Should I write a press release for this?

I remember the old days of PR. ​

When I wanted to reach out to the press to share an announcement, I'd run and grab the official company letterhead, print a well-written document explaining the news, and fax it over the newspaper to consider for their next edition. Then I'd wait for the paper to arrive and read it cover to cover to see if it was picked up or not. 

We're clearly in a very different world today, and the ease of putting out press stories means the news is now inundated with press releases that didn't need to go through painstaking hours of work to release. There are literally thousands of news stories placed daily onto the newswires, which are emailed to news stations, newspapers, and directly to reporters. Further, the abundance of ways to get direct journalist email addresses means many people skip the wires and simply email them directly with news any time of day.

So what does this mean for press releases?

This means the likelihood of your release being read depends on catching the right person at the right moment with the right story.
More than likely, no one will ever read your press release.

So what's the point anymore?

Press releases are still relevant for large public companies that are required to send out financial information or disclose major business decisions; they are also relevant for major brands that people are waiting to hear from such as Amazon, Google, Apple, Tesla and Facebook.

For small to mid-sized companies things work a bit differently. 

Smaller companies can use press releases for a few main reasons. 
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1. To build SEO by creating content that links back to your website: The search engines change a lot, so this may change, but press releases can be helpful in building links that drive SEO relevance to your brand. To get this impact, you'll want to post it to an official wire such as PR Newswire or Newswire.com. 
2. To have an official document explaining your story after a "pitch" has been sent: Sending a quick briefing to get attention in an email body is the way to go, but it's helpful to link to a nice polished press release in PDF that they can pull further information from if they want to know more or cite quotes and details directly from the brand. Never send your release in an attachment as you may be stopped by the email system's protection mechanism. Use tools such as Google Drive or Dropbox to share a link to the PDF instead of using attachments.

If you want to try to reach the news, what should you do?

The best way to reach the news for potential features is to send a quick pitch and link them to your press release for more info. Here's an example. 
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Subject: 60+ grandpa bikes 20 miles a day with toddler
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Hi Chloe, I saw your recent segment on bikes with headlights and loved how you covered the topic in a way that helped non-bikers get the relevance of the lighting during foggy nights. I've been biking since the early 70's and as a grandfather I also love riding 20 miles a day on the trails with my grandson strapped to the bike in a Toddler-pro-bike contraption. I'd love to join you on the show on a national Toddler appreciation day to showcase how my grandson and I get around! You can see my blog here where I have about 23,000 monthly readers.

Here's a link to a document that explains why I created this tool myself along with photos of me and my grandson riding. 
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Why does this pitch work?

• It shows the reporter that you've paid attention to the kind of work she does and knows that what you are sharing will be relevant to her current focus areas and audience interests. 
• It showcases the newsworthiness of the story by simply incorporating it into the short paragraph (Grandpa riding 20 miles per day with a toddler is seriously unique).
• It's short and sweet with links to more information should she choose to read more.
• It shows there's already an audience for this by showcasing the monthly readers on the blog. 
• The most relevant newsworthy piece is bolded to show up well to make it easy to glance.

The goal is to find the right person at the news station to send your pitch to, or you can make it general and talk to the admin who filters stories and distributes them to producers by sending it through the website contact form. 

So, the idea is to send quick, snippy paragraphs that sell stories to the news that are digestible and catch their attention.

What other factors should you consider?

• What's going on right now: The point of the news is to tell people what's happening, not to advertise your business or give you your 15 minutes of fame. If what you're telling them isn't interesting or related to current events it will not pass the basic requirements for a story worth telling. 
• How well known are you: Being a local or national influencer certainly makes a difference. If they know your name they are more likely to feel you're relevant to their audience and credible as well. Building your brand first is a great initial step towards getting future news publicity. 
• Is it a good fit: Just because it's news, doesn't mean it matters. You're likely reading this because you're hoping to attract your target customers through news features. That means the most important thing is making sure you're hitting the right niche audiences in the publicity you spend time earning. Think about the people that matter for you to be successful and where they spend the most time. While getting on a cat show would be cool, if only 1% of your audience is into cats you won't make a dent in your sales. Look for niches that are general or cover adjacent topics that might reach some of the same people that normally buy from you. 

A recent example:

I recently provided a press release distribution to a cyber-security company. They had been covered in news previously and were announcing an acquisition in the midst of a pandemic where meeting in person had been difficult due to local health rules. The acquisition was done 100% remotely and created one of the largest MSP providers in the state they operate in. That's big news, and super-timely. 

Rather than submit the release publicly on a wire, we sent a pitch linked to a press release directly to the local business news publications during a series of days in the order of importance to the local market. 

The result: 

• 6 pieces of coverage
• Readership of 811M
• 613K estimated coverage views
• Average domain authority of 74

Stats per coveragebook

What's the lesson here:

• Press releases to land news coverage should be used as an addition to a pitch to share additional long-form details.
• A pitch is the basis for news coverage for small to mid-sized companies that are not publicly traded or household names.
• A wire pitch is great for SEO, but not necessarily something that will be read by news writers and tv stations.

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