Does your funeral home send a press release to your local media outlets when you’re promoting a new product, service, or upcoming event? If not, you’re missing out on a crucial marketing opportunity. By having your local media outlets share the news, you’re reaching more potential client families for your funeral home.

Now, your next question is, “How do I write a press release?” Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with these best practices.

Follow Journalism AP Style Rules

When writing a press release, you need to follow standard journalism AP Style rules. This may seem intimidating, but as a journalism major, I can assure you that it’s just a matter of following a few formatting and writing guidelines. It also shows reporters that you know what you’re doing and you’re likely to get more coverage.

For formatting, make sure to follow this style:

• Add the text “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” in the top left corner of the page with the date and contact information (name, email, and phone number) each on their own line below it.
• Include the symbols “###” centered at the bottom of your page.
• Enter your city name in all caps followed by a hyphen before the text begins.

We’ll also cover some writing best practices and example templates later on.

Include Your Logo

If your funeral home doesn’t have a letterhead, make sure to include your logo at the top of your press release. This further helps establish and identify your funeral home’s brand.

Does your logo need an update? We can help! Call us at 866-372-9372 for a quote on your new logo design.

Stick to the Main Points

When writing your content, stick to the main points. A press release isn’t the place for using flowery language or getting too creative. It’s about getting the information out there as concisely and timely as possible to grab your audience’s attention. To do this, make sure you have an attention-grabbing title and lead statement that says what you’re promoting.

To determine your main points, it helps to create a list of things to include and rank them in importance. If you’re having trouble ranking them, ask yourself what information your audience would want to know first. Then, make sure the most important information is at the beginning. Overall, keep your sentences short and sweet and keep the whole thing to one page.

Add Quotes

Don’t forget to add relevant quotes to your content. For example, depending on what your funeral home is promoting, include some quotes from your funeral home’s staff talking about a new product. Or, include quotes from client families who attended your funeral home’s events in the past.

When quoting someone, use the following formatting:

“The remembrance event was beautiful,” said (name, title). “It truly honored the deceased.”

On the second reference, you can just refer to the person by their last name.

Proofread, Proofread, Proofread

I can’t emphasize this enough. If your content has any errors, it decreases the chance of coverage and may turn off potential client families. Make sure to have multiple people check for spelling, grammar, and fact errors. If you know someone who is well versed in AP Style, it’s a good idea to have them look it over before submitting.

Follow These Press Release Templates

As funeral directors, we know that you’re busy people and often don’t have the time to write press releases. That’s why we want to make things even easier for you with our free media kits!

In these kits, your funeral home has everything you need to promote your new products, services, and events. In addition to a press release template, they also include social media posts and additional marketing materials.

Currently, we have media kits for your holiday remembrance program, Frazer-powered website, Tribute Pay, Tribute Loans, Tribute Insurance Assignments, and Tribute Crowdfunding.

Check out our Resources page to download these free media kits!