What’s the perfect press release headline?

There’s no one, perfect headline under glass at a museum somewhere, but there’s a perfect headline for the release you’re writing right now. Here’s how to find the sweet spot.

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Of course there’s no such thing as the absolute, perfect press release, but we can imagine a conceptually perfect press release headline. For every press release, there’s an amazing headline waiting out there for it, and it’s your job to find it each and every time. Reaching that pinnacle is no small feat, though, and there are several things to look out for.

Length

You can’t really say “four words maximum for a headline” or “no more than 50 characters and no less than 14,” as that doesn’t take any other factors into account. Still, there are a few rules to follow when it comes to length.

For instance, you absolutely cannot have some gigantic headline. Long headlines automatically scare away anyone who might even be remotely interested in reading your press release. A giant headline (“Despite the explosion of its factory, Fantasy Teddy Bear Fun Inc. declares it will survive forever”) implies the rest of the release will be a nightmare to et through, and a busy reporter or intern will skip over it as fast as possible.

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