Do Press Releases Still Matter? 4 Reasons

Julie Livingston
Jul 24, 2017 · 2 min read

Are press releases still a relevant news distribution tool? Or, are they outdated with limited relevance in a digital world? A recent study analyzed a random sample of 1,052 press releases extracted from the raw Google News database of millions of news stories from 2016 and found that the number of clicks from media sources was 0, the median number of social media shares was 2, and the median number of inbound links to releases was 1. However, PR pros may argue that “good” press releases still matter and can be effective in amplifying company news in other meaningful ways.

Top of Mind Brand Awareness

Press releases are still a relevant way to summarize important, newsworthy information. It positions your company with greater relevance. Send out releases not only to the media but to other key stakeholders such as investors, employees, customers, friends and family. Pin releases to the top of your company’s Twitter page and post it to Facebook to keep fans apprised of company news.If your news is of national scope, you may want to consider using a paid national newswire distribution service.

Consistently Touch the Media, Stakeholders

Press releases are an easy way to keep in touch with key stakeholders. If you include trackable hyperlinks in your press release, these can be easily tracked via website traffic. By using your a CMS like MailChimp or Constant Contact, you can capture pickup — and information on the people most interested in your news.

Highlight Thought Leadership

Press releases can generate awareness of your company’s perspective on important industry issues and what it is doing about them. By inserting liftable quotes from key executives in the press release, media and other stakeholders may want more from you/your company as a thought leader, a great way to outshine competitors.

Get Traction With Keywords

Even though press releases don’t necessarily help with SEO, the editorial coverage that may follow brings important benefits. Be sure to incorporate keywords throughout the release so that journalists can easily find them through search and include quotable information in their own coverage.

Note that companies and brands should not solely rely on press releases for media coverage. They stand as tool for media pitching, not the way to actually land a story which is accomplished through pitching- we’ll cover this topic in future posts.

How does your organization approach press releases?

Julie Livingston

I am an experienced marketing communications executive, media relations expert, client champion and business networker/connector.

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