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Cognitive architecture for AI-augmented software development with structured memory, ensemble validation, and closed-loop correction. FAIR-aligned artifacts, 84% cost reduction via human-in-the-loop, standards adopted by 100+ organizations.
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Markdown
# Press Release Template (AP Style)
## Metadata
- ID: PRS-001
- Owner: PR Manager (agents/pr-manager.md)
- Contributors: Content Strategist (agents/content-strategist.md), Brand Manager (agents/brand-manager.md)
- Reviewers: Executive Orchestrator (agents/executive-orchestrator.md), Legal Advisor (agents/legal-advisor.md)
- Team: `team`
- Status: `draft/review/approved/published`
- Dates: created `YYYY-MM-DD` / updated `YYYY-MM-DD` / embargo `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM TZ`
- Related: MED-`id`, SOC-`id`, BRA-`id`
- Links: `newsroom-url`, `asset-cdn-url`
## Purpose
Generate newsworthy press releases following AP Style guidelines for maximum media pickup and SEO discoverability. Optimized for web-first distribution with embedded multimedia, mobile-responsive formatting, and WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility.
## Format Requirements
### Structure (AP Style)
1. **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** header (or **EMBARGOED UNTIL [Date/Time TZ]**)
2. Strong headline (60-80 characters, active voice, keyword-rich)
3. Optional subheadline (80-120 characters, additional context)
4. Dateline (CITY, State/Country - Date)
5. Lead paragraph (who, what, when, where, why - 25-35 words)
6. Supporting paragraphs (inverted pyramid: most important info first)
7. Executive quotes (attributed with full name and title)
8. Company boilerplate (25-100 words)
9. Media contact information
10. `###` end marker
### Style Guidelines
- **Voice**: Third person, objective, factual
- **Tense**: Past tense for completed actions, present for ongoing
- **Numbers**: Spell out one through nine, numerals for 10+
- **Dates**: Month DD, YYYY (e.g., November 28, 2024)
- **Time**: 12-hour format with a.m./p.m., include timezone
- **Titles**: Capitalize formal titles before names (e.g., CEO Jane Smith)
- **Punctuation**: AP style (single space after periods, serial comma optional)
- **Length**: 400-600 words optimal (300 minimum, 800 maximum)
### Web & Mobile Optimization
- **Headline SEO**: Include primary keyword, location if relevant
- **Meta description**: First 155 characters of lead paragraph
- **URL slug**: `/newsroom/YYYY/MM/keyword-rich-title`
- **Responsive design**: Mobile-first layout, readable on 320px screens
- **Load time**: < 2 seconds on 3G networks
- **Font size**: Minimum 16px body text, 24px+ headlines
### Multimedia Requirements
- **Hero image**: 1200x630px minimum (Open Graph), alt text required
- **Video embed**: YouTube/Vimeo with captions/transcript
- **Infographics**: Inline with descriptive alt text, downloadable PDF
- **Audio clips**: Embedded player with transcript
- **Asset downloads**: One-click links to high-res versions
### Accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA)
- **Alt text**: Descriptive for all images (not "image" or "photo")
- **Heading hierarchy**: Proper H1 → H2 → H3 structure (no skips)
- **Link text**: Descriptive ("Download Q3 earnings report" not "click here")
- **Color contrast**: 4.5:1 minimum for text, 3:1 for large text
- **Keyboard navigation**: All interactive elements accessible via Tab
- **Screen reader**: Test with NVDA/JAWS/VoiceOver
## Template Structure
```markdown
# [HEADLINE: Active Voice, Keyword-Rich, 60-80 Characters]
## [Optional Subheadline: Additional Context, 80-120 Characters]
**[CITY, STATE/COUNTRY] - [Month DD, YYYY]** - [Company Name], [brief descriptor], today announced [newsworthy action/achievement]. [One sentence summarizing impact or significance with key metric if available].
[Second paragraph: Additional details, context, or metrics that support the lead. Answer remaining W's (who, what, when, where, why, how).]
"[Executive quote providing perspective, strategic context, or customer value - 50-100 words]," said [Full Name], [Title] at [Company]. "[Additional forward-looking statement or call to action if relevant]."
[Third paragraph: More details about the announcement - product features, partnership scope, market opportunity, customer benefits, technical specifications, etc.]
[Fourth paragraph: Supporting data, customer testimonials, third-party validation, analyst quotes, market research findings, or additional context.]
[Optional fifth paragraph: Availability, pricing, call to action, next steps, or related announcements.]
### About [Company Name]
[Company boilerplate: 25-100 words describing company, mission, key products/services, market position, and relevant metrics. Use present tense.]
For more information, visit [website URL].
### Media Contact
[Full Name]
[Title]
[Company Name]
[Direct Phone Number]
[Email Address]
[Office Hours and Timezone]
###
```
## Content Sections
### Headline Guidelines
**Strong Headlines** (High Media Pickup):
- Lead with the news: "[Company] Launches [Product]"
- Include numbers: "[Company] Raises $50M Series B"
- Active verbs: "Unveils," "Announces," "Partners," "Expands"
- Location/market: "[Company] Expands to European Market"
- Benefit-focused: "[Product] Reduces Energy Costs by 40%"
**Weak Headlines** (Avoid):
- Vague: "[Company] Makes Important Announcement"
- Passive voice: "New Product Released by [Company]"
- Jargon-heavy: "[Company] Revolutionizes Synergistic Solutions"
- Clickbait: "You Won't Believe What [Company] Just Did"
- Too long: Headlines exceeding 100 characters
### Lead Paragraph Formula
```
[Company], [descriptor], [time marker] [action verb] [subject].
[Impact/significance in one sentence with metric if available].
```
**Example**:
"Acme Corp, a leading provider of cloud security solutions, today announced the launch of SecureCloud 3.0, its next-generation threat detection platform. The new release reduces false positives by 75% compared to previous versions, enabling security teams to focus on genuine threats."
### Quote Integration
**Executive Quote Best Practices**:
- First quote at paragraph 3-4 (after lead and supporting details)
- Include full name and title on first mention
- Provide strategic context, not facts (facts go in body text)
- Forward-looking or customer-benefit focused
- 50-100 words optimal
- Use conversational language (avoid corporate speak)
**Quote Attribution**:
- First mention: "Full Name, Title at Company"
- Subsequent: "Name" or "he/she/they said"
- Multiple quotes: Alternate between execs, customers, partners
**Quote Examples**:
Strong:
> "Our customers told us they spend too much time chasing false alerts. SecureCloud 3.0's AI-powered engine learns from their environment to surface only the threats that matter, giving teams back 20 hours per week to focus on strategic security initiatives."
Weak:
> "We are excited to announce SecureCloud 3.0, which leverages cutting-edge AI to revolutionize the cybersecurity landscape with best-in-class threat detection."
### Boilerplate Text
**Company Description Components**:
1. Company name and industry positioning
2. Core products/services (2-3 bullets)
3. Key differentiator or mission
4. Relevant metrics (customers served, markets, employees)
5. Headquarters location and founding year
**Length Variations**:
- **Short** (25 words): For brief releases, email signatures
- **Medium** (50 words): Standard press release boilerplate
- **Long** (100 words): Detailed backgrounders, feature articles
**Example (50 words)**:
"Acme Corp is a cloud security platform protecting 10,000+ enterprises across 50 countries. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, Acme combines AI-powered threat detection with zero-trust architecture to reduce security incidents by an average of 60%. Learn more at acmecorp.com."
### Embargo Handling
**Embargo Notice** (Top of Release):
```markdown
**EMBARGOED UNTIL: [Day of Week], [Month DD, YYYY] at [HH:MM AM/PM TIMEZONE]**
Example: **EMBARGOED UNTIL: Monday, December 1, 2024 at 9:00 AM ET**
```
**Embargo Workflow**:
1. Mark release clearly with embargo date/time
2. Distribute to select media 24-72 hours before lift
3. Require embargo acknowledgment (email confirmation or portal checkbox)
4. Send reminder 24 hours before lift time
5. Auto-publish at embargo lift time
6. Track access (who downloaded embargoed version)
**Embargo Terms** (Include in distribution email):
- Do not publish before specified date/time
- Background interviews permitted (not for attribution until lift)
- Assets can be prepared but not published early
- Violation may result in exclusion from future embargoes
## Distribution Checklist
### Pre-Distribution
- [ ] Headline includes primary keyword and is under 80 characters
- [ ] Lead paragraph answers who/what/when/where/why in 25-35 words
- [ ] All facts verified (spelling, titles, metrics, dates)
- [ ] Quotes attributed with full names and titles
- [ ] Boilerplate current (metrics, markets, products)
- [ ] Media contact information accurate (phone/email tested)
- [ ] Legal review completed (claims substantiated)
- [ ] SEO metadata added (title tag, meta description, keywords)
- [ ] Hero image added (1200x630px minimum, alt text descriptive)
- [ ] All links functional (website, assets, related content)
- [ ] Accessibility validated (WCAG 2.1 AA, screen reader tested)
- [ ] Mobile preview tested (320px to 1920px breakpoints)
- [ ] Embargo date/time confirmed (if applicable)
### Distribution Channels
**Owned Channels**:
- [ ] Company newsroom/press page (primary publication)
- [ ] RSS feed updated
- [ ] Email to media database (segmented by beat/interest)
- [ ] Social media (Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook)
- [ ] Newsletter inclusion
- [ ] Internal announcement (employees, partners)
**Earned Channels**:
- [ ] Wire services (PR Newswire, Business Wire, Globe Newswire)
- [ ] Direct pitches to tier 1 journalists (personalized)
- [ ] Industry publications (trade media, vertical outlets)
- [ ] Regional media (local angles for headquarters/new markets)
- [ ] Analyst community (Gartner, Forrester, IDC if relevant)
**Paid Amplification** (Optional):
- [ ] Sponsored content (Forbes, TechCrunch, etc.)
- [ ] Social media ads (LinkedIn, Twitter/X targeting journalists)
- [ ] Native advertising (Taboola, Outbrain)
### Post-Distribution
- [ ] Monitor media pickup (Google News, Muck Rack, Cision)
- [ ] Track social shares (Twitter/X mentions, LinkedIn engagement)
- [ ] Respond to journalist inquiries (within 2 hours)
- [ ] Archive coverage (screenshots, PDFs, links)
- [ ] Measure performance (views, downloads, shares, pickups)
- [ ] Update internal stakeholders (coverage report)
## SEO & Discoverability
### On-Page SEO
**Title Tag** (55-60 characters):
```html
<title>[Company] [Action]: [Benefit/News] | Press Release</title>
Example: <title>Acme Corp Launches AI Security Platform | Press Release</title>
```
**Meta Description** (150-155 characters):
```html
<meta name="description" content="[Lead paragraph or summary with CTA]">
Example: <meta name="description" content="Acme Corp launches SecureCloud 3.0, reducing false positives by 75%. Available Q4 2024. Learn more.">
```
**Structured Data** (Schema.org NewsArticle):
```json
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "[Headline]",
"datePublished": "2024-11-28T09:00:00-05:00",
"dateModified": "2024-11-28T09:15:00-05:00",
"author": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "[Company Name]",
"url": "[Company URL]"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "[Company Name]",
"logo": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "[Logo URL]"
}
},
"image": "[Hero Image URL]",
"articleBody": "[Full text]"
}
```
**Open Graph Tags** (Social Sharing):
```html
<meta property="og:type" content="article">
<meta property="og:title" content="[Headline]">
<meta property="og:description" content="[Lead paragraph]">
<meta property="og:image" content="[Image URL 1200x630px]">
<meta property="og:url" content="[Canonical URL]">
<meta property="article:published_time" content="2024-11-28T09:00:00-05:00">
```
**Twitter Card**:
```html
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">
<meta name="twitter:site" content="@CompanyHandle">
<meta name="twitter:title" content="[Headline]">
<meta name="twitter:description" content="[Lead paragraph]">
<meta name="twitter:image" content="[Image URL]">
```
### Keyword Optimization
**Target Keywords** (Research using Google Trends, Semrush, Ahrefs):
- Primary: Main announcement topic (e.g., "AI security platform")
- Secondary: Product/service name (e.g., "SecureCloud")
- Tertiary: Industry/market (e.g., "cloud security")
- Long-tail: Specific features/benefits (e.g., "false positive reduction")
**Keyword Placement**:
- Headline: Primary keyword in first 5 words
- Lead paragraph: Primary and secondary keywords naturally
- Subheadings: Secondary and tertiary keywords
- Body text: Natural distribution (avoid keyword stuffing)
- Alt text: Descriptive with keywords where relevant
### Internal Linking
- Link to related press releases (previous product launches, funding rounds)
- Link to product pages (drive traffic to conversion pages)
- Link to company about page (build brand awareness)
- Link to media kit/brand assets (facilitate coverage)
### Sitemap & RSS
**News Sitemap** (Google News):
```xml
<url>
<loc>[Press Release URL]</loc>
<news:news>
<news:publication>
<news:name>[Company Name]</news:name>
<news:language>en</news:language>
</news:publication>
<news:publication_date>2024-11-28T09:00:00-05:00</news:publication_date>
<news:title>[Headline]</news:title>
</news:news>
</url>
```
**RSS Feed** (Auto-update):
- Full-text feed (include complete press release)
- Featured image in `<enclosure>` tag
- Categories/tags in `<category>` tags
- GUID (permanent identifier)
## Analytics Tracking
### Key Metrics
**Traffic Metrics**:
- Page views (unique and total)
- Time on page (average engagement)
- Bounce rate (< 60% ideal)
- Traffic sources (direct, organic, social, referral)
- Geographic distribution
**Engagement Metrics**:
- Scroll depth (how far down page users read)
- Asset downloads (images, PDFs, videos)
- Outbound link clicks (to product pages, media kit)
- Social shares (Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook)
- Email forwards (if tracking enabled)
**Media Pickup Metrics**:
- Number of articles/mentions
- Media tier distribution (tier 1 vs tier 2/3)
- Share of voice (vs competitors)
- Sentiment (positive, neutral, negative)
- Reach/impressions (estimated audience)
### UTM Parameters
**Campaign Tracking**:
```
https://company.com/newsroom/press-release?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=product-launch-2024
```
**Parameter Structure**:
- `utm_source`: Platform (twitter, linkedin, email, prnewswire)
- `utm_medium`: Channel type (social, wire, email, referral)
- `utm_campaign`: Announcement identifier (product-launch-2024)
- `utm_content`: Variation (headline-A, headline-B for A/B testing)
### Event Tracking (Google Analytics 4)
```javascript
// Track asset downloads
gtag('event', 'download', {
'event_category': 'press_release_asset',
'event_label': 'product-image-1.jpg',
'value': 1
});
// Track media contact clicks
gtag('event', 'contact_click', {
'event_category': 'media_inquiry',
'event_label': 'email_PR_manager',
'value': 1
});
// Track social shares
gtag('event', 'share', {
'method': 'Twitter',
'content_type': 'press_release',
'item_id': 'PRS-001'
});
```
## Example: Complete Press Release
```markdown
# Acme Corp Launches AI-Powered Security Platform, Reducing False Alerts by 75%
## SecureCloud 3.0 Helps Enterprises Save 20 Hours Per Week on Threat Investigation
**SAN FRANCISCO - November 28, 2024** - Acme Corp, a leading provider of cloud security solutions serving 10,000+ enterprises globally, today launched SecureCloud 3.0, its next-generation AI-powered threat detection platform. The new release reduces false positive alerts by 75% compared to previous versions, enabling security teams to reclaim an average of 20 hours per week for strategic initiatives.
SecureCloud 3.0 introduces adaptive machine learning that continuously learns from each customer's unique environment, automatically tuning detection algorithms to minimize noise while maintaining 99.99% threat detection accuracy. The platform also features real-time collaboration tools, allowing distributed security teams to investigate and respond to incidents 40% faster.
"Security teams are drowning in alerts, with the average enterprise receiving 10,000+ notifications per day," said Jane Smith, CEO at Acme Corp. "SecureCloud 3.0's intelligent filtering surfaces only the threats that truly matter, giving teams back their time to focus on proactive security measures rather than chasing false alarms. Our customers are already reporting significant improvements in team morale and security posture."
Early adopter TechCo, a Fortune 500 financial services firm, reduced its mean time to respond (MTTR) from 4 hours to 90 minutes after deploying SecureCloud 3.0 in production. "The AI engine's accuracy is remarkable," said John Doe, CISO at TechCo. "We're investigating real threats instead of wasting cycles on false positives, and our team is more engaged than ever."
SecureCloud 3.0 is available immediately for new customers and existing Acme subscribers on the Enterprise plan. Pricing starts at $50,000 annually for organizations with up to 500 employees. A free 30-day trial is available at acmecorp.com/trial.
### About Acme Corp
Acme Corp is a cloud security platform protecting 10,000+ enterprises across 50 countries from cyber threats. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, Acme combines AI-powered threat detection with zero-trust architecture to reduce security incidents by an average of 60%. The company has raised $150M in funding from Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. Learn more at acmecorp.com.
### Media Contact
Sarah Johnson
Director of Communications
Acme Corp
(415) 555-0123
press@acmecorp.com
Available 9 AM - 6 PM PT, Monday-Friday
###
```
## Best Practices Summary
1. **Lead with news**: Put most important information in headline and first paragraph
2. **Show, don't tell**: Use metrics and specific examples over vague claims
3. **Human voice**: Quotes should sound like actual people, not corporate robots
4. **Mobile-first**: 60%+ of readers on mobile devices, optimize accordingly
5. **Multimedia**: Embed video, images, infographics to increase engagement
6. **Accessibility**: Required, not optional - test with screen readers
7. **SEO optimization**: Research keywords, use structured data, optimize metadata
8. **Timing matters**: Tuesday-Thursday, 9-11 AM ET optimal for pickup
9. **Personalize pitches**: Generic blasts get ignored, tailored pitches get coverage
10. **Measure results**: Track what works, iterate on future releases
## Related Templates
- **Media Kit**: MED-001 (comprehensive brand asset library)
- **Media Pitch**: PRS-003 (personalized journalist outreach)
- **Press Briefing**: PRS-004 (background document for media)
- **Q&A Document**: PRS-006 (anticipated media questions)
- **Crisis Response**: PRS-007 (crisis communication playbook)
- **Social Media**: SOC-001 (coordinated social announcement)
## References
- Associated Press Stylebook (2024 edition)
- Cision 2024 State of the Media Report
- Google Search Central - News SEO Guidelines
- WCAG 2.1 AA Accessibility Standards
- Schema.org NewsArticle structured data