact: the number, the named partner, the specific capability. Between them, those two sentences should be enough for someone to decide whether to keep reading.
The inverted pyramid
Most important first, least important last. Every paragraph descending in significance.
This exists so an editor can cut from the bottom without losing anything essential. It also means a journalist who stops after two paragraphs still has the story.
Writing chronologically — the journey, the background, the eventual announcement — inverts this, which means the news sits somewhere in the middle where nobody finds it.
Around 400 words
Long enough to carry the news, the supporting facts, one quote and the context. Short enough that nothing important is buried.
If there is genuinely more to say, link to a background document. The release is a pitch, not the article. Its job is to get someone interested enough to ask questions.
The quote problem
Most press release quotes are unusable. They restate the announcement in enthusiastic language, use words nobody says aloud, and read as though four people edited them, because four people did.
A quote earns its place when it does something the factual paragraphs cannot: providing context, taking a position, explaining why this matters rather than what it is.
One quote. From someone whose title makes their opinion relevant. Written so it sounds like a person speaking.
What to cut
- Adjectives about your own product. Let the facts do it.
- The industry context paragraph. Journalists covering this beat know the industry.
- Partnership language that overstates the relationship. A logo on a page is not a strategic collaboration, and the other company’s legal team may read it differently than yours.
- Anything about future price, directly or by implication. This will not clear your legal review and it makes serious readers suspicious.
- Roadmap items. Announce things that exist.
Boilerplate and contact
The boilerplate at the bottom is the standing description of the company. Write it once, keep it consistent everywhere, update it when something material changes.
The contact is a named human who will actually answer. A generic address that goes to a shared inbox nobody monitors is a common and entirely self-inflicted failure.
Distribution versus outreach
A distribution service will syndicate your release across sites that republish everything automatically. That produces a large number in a report, some search value, and very little readership.
Direct outreach to specific journalists who cover your beat produces far fewer placements and far more value. The two are not substitutes and should never be reported as though they were.
Two placements where your buyers read beat forty automatic reposts, and any report that blends them together is hiding which one you got.
Timing
Release timing is worth real thought. Early in the week, early in the day in your primary market, avoiding days when something larger will dominate the cycle.
Give journalists advance notice under embargo where the relationship supports it. A reporter who has had a day to prepare writes a better piece than one reacting to a release everyone received simultaneously.
Common questions
How do you write a crypto press release?
Lead with the news in the first sentence, support it with a checkable fact in the second, and put the context underneath. Journalists read the first two sentences and decide. Everything about the traditional format - the inverted pyramid, the boilerplate at the bottom, the named contact - exists because it matches how a newsroom actually processes information, and abandoning it makes the release harder to use rather than more distinctive.
How long should a press release be?
Around 400 words for the body, plus boilerplate and contact details. Longer than that and the parts a journalist needs get buried. If there is genuinely more to say, put it in a linked background document rather than the release itself, because the release is a pitch rather than an article.
Should a crypto press release include quotes?
One quote that says something, from someone with a title that matters. Most press release quotes say nothing - they restate the announcement in enthusiastic language and journalists cut them immediately. A quote earns its place when it provides context or a position that the factual paragraphs cannot, which means it should sound like a person rather than a committee.
Do press release distribution services work?
They produce syndication, which is republication of your release across sites that republish everything automatically. That has some search value and almost no readership. It is not the same as earned coverage and should never be reported as such. Distribution is worth using as a supplement to direct journalist outreach rather than a substitute for it.
Does Corum8 write press releases?
Yes, as part of press programmes rather than in isolation. We write the release, pitch the journalists directly, prepare the spokesperson and coordinate timing with everything else running. Corum8 has run PR since 2016 with 95+ specialists.
