Even the best product doesn’t stand a chance if the world doesn’t know about it – and traditional press releases are still an important tool to get the word out. In an international context, press and public relations work must be presented in English. But is it really enough to simply translate press material? Seven good reasons why you should put your English press releases in the capable hands of professionals.
It’s pretty easy to get lost in the crowd. On average, German journalists receive up to 50 press releases per week. Some of them receive significantly more. Even good publications often fail to reach their target. This can be due to the content, the form, the timing, the wrong target audience, or even overworked recipients.
Successful public relations: More than mere translation
In international business, there is often another reason. Media professionals in English-speaking countries are just as interested in company press releases. However, in many respects they expect very different things from their German-speaking colleagues. In this case, it concerns more than just translation: It’s about adapting the publications to these expectations. It requires localization, which can only be handled by experts who are proficient in the respective language and journalistic culture.
Here are the 7 most important aspects to consider.
- Press relations with an inverted pyramid
German-language press releases are often presented in the form of storytelling to generate a certain amount of excitement or curiosity. In the English-speaking world, however, this approach can quickly go awry. English-speaking journalists are used to the “inverted pyramid”. They expect a summary of the key information without an introduction right at the beginning. Ideally, the first sentence should already answer the five famous “Ws” of journalism: Who did what, when, where, and why? Only then are the details expected, with the less relevant information pushed back.
Obviously, this is not the best way to create a stylistic masterpiece. And there are certainly editors who would like to see the pyramid standing on its base again. Nevertheless, companies are well advised to sacrifice storytelling for the sake of public relations in this case.
Fun side note: It is possible that the inverted pyramid originated when the telegraph was introduced, since long texts were expensive and there was always a risk of losing the connection.
- Writing content in small units
German writers have a tendency of writing long, extravagantly structured sentences. They often consider shorter sentences to be a sign of lower education. However, shorter sentence structures, which are particularly pronounced among US and British writers, have nothing to do with a lack of education, but rather with a higher demand for concise, effective writing. In the English-speaking world, press releases are purely utilitarian texts. With sentences that are too long or sentence structures that are too complex, you will very quickly lose the attention of the editorial staff.
The situation is similar with paragraphs, which should also be as short as possible in the English translation. This also includes structuring them with occasional subheadings. The desire for short paragraphs can of course be linked to general online reading behavior and common social media language tendencies. The same applies to effective press releases: Utility before aesthetics.
Brevity is also expected of the text as a whole. With an average of 300 to 400 words, English press releases are significantly shorter than German ones. In Germany, they often contain extensive background information in addition to the core messages, while in English-speaking countries background information is reduced to linked texts.
- Straight to the point: Bullet points in texts
Bullet points have been part of press materials for a very long time – at least for large companies: They reveal the essential information at a quick glance. While storytelling purists detest them, they are almost a must in English-language press releases.
- Press releases can sometimes be informal
Anyone who repeatedly deals with German press releases will notice a common stylistic peculiarity: Many of them are presented in a decidedly matter-of-fact, formal tone.
In English press kits, the tone is fundamentally different. Although the focus here is also primarily on facts, the texts are written in a much more informal and lively manner. At times, they can even be humorous. In English press releases, colloquial language and local idioms are perfectly acceptable. Among other things, the more vivid tone is reflected in the more active wording. While passive sentence structures are usually also unattractive in German, they should be avoided altogether in English versions, if possible.
- 5. Every press release features an – authentic – quote
Quotes are a very special topic in corporate communications. German communicators are often overly cautious, which results in countless meaningless, repetitive statements from management. American CEOs are also beholden to their shareholders and know what they can and cannot say. Nevertheless, quotes that express a personal view or reveal a certain aggressiveness appear conspicuously often in press materials. Even with the best media relations, meaningless quotes are almost always ignored in the English press.
- Infographics: PR at a glance
Infographics have also become established to a certain extent as an element of press kits in Germany, but they are even more important in the English-speaking world. Whenever possible, infographics should be created as a visual overview to support the storytelling.
- Dealing professionally with corrections
Understandably, every company finds it difficult to admit corrections to the press. However, the corresponding culture is much more pronounced in the USA than in Germany. In Germany, journalists are customarily only corrected for substantive errors, it is quite common in the USA to disclose even minor discrepancies immediately and completely transparently. This approach usually has a positive impact on companies. Open communication leads to at least minor errors being seen as relatively self-evident, as long as you openly admit them.
