United Kingdom, 8th Oct 2026, – By Tin, Founder of BMS Digital | Last updated: October 2026
About the author: Tim leads BMS Digital, a digital marketing agency in UK, that plans SEO, PR and content campaigns for businesses in South Asia, Europe and the Middle East. His team writes and distributes press releases for startups, SMEs and international brands.
When clients send me a draft press release, I often ask them to open Amazon’s newsroom in another tab and compare. The difference is usually obvious within seconds. Amazon’s announcements are short, specific and built around the customer. Most small-business releases are long, vague and built around the company.
You don’t need Amazon’s budget to write like Amazon. You need its discipline. Here’s what I’ve found most useful to borrow, and how we apply it for smaller brands.
Amazon writes the press release before building the product
Amazon’s well-known “Working Backwards” process asks teams to write a mock press release, along with an FAQ, before a product is approved for development. If the team can’t explain clearly why a customer would care, the idea needs more work.
This is the most valuable lesson for small businesses, and it has nothing to do with distribution. If you can’t write a clear one-paragraph announcement explaining who benefits and why, the problem isn’t your PR. It’s your message. We now use a simplified version of this exercise with clients before any launch campaign, and it regularly exposes weak positioning early, when it’s cheap to fix.
Lesson 1: Lead with the customer, not the company
A typical small-business opening line reads like this:
“XYZ Ltd, a leading provider of innovative solutions, is proud to announce the launch of its new platform.”
An Amazon-style version reads more like this:
“Small retailers in Karachi can now offer same-day delivery without hiring their own drivers, using XYZ’s new delivery platform launched today.”
The second version tells the reader who it’s for, what changes for them, and when. That’s what journalists look for, and it’s what readers remember.
Lesson 2: Use specifics instead of adjectives
Big brands rarely describe themselves as “revolutionary” or “world-class.” They give numbers, locations, dates and prices. Specific details make a release more credible and more quotable.
Before publishing, we run a simple check: highlight every adjective in the draft and ask whether a fact could replace it. “Fast delivery” becomes “delivery within four hours.” “Affordable” becomes the actual price.
Lesson 3: Keep it short and scannable
Amazon’s releases put the essential news in the headline and first paragraph, then use the remaining space for supporting detail and quotes. A reader who stops after three sentences still understands the story.
For our clients, that means:
- One headline stating the news plainly
- A first paragraph answering who, what, when, where and why
- Two or three short supporting paragraphs
- One meaningful quote from a named spokesperson
- A brief company boilerplate
Lesson 4: Make quotes say something
Weak quotes are the most common flaw I see. “We are thrilled to announce this partnership” adds nothing. A strong quote explains why the news matters or offers a real opinion:
“Most of our customers told us delivery delays were costing them repeat sales. This service exists to fix that one problem.”
That’s a quote a journalist might actually use.
Lesson 5: Time announcements deliberately
Large companies plan announcements around events, seasons and news cycles. Small businesses can do the same on a smaller scale: release seasonal products ahead of the season, tie announcements to industry events, or avoid days when major news will bury your story.
For a deeper breakdown of these elements, including messaging, customer focus, data and timing, BM Times has a useful analysis on learning from Amazon’s press release strategy for U.S. businesses. It’s a good read for anyone who wants to see how these principles fit together.
What not to copy from big brands
Some things simply don’t translate to a small company:
- Announcing everything. Amazon has newsworthy updates constantly. A small business sending weekly releases with minor updates will train journalists to ignore it.
- Relying on brand recognition. Amazon’s name alone gets attention. Yours won’t yet, so your news angle must work harder.
- Massive distribution budgets. Choose distribution based on where your audience actually is, not on the largest possible network.
A quick self-check before you publish
| Question | If the answer is no |
|---|---|
| Is the customer benefit clear in the first sentence? | Rewrite the opening around the reader |
| Are claims backed by numbers or facts? | Replace adjectives with specifics |
| Can someone understand the story in 30 seconds? | Cut background and repetition |
| Does the quote add opinion or context? | Rewrite it to explain why it matters |
| Is the timing deliberate? | Consider moving the release date |
Final thoughts
Amazon’s PR strength doesn’t come from size alone. It comes from a habit of thinking about the customer first and communicating with clarity and evidence. Any business can adopt that habit. Study how the best brands do it, such as this analysis of Amazon’s press release strategy, then apply the principles at your own scale. A clear, specific, customer-focused release will always outperform a long one full of claims nobody can verify.
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What Small Businesses Can Borrow From Amazon’s Press Release Playbook appeared first on
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