Do you know what type of font is most appropriate for your press release to grab the attention of journalists, writers, and target audiences? Well, most people concentrate more on content without thinking of typography.
This article aims to inform you of the press release fonts available to you and the ones recommended if you want your news to achieve your intended goals.
Recommended: We recommend eReleases if you want a well-written and widely distributed press release to help funnel in more customers and increase revenue for your business.
PRESS RELEASE GUIDE:
- Typography is Important in Any Piece of Creative Writing
- Why Does Font Matter in Press Release Writing?
- How to Adjust Fonts to Make Your News Appealing
- Using Plenty of White Space to Appeal to Readers
- Final Recap
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Related Articles
Typography is Important in Creative Writing
Text is the most important part of any content as readers mostly seek information rather than graphics’ visual appeal. Therefore, when seeking to create powerful content, the design of your text matters.
Experts indicate that serif and sans-serif fonts such as New Times Roman, Arial, and Calibri are the best for readability and are recommended for press releases.
Design experts believe that the letterforms of the serif fonts make it easy for the brain to process.
Characteristics of a good press release font include:
- Legibility: legible fonts are essential for comprehension. Remember, if words are hard to read, then the message will be lost.
- Enough kerning: Although this may sound like a foreign word, it simply means that a good font is one with ample space between letters. Words that are too scrunched up are difficult to comprehend, and excess spacing will make your brain read slowly.
- Consistency: This means that the entire set of fonts should have the same characteristics. The ascending height of “t” and “f” should be consistent and so should the descending tails of “y” and “g”.
Why Does Font Matter in Press Release Writing?
In a nutshell, a good press release font will provide an artistic effect to your story. This is because fonts with correct alignments organize your presentations and appeal to your reader. This will reflect professionalism and build recognition, especially if you remain consistent with your fonts in all your press releases.
However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t use some of the visually appealing decorative fonts in your press release — just reserve those for the titles and subtitles because if you decorate the font within the body, you’ll be confusing your audience with improper legibility.
So, what will a good press release font do for you?
- It will convey the mood of your story/news: You can make it look fun and glamorous or simple, plain, and professional.
- It will create harmony: If you maintain the same font throughout your press release, your piece will look organized and uncluttered.
- It will attract readers: No one wants to read a press release with unattractive fonts. The better your font looks, the easier it is to convince someone to read.
- It will effectively establish information hierarchy without making your text look awkward. For instance, New Times Romans looks appealing when bolded and enlarged in titles and subtitles and matches nicely with the reduced, unbolded font within the body paragraphs.
How to Adjust Fonts to Make Your News Appealing
Many text editors like Microsoft Word and Google Docs are easy to use because they allow for the effortless adjustment of fonts. Follow these steps to create a press release that is appealing to the eye.
- After writing your press release, highlight the entire text and go to your text formatting tools. This is in the taskbar section if you are using a Word template.
- Double-space your text to improve readability.
- Navigate to fonts and select either New Times Roman, Arial, or Calibri, as these are the most appealing for press releases.
- Adjust the font size to 12 points, as this is the standard size for most professional documents.
- Adjust your margins to 1-2 inches all around.
- Bold the titles, subtitles, and other major points to make them more distinct.
What should you consider when adjusting your font?
- Demographics: If you understand the audience you’re targeting, you can adjust the font accordingly. For example, if your press release is intended for a young audience with minimal reading expertise, you can make your typeface simple to read by adjusting the size of letterforms. On the other hand, if addressing a knowledgeable audience, a standard, modern, or even edgy font will do the magic.
- Distribution channel: You need to keep in mind all the media that your press release will appear in and adjust based on how your font will perform in the intended platform. If it is featured on print media, use simpler fonts such as Century Gothic, Helvetica, and Verdana, and if intended for the web, utilize web fonts such as Arial and Times New Romans.
- Copy length: Fonts of lengthy press releases should have a greater degree of legibility compared to those requiring only a few paragraphs. If you’re writing just a short piece (less than 300 words), fonts that add a little personality can enhance your text’s appeal.
- Special features: many modern fonts have special features such as small caps, figure styles, and fractions intended to make your text more appealing.
Using Plenty of White Space to Appeal to Readers
In addition to the above font suggestions, creating plenty of white space within your content will greatly complement your font and encourage journalists to look at your press release. However, you need to find the balance between too much space and too little space.
Remember, journalists and other news distributors are often bombarded with high volumes of press releases and have no time to go through each and every one of them. Today’s readers also like short texts that they can skim through quickly to get the information they want.
Reducing the density of content in your piece will help you stand out. So, how can you do this effectively?
- Keep the page margins large.
- Break down your ideas into small pieces of text mentioning only the important things.
- If you have a list of items, create a bulleted or numbered list instead of listing within blocks of texts.
Final Word
Selecting the appropriate font is an important part of any press release design and influences the decision to read or not to read. Although common fonts like Calibri, Arial, and New Times Roman are mostly recommended for professional pieces, you should take time and explore options while keeping your desired audience in mind. No matter how long it takes you to determine the type of font suitable for your press release, it’s a worthy investment.
Read our Best Press Release Distribution Service 2021 review to find the right press release distribution for your business’s specific needs
Frequently Asked Questions
Which press release font provides more legibility?
New Times Roman! Although sans-serif fonts such as Arial and Calibri are excellent press release fonts, New Times Romans is the most recognizable font. In addition, since it’s a serif font, it’s easier to read and print. Further, this font is narrower compared to other fonts, meaning you can fit in more words in a given line. Most text editors have this font, thus making it readily available.
Should you consider the type of font used by your intended press release distributor?
Yes! Although it’s not paramount, using a similar font as your intended publisher will increase your chances of getting noticed and selected for distribution. Remember, many journalists like consistency as it earns them recognition. Therefore mimicking their favorite font is indicative that you recognize their style. They might as well return the favor by selecting your press release from the enormous pool of potentially good news.
What is the appropriate font size for your press release headline?
The standard for headlines is 14-point size. A press release headline is located at the top center of your page and is the main point of attraction. Apart from making sure your headline message is crafted well and convinces readers to care about your story, the headline font needs to be enlarged enough to be visible to the reader, skimming through many headlines. Although 14-point size is the standard, you can enlarge as appropriate depending on the size of font you use in the body text. The idea here is to make the headline more distinct.
Why should you italicize paragraph subheadings?
The font size of paragraph subheadings is the same as that of the preceding body paragraph, and the paragraph may begin on the same line. To make them more recognizable, it’s recommended that you bold and italicize the font. When writing a press release, the last thing you want is to give the journalist or media distributor the heavy task of searching for breaks within your content. Using italics makes it easier to find important points and makes your work look more presentable.
Should you mix fonts when writing a press release?
Pairing fonts is a technique used to improve the aesthetic appearance of texts and can also work well with your press release. However, not all fonts match when used together. Some common font types that can easily be paired include Alegreya Sans and Source Sans Pro, Oswald and Raleway, Pacifico and Josefin Sans, Old Standard TT and Open Sans, etc.
What is a press release?
A press release is a brief statement that features a news announcement about — or from — an organization. Companies and other organizations use press releases to announce new product launches, earnings reports, management changes, and more. Press releases make it easier for journalists and news outlets to learn about potential news items to inform their reporting.
How do you end a press release?
The last section of a press release should include your press contact information. Specifically, it should feature your press contact name(s), phone number(s), and email address(es).
How should you structure a press release?
Press releases typically contain six parts organized as follows:
- The issuing organization’s logo along with its location and the date
- An attention-grabbing headline
- A succinct introduction with a strong lede statement
- Three paragraphs of body content (in descending order of importance)
- The organization’s boilerplate content
- The press release contact information
Where do you send press releases?
Organizations distribute their press releases to relevant media contacts. This includes newspapers, magazines, radio stations, television networks, and online news sites, among others.
If you don’t want to spend your time tracking down relevant media outlets, submit your press releases to a press release distribution service like eReleases. Many of these distribution services also will offer to write your press releases. This can save you even more time and help ensure your company issues professionally written releases more likely to appeal to reporters.
Should I send a press release as a Microsoft Word Doc or PDF file?
Never send a press release as a PDF file. PDFs can prove challenging to format and likely will reduce the chance of a journalist reading and reporting on your news.
Instead, submit your press release to a press release distribution service as a Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx) file.
If you plan to send your release directly to a reporter, copy and paste its content directly into your email rather than including an attachment. Why? Most reporters dislike attachments because they can easily clog up their inboxes.
Do press releases work?
Yes, press releases do work. They also provide many benefits.
Besides the obvious benefit of sharing corporate news with media outlets to promote potential coverage, press releases also help businesses improve their search engine optimization (SEO) rankings and brand recognition. In addition, they can help companies increase sales and market share as well as enhance their credibility.
Press releases also can serve as a tool for mitigating negative media coverage. Public relations firms often use them to help their clients improve their reputations.