New Hire Press Release: Effective Steps & Tips to Writing a New Hire Press Release

Imagine this: your company has just made a significant new hire. A top-tier expert possessing the knowledge and skills to provide a new service category, inspire groundbreaking concepts, or help your business move upstream to new markets. It’s an exciting time. The buzz around your office is evident. You just hired the LeBron of SaaS, or accounting, or whatever your business happens to do. Success is approaching, and everyone needs to know about it—your first step is a new hire press release. Whenever a company hires a new executive or promotes an existing one, you’ll see them release a press release proudly announcing their new addition.

Writing press releases is usually your responsibility if you work in content marketing or corporate communications. If you’re not quite sure where to start, keep reading. I’ll share a step-by-step walkthrough of the process you should follow to write a great one and explore the purpose of new-hire press releases.

What Is a New Hire Press Release?

A new hire press release is a public announcement sharing the details of a new team member, typically in C-level positions. It follows the same standard format as other press release types, so using a template or understanding this structure is an excellent first step. Then, include information about your new hire, such as skills, experience, expected contribution to your business, and why it matters to the public—all in around 400 to 600 words.

It is worth noting that writing your press release is only the first step to landing press. To get your press release in the hands of journalists and into the news, you’ll need to distribute it. This can be challenging for those who don’t have existing press contacts. For this reason, it’s wise to use a press release distribution service like Lamphills, which will get your release to the right people in your areas of interest.

Why Write a Press Release for New Hires? 

It’s time for a press release whenever your company hires someone who will significantly impact your business. That usually means you’ve hired (or promoted) a new C-Suite executive into a new position with significant influence. 

The goal of a new hire press release is two-fold: to demonstrate your company’s continued commitment to growth and success and to highlight that this new person has the skills and experience to accelerate that journey. 

The news media will pick up relevant, well-written press releases on newswires. Your customers and target audiences will read about your new executive in trade publications and newsletters. The local business community will take notice. Prospective clients will be impressed. 

Of course, you’ll also publicize your press release on your channels: your website, social media, etc. The goal is to make your new hire as widely known as possible, helping grow their brand and your company’s reputation.

What Are the Main Types of New Hire Press Releases?

New hire press releases can be divided into three types. While all feature-shared components are relevant to any press release, each is tailored to various new hire scenarios that your company might experience.

• New Team Member Press Release—This is for a new team member joining your company, typically a high-level upper management position or C-suite hire.
• Multiple New Hire Press Release—This is used to announce hiring several new employees at once, usually for non-upper management positions.
• Employee Promotion Press Release – For employees being promoted to a new position in your company, typically upper management.

When Do You Write a New Hire Press Release?

Most new hire announcements occur internally within organizations. However, there are times when a press release is justified or even expected.

• Celebrity status: New hire press releases are ideal when a business hires someone with celebrity status. For a small business, this could be someone recognizable within the local community, such as a former public official, a past Chamber of Commerce president, etc.
• Multiple roles or mass hiring situations: Hiring announcements don’t always have to be centered around an individual. It could be to announce mass hiring, such as your company expanding with a new department or adding many new roles to your business.
• High-profile roles: Job titles that pertain to the chief (e.g., CEO, CFO, COO, and so on), director, vice president, and other high-level roles generally merit announcing media channels.
• Unique skills or experience: If a new team member possesses unique expertise or skills that benefit the brand, a media story will often accompany the hire at any organizational level. For example, a manufacturing company could hire a researcher who has made breakthroughs in the industry.
• Mergers or acquisitions: Another time to write a press release about a new hire is in the case of a merger or acquisition. You can point out the latest talent under your company’s umbrella, even if the company acquired will remain intact.

The question is: Does the new team member bring brand credibility or buzz to the table? If so, create a press release for the new hire. If not, keep your celebration internal.

What Should I Include in a New Hire Press Release?

Regardless of the type of new hire press release you need, they all serve the same purpose – introducing a new team member in a public announcement. New hires are a big deal for high-level senior management positions, especially if there are many eyes on your company. 

The intended audience for a new hire press release might include competitors, stakeholders, shareholders, media outlets, anyone with a vested interest in your company, and, of course, the new hire you’ve brought on board.

For information to include in a new hire press release, break everything down to the “5 Ws.”

• Who: The name of the person you’ve hired. 
• What: The new hire’s skills, qualifications, and experience.
• When: The date the new hire will start said new position.
• Where: The position and responsibilities within the company.
• Why: The reason the new hire’s been brought on and the benefit the hiring will bring.

How Do You Announce a New Hire on Social Media?

Introduce your new hire on your brand’s social media channels with a press release to spark engagement about your news. Create a post summarizing your release and a link to your published press release. To ensure this benefits your website, publish the press release on your blog or a media page and link to that page in your social post.

New Hire Press Release Template

The best and easiest way to start creating your company’s personalized new hire release is with an existing template. Once you have a basic format, customize it according to your needs and company culture. Download our free template to save time and guesswork when learning how to write a new hire press release.

How to Write New Hire Press Release

New hire press releases must be written and formatted in a certain way to get the most out of them, but they are relatively straightforward. 

A new hire announcement should follow a standard press release format. That way, journalists will more readily review and syndicate it by media organizations.

#1. Create a Catchy Headline First

Your press release needs an attention-grabbing headline, whether presenting a new hire, announcing the debut of a new product, or highlighting the accomplishment of important business goals. The headline must accomplish two goals in a single sentence and no more than 55 characters:

• Pique interest;
• Instantly inform the reader about the type of company news you’re sharing. 

Writing press release headlines is challenging because it requires balancing the need to make the content interesting and informative while using only a few words. 

To make the process easier, consider adopting the following headline convention:

[Your Business’s Name] Hires/Taps [The New Hire’s Name] for/as [Job Title or Role].

The new hire press release examples below use this format:

Notice how concise both headline examples are? Make sure to keep yours short as well. The principle holds whether you announce one hire or a wave of them after a mass recruiting drive. 

Also, see the logo next to the headline in our example above (Highlighted with a red rectangle)? Including visual elements is another good tip for crafting compelling headlines. While your company logo could suffice, where possible, also use a headshot of your new employee. 

Going back to the Centcom example, the company uses a spread before its headline:

Another rule of thumb when writing your headline is to use the active voice. Unlike the passive voice, the active voice creates a sense of urgency that can make the reader want to read further.

One last thing: don’t go overboard when trying to pique interest. Using superlatives like “best” and “amazing” strikes an unnecessarily hyperbolic tone unsuitable for sharing business news. 

The headline is crucial to all press releases, so much so that if you get it wrong, your target audience might not read further. Thus, it’s the first hurdle to clear when learning how to write a press release for a new hire. If press release headlines leave you stumped, consider seeking help from a PR services agency with experience in digital marketing to craft strong and compelling ones.

#2. Develop Your Lead Paragraph

The lead paragraph is the first and most crucial paragraph in the body of your story. It’s your chance to entice the reader and communicate everything they need to know about the new employee, their responsibilities, and how it will benefit the business and community.

The five questions your lead paragraph needs to answer are:

• Who: The new hire’s name
• What: What the new hire will be doing, their position and/or title
• Where: Where the new hire is from, their background and/or education
• When: The new hire’s first day on the job
• Why: The positive impact the new hire will have on the business and in the community

#3. Provide Background Information

You should give background information on the new team member in your new hire release.

This section, which details the new hire’s experience and accomplishments, should be included in the firm news release for one crucial reason. A brief description of the person’s background may also help dispel skepticism among customers and stakeholders.

Give a 200-word summary of the new hire’s experience. Highlight what this individual brings to the table. So, you can touch on the following points:

• The person’s previous company/companies
• Previous positions held
• Number of years of experience in the industry
• Their educational background
• Certifications and awards earned (if any)
• Accomplishments in their industry (e.g., overseeing a merger or acquisition or being a founding member of a unicorn)
• Their status as a newcomer (to highlight inclusivity)

In the image below, Duke University describes new hire Emanuel Dildy’s coaching career in detail:

A secondary benefit of including this section is that it makes your company look competent. By highlighting the new employee’s strengths, you demonstrate your business’s ability to make excellent hiring decisions.

To make the section more effective, you can also explain how the new hire’s appointment strengthens your business’s market position.

#4. Include a Quote From the New Hire

To make the press release as compelling and exciting as possible, include a quote from a company representative, such as the CEO or the new hire, in the second or third paragraph. Quotes can range from 50 words to 150 words. With a quote, you add vibrancy to the release and convey more of the new hire’s personality.

Here are some different ways quotes could be incorporated based on the source of the quote:

• A company CEO’s quote: “We are very excited to welcome Stacy to our team at NLE. He brings a tighter focus on customer relationship quality to our sales team and will be a great role model for our employees and vendors who contact him.”
• The new hire’s quote: “I am thrilled to be part of the NLE team. My entire career has been spent in the technology industry. I look forward to continuing that tradition by providing ‘best of breed’ network solutions to NLE’s current and future customers.”
• The new hire’s quote: “I intend to apply my green building project experience and communication skills to teaching and developing a curriculum that will help Everblue’s students get jobs, change the economy, and improve the environment.”

Remember that you can add more than one quote to make your press release more interesting to readers and give journalists more to work with. You can also include a link in your new hire press release to a landing page on your website that features your full press release and additional quotes, images, and resources. This makes it easier for journalists to cover your story, giving your business extra exposure.

#5. Close With the Company’s Contact Information

End your new-hire press release with your company info and contact details. This boilerplate section is necessary for a couple of reasons: 

• It informs potential customers and future stakeholders about your company
• It reminds your existing customer base about your company and
• It gives busy journalists information about your company at a glance

To keep it concise, aim for a company description with a word count that ranges between 20 and 80 words. Regarding what to include at the end of your press release for a new hire, the following should suffice:

• Your company objectives
• The number of years the company has been in business
• Names of founders of the company
• The executive team (current executives)
• Your business offerings (products or services)
• Any relevant awards the company has earned

WSP’s press release (pictured below) ends with a description of the company and its accomplishments:

You can also include a link to your website at the end of your new-hire press release like WSP did:

Why not give journalists a copy of your press release as well? In the example above, journalists only need to click the Download Press Release button to secure one. The printed press release can come in handy for newscasters who might need information on hand while announcing the company’s development.

You can provide more than just a copy of the press release. 

How about adding an entire press kit that journalists can easily download? A press kit is simply a collection of multimedia files with additional information journalists and media outlets need to cover your story. Think JPEG files (company logo, the new hire’s headshot, etc.), more information about the company, and so on.

Benefits of Publishing New Hire Media Release

One significant milestone for any growing company is when they begin hiring top executives.

But imagine reading about one of your competitors in the news announcing a new hire a month after you did the same thing! Yours went under the radar while your competitor managed to turn their news into a successful PR campaign.

Here are some of the compelling benefits of securing the support of a new hire press release service.

#1. It Will Help You Build Relationships With the Media

When you use a press release service like Lamphills, it’s often your first opportunity to reach out and connect with the press. A new hire is also the perfect time to do that. But the connection doesn’t end there.

On the contrary, it’s often the beginning of a relationship with journalists and the media.

You can use that to forge a long-standing relationship built on collaboration and trust, which can benefit your business in the long term. It also improves your chance of seeing subsequent press releases featured in the news headlines.

Plus, that relationship will help you understand more about PR and fine-tune your press release strategy to make it work more effectively for your business. For example, journalists can provide tips and feedback about making your next press release more impactful.

#2. It Helps Build Brand Awareness

A professional press release service knows how to get the most impact from your campaign. These services can help elevate your brand image on that press release and ensure your business name gets the visibility it deserves.

They’ll do that through an extensive network of contacts, so you can get your brand mentioned by big media names, plus more specialist blog websites that may focus on your industry.

Imagine the positive impact if someone sees your new hire’s press release in different trusted news sources. They will have a positive and long-lasting impression of your brand.

Compared to competitors, it’s your name people will remember when they think of your product or service.

#3. It’s Cost Effective

PR is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies, providing you work with a team to maximize your reach.

Suppose you were to put this money into pay-per-click advertising or SEO. In that case, you’d pay for ongoing ad costs plus ad support from a professional team.

In contrast, a PR campaign allows you to get a massive reach from one small statement – your press release. Therefore, you can focus your time and money on perfecting that information, increasing your chances of seeing an excellent return on investment.

Plus, using a professional service like Lamphills consolidates every aspect of PR, helping you save on paying for separate resources and experts.

#4. Access to the Best Networks

Success in press releases is all down to having the right contacts, and that’s one of the most valuable assets a press release service offers.

Their network is established and extensive, giving you the best opportunity to get your news story out to the people who matter and to a sizeable number to make the most significant impact.

That might be specialist journalists in your industry, in HR, or some of your niche’s most well-known news publications. Coverage at this level can have a game-changing impact on your brand.

A new hire can attract investment or other talented employees to your company. It can also get your industry talking, especially if it’s a well-known name that can bring ideas and product innovations to your business.

#5. It Will Help You Boost Your SEO Efforts

If you have tried SEO for your website, you’ll know the importance of backlinks. Backlinks come from trusted sources and indicate to Google that your website is reputable and relevant.

Some of the highest backlinks come from news organizations, as they are well-established and authoritative. So, you can imagine the benefit of getting a website link featured on a high-profile news source.

It’s great for your SEO. Plus, if other news organizations pick up your story and it generates a buzz, that has an even more significant impact.

Google will see that your brand has “chatter” and is exciting to people, which means it’s more likely to rank you highly.

New Hire Press Release Example

To help you get started with announcing a new hire, we’ve collected three new hire press release examples for your inspiration. Each one represents a different type of press release for a new hire.

• New Team Member Press Release—The non-profit Kelly Bush Foundation announces its new executive director here.
• Multiple New Hire Press Release – In this example, Sainty, Hird, and Partners announce four new senior hires to their executive search firm.
• Employee Promotion Press Release—Finally, Green Street alerts the public to the promotions of two key members of the firm’s executive team.

Why You Should Immediately Announce New Hires to the Team

Announcing a new hire is a vital step of the onboarding process and should be one of your first steps on or by their first day. Among other reasons, here’s why:

• An early announcement can prevent awkward situations between the new hire and other team members. For instance, the unexpected joining of a newcomer at a meeting can be unsettling for both your new hire and the existing team.
• The new employee introduction announcement helps prepare current employees for a potential new boss or senior team member.
• An advanced employee introduction helps the newest team members feel welcomed and like they are already part of the team. Imagine how that new colleague would feel realizing nobody on their team knew they were starting that day.

Read also: BEST FREE PRESS RELEASE DISTRIBUTION WEBSITES IN 2024

Bottom Line

Writing a press release for a new hire can be challenging. But if you follow the steps I shared, you should be well-prepared. A press release is an excellent way to gain media coverage of a new hire, curate goodwill toward your company, and boost employee and customer trust in your business.

Similar Articles

1. How to Write News Release: Free Tips and Examples
2. Where To Hire The Best Social Media Experts In 2024
3. How To Send a Press Release: Your Personal Guide to Making Waves in the Media

Reference

• trinet.com
• hireawriter.us
• jobillico.com
• fitsmallbusiness.com