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Press release distribution is a necessary tool in the author’s handbag. A press release can be used to reach out to new audiences and expand a brand, but it needs careful planning before releasing an article. Here are some tips for getting more coverage with your next PR approach.
Making sure your press releases are well-written and have an engaging narrative is the number one approach to boost the chances of them being picked up by the media. There are, however, some basic press release distribution strategies you can use to help you target your ideal audience and follow up after submitting your press release, which may help you receive more press coverage.
These suggestions are straightforward, although they do need some effort. Another alternative is to employ a news release distribution service that uses targeting, such as Newswire, to guarantee that your press release is read by thousands of outlets. This ensures that your press release reaches not just the correct journalists, but also the right people.
Here are 15 press release distribution techniques to help you gain the most attention for your news:
1. Send Your Press Release to Influencers & Bloggers
It’s important distributing your press release to high-profile influencers or bloggers who might be interested in the newsworthy revelation included in your press release. They, like journalists, are constantly on the lookout for fresh things to share and debate with their audiences; send them your press release, and they may pass it on to their followers.
Don’t only send a copy of your official press release when you approach influencers and bloggers personally. Instead, send a concise note describing your news and inviting them to contact you for further details, or ask if you can give them a copy of your press release.
Another option to contact influencers and bloggers is to employ distribution firms, such as PRWeb, that target press releases to bloggers and influencers. Because bloggers have elected to be on these lists because they want to get press releases containing news like yours, this is typically more successful.
2. Use images, graphics, or video in your presentation.
Images in press releases are seven times more likely to get reported by the media than those without, and adding a video to your story increases its chances of being published by 1,400%. Multimedia features provide journalists with a more well-rounded and entertaining tale to present, as seen by these figures. Make journalists’ work simpler by incorporating photographs, graphics, or video to boost your chances of press coverage.
Keep in mind that when sending a news release to a single journalist, you’ll almost always include the press release as well as any supporting multimedia. Large attachments, on the other hand, might frustrate receivers or be prohibited by email servers.
Make it as easy as possible for the media to view your press release and accompanying multimedia. Instead, utilize a press release distribution provider like Send2Press, which allows you to add a picture for free, to guarantee that journalists can quickly examine both your media and your press release.
3. Find outlets that cater to your target market.
Look for a distribution firm that can connect you with outlets that can help you reach your target audience. If your target audience is similar to Twitter users’ demographics, for example, seek sites that distribute news releases to industry- or location-specific Twitter accounts. Use press release distribution services that target distribution by location to local radio and television stations, as well as print media such as local newspapers and magazines, if your target audience is local.
4. Hire a Press Release Writing Service
The cornerstone for getting press is having a well-crafted press release that conveys a compelling news. Not only must your press release be intriguing, but it must also adhere to industry standards in terms of layout and organization.
As a result, you may opt to leave it to the professionals and have a press release written and formatted on your behalf by a press release writing service. There are other service providers, but Send2Press is the most cost-effective, with prices starting at $89 per release.
5. Don’t send your release to newsrooms; instead, send it to journalists.
If you send your press release to a generic email address or use a web form, it’s possible that it may never be seen by a journalist who is interested. Instead of sending your press release to a general email address like info@newsroom.com, send it to the journalists who are most likely to cover your story.
As a result, determine which journalists are most likely to cover your news and distribute it to your target audience. Then, using a pitch that explains why your press release is useful to the audience, send it directly to those journalists.
Let’s pretend you’re starting a new marketing business in your town. Journalists who cover business stories in local newspapers or trade publications can be a good place to start. Instead of sending your press release to a generic email address or submitting it via a web form, send it directly to those people.
6. Keep your media contact list up to date.
Before sending your press release to a list of media contacts, use an email verification service like NeverBounce or Breadcrumbs to examine the health of your list. These tools check your list for out-of-date or incorrect information, like as email addresses that are no longer valid.
After that, make any necessary changes to the information on your list. You may also use the internet to fill in any gaps in your contact information, such as discovering a person’s email address using LinkedIn or utilizing an email finder like Hunter.
Here are several methods for locating a journalist’s email address using internet tools:
- LinkedIn: Many individuals provide their email address on their LinkedIn page; go to the contact’s LinkedIn profile and look at the user’s contact information. If it isn’t there, you may also send a LinkedIn direct message. However, use caution as this might make you look unprofessional and put you in danger of getting flagged as a spammer.
- Email finders: There are many free email finder software available that scrape email addresses from the internet. While this is not a good technique to build a full list, it might be useful if one of your current contacts’ email is no longer active. Find out more about the top email finding applications.
7. Pick Up the Phone & Ask for Missing Contact Information
If everything else fails, go to the website of the magazine where your chosen contact works and look for the contact page. The worst that may happen if you call the number mentioned and ask for the journalist’s contact information is that they say no. In such a situation, try sending a direct message to the journalist on social media, asking for their email address so you may send your press release to them.
8. Select a distribution service that allows you to target your audience.
When you send out a press release to a large number of people without targeting it, you’ll likely receive minimal response and your press release will end up in journalists’ spam folders. At the very least, look for distribution platforms that provide industry-specific, subscribing-journalist email lists as well as the flexibility to target publications by industry and geography. Demographic targeting and reader interest targeting are two more excellent targeting options.
9. Make Your Pitch Interesting to Journalist Audiences
Journalists produce articles they believe their readers will be interested in and value. Your responsibility is to make sure that the journalist’s audience understands the importance of your story. Before sending your release, you should do research and have a thorough understanding of the publication’s target audience.
On their websites, several periodicals specify the qualities of their target consumers. If you can’t find this information on a publication’s website, you may contact the publication’s advertising department by phone or email. Inquire about their target audience’s demographics, industries, education, hobbies, and expectations.
Explain why your news is useful and fascinating based on what you know about the journalist’s audience in your pitch. Thank them for their time and send them an email with your contact information and an invitation to connect to answer questions.
Finally, attach your press release or paste it immediately beneath your pitch, along with any accompanying multimedia, before pushing submit.
10. Send Your Press Release at the Appropriate Moment
It’s important to nail the time for issuing your press release if you want it to be as successful as possible. You should not only decide whether it will be released immediately or embargoed for a later date, but you should also decide when day of the week and time of day your release should be disseminated for maximum effect.
Prowly, a public relations customer relationship management (CRM) service, studied over 55,000 news releases to discover the optimal days and times to issue one in research. Here’s what their research found:
- The greatest average open rate is 26% on Thursdays.
- The worst days to send a news release are Wednesdays and Fridays, when 85 percent of press release emails are not read.
- Between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., editors open 33% of emails.
Most crucial, submit your press release far enough ahead of time so that journalists can plan their articles and contact you if they have any more questions. Send it to a radio or television station seven days before you want your story reported. If possible, pitch three weeks ahead of time to newspapers, and submit your release three to six months ahead of time to magazines. Magazines, in particular, set out their editorial calendars months ahead of time.
11. Use social media to publicize key locations.
Follow up with a social media release once you’ve issued your press release. One (or more) photographs or videos, a 90-character or fewer descriptions (depending on the social media platform) to attract attention, and a link to the complete release are all included in a social media press release.
Start your press release with “BREAKING:” or “Just announced:” and then explain your news to grab the attention of readers scanning through their social media feeds. To make your press release more discoverable by journalists, use the hashtag #pressrelease.
Include a link to a prominent location where your release was published for even more attention and credibility. If you’re a financial business, for example, and your news was picked up by Bloomberg, link to it on their website and tag the newspaper and the writer who covered it in your social media press release.
Pro tip: For more traction, mix and match relevant videos, photos, links, and descriptions in multiple versions of your social media news release, then post them at different times. Using a service like Buffer may help you figure out when the optimal moment is to post your social media release based on how engaged your audience is.
12. Use paid social ads to get traction.
After you’ve released your press release, promote it on social media to reach a larger audience. Promoted Tweets on Twitter, for example, may be targeted to certain news networks and their audiences. Simply log into Twitter Ads using your Twitter account details and follow the directions to target your targeted audience.
13. Utilize Press Release Analytics to the Fullest
You can learn a lot about your press release’s performance after it’s been distributed if you track it after it’s been distributed. You can see whether it reached the proper audience, what sorts of media were most engaging, demographics of the audience, and if your release received further exposure via search engines.
These findings may then be used to improve future strategies. For example, you may use them to determine the best channels and methods for retargeting your audience, how to nurture leads into purchasers, what sorts of items and services your readers are interested in, and press release distribution suggestions that will help future press releases perform better.
To do so, seek for a press release distribution provider that provides more information than simply the location of your news release’s publication. They should also be able to provide detailed information on how audiences interacted (click-through rates, multimedia views, plays, pageviews, or reads), the demographics of those who were reached (ages, incomes, marital statuses, and interests), and performance metrics such as search engine rankings.
14. After you’ve sent your press release, follow up with journalists.
Allow time for the journalist to study your press release and determine what further information they may want. Then, usually within three days, follow up. It’s OK to follow up even sooner for press releases that must be published right away or within days. For follow-up, the great majority of journalists (77%) choose email.
Keep in mind that your duty is to make the journalist’s work simpler at every turn. As a result, when you follow up, frame your email as a favor. Remind them who you are, that you issued a press release a few days ago, and that you’re contacting them to see if they have any more questions regarding the story.
Pro tip: There are useful tools that eliminate the guessing, making it simpler and more successful. The PR Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software from Prowly enables you to store information about your contacts and send tailored emails based on that data. You may then check to see whether journalists have read your original pitch and adjust your follow-up emails appropriately.
15. Send Thank-You Notes to Everyone
Send a polite email to a journalist expressing your gratitude for their coverage of your story. Alternatively, make an impression by sending a handwritten thank-you letter to their publication’s address. This information is normally available on the publication’s website.
Tell them in your letter that you’d want to be of equal support to them and that you’re accessible if they need quotations for their articles in the future. Share a link to their story on social media to help it reach a wider audience.
16. Develop win-win relationships with responding journalists as an added bonus.
Journalists have deadlines and professional objectives that they seek to accomplish on a daily basis, just as you do for your company. They can assist you in achieving your objectives by covering your story, and you probably have a lot to give them as well. You may, for example, provide them with sources for future articles and quotations, as well as assist them in increasing their online involvement. As a result, you create a win-win connection with them, which may lead to more help from them in achieving your objectives.
Here are some easy strategies to form mutually beneficial connections with journalists:
- Follow journalists that cover your stories (or topics similar to yours) on social media and increase their engagement by commenting, sharing, and like their posts. Don’t respond to everything they post; instead, respond when you can offer something useful to the topic to encourage additional participation.
- Offer them valuable sources: As you follow journalists’ careers and stories, keep an eye out for any series or themes they cover over time, and contact out if you have a source you believe they’ll find useful. Offer to introduce the two with the source’s approval.
Conclusion
Finally, the most effective press release distribution strategies are those that make journalists’ work simpler. When your press release is released, you’ll have a better chance of getting publicity and gaining momentum. Choosing the correct distribution provider, carefully targeting your release, monitoring outcomes, and continuing to promote your press release after it has been sent enhances the likelihood that it will be reported by the media.
Use a press release distribution provider to get the most exposure. The finest press distribution services bring your press release in front of journalists who are interested in issues similar to yours. For example, Newswire provides multilayer targeting to guarantee that your news releases are sent to the appropriate people at the right time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What press release distribution services provide the best value?
We recommend you choose a company that offers great customer service and high-quality press release distribution services. ReleaseWire is one such company.
How do press releases get their coverage?
Press releases are sent to news outlets by PR firms. These firms typically have a relationship with the media and they offer press release distribution as well as public relations consultancy services. The firm may also distribute their client’s content on social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn in order to increase exposure for their client’s ideas or products.
How do I get my press release noticed?
I would recommend you to find your local newspaper and contact them for news about what you’re creating. They might be happy to publish a story or feature article, or they may just not have the resources available that day.
