Sending out a press release: Here’s what to keep in mind

You wrote a press release and now you want to send it out? Sending it by mass e-mail is a quick, but not always successful way to do this. There are a few factors that need to be taken into account. But we’ll explain what you should keep in mind to increase the chances of your press release being published.

Successfully sending out a press release

Where to?

Where you send your press release to depends on its content. Before sending, you should answer the following questions:

• For which media outlets is the press release relevant?
• Who should receive the press release?
• Is the message regionally or nationally relevant?
• Will the contents of your press release be of interest to the daily newspapers or rather to the trade press?

If your topic is relevant to the daily newspapers, you should limit yourself to current topics. If you want to inform daily newspapers and trade papers about a news item, it may be sensible to write two different press releases. (You can find more on this topic in our blog post about trade press relations).

Who?

Press releases usually target journalists and other media professionals, who receive numerous press releases every day. So to increase the likelihood of publicity, you should target journalists who have already covered the same or a similar topic. Journalists who do not cover your topic will most likely not read or publish your press release.

How?

You have various options for sending out a press release:

• per e-mail
• through press relations portals.

One option is to create a distribution list yourself and send out your press release via e-mail. However, you should bear in mind that a press distribution list must always be maintained and updated because, for example, the contact persons of a medium can change. And then there are the press relations portals such as mondo.press. The advantage of such platforms is that your press release will be sent to high-quality and already checked distribution lists. You do not have to worry about creating the distribution lists or updating them.

When?

The Timing also plays an important role in press relations. In principle, there is no such thing as the perfect time for sending out a press release. However, there is one fact you must keep in mind about timing: On certain days and during certain periods of time, your press release will most probably receive little to no attention. Particularly on:

• weekends
• public holidays and bridging days.

Usually, only very few editorial offices are staffed during such times. Another unfavorable time for sending out a press release is when major events are currently taking place. That is the time when most journalists receive a flood of press releases and sort out the majority of these.

Even on weekdays, there are times, that don’t lend themselves well to sending out a press release . These include:

• Monday mornings, when a full mailbox awaits the journalists as well.
• Friday afternoons, because by then the editors are either stressed out and want to get their work done before the weekend, or they are already thinking about calling it a day.

In order to choose the right time for sending out your press release, you should also find out about the editorial deadlines and working hours of the respective recipients, as some journalists may work less or not at all on some days. 

To decrease the likelihood of your press release being deleted or ignored, you should aim for Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between 09:00 and 10:00 or 14:00 to 15:00.

Monitoring for press releases

Even with the press release sent, the work is not yet done. Monitoring is a method you can use to find out how successful your press releases are – that is, where and how often they were published – and what you might be able to improve. (To learn more about this, see our blog post on monitoring).