When Should I Distribute My Press Release?
Waiting for the most strategic moment to click send on your press release distribution means aiming for a day, an hour, when open rates are the highest. On weekends, fewer desk editors are on work mode (because most are dying to take a break from reading badly-written press releases) so it’s unlikely for your email and PR to be seen, read, and published. So don’t send it on weekends — that’s our first tip!
Overall, what are the steps & how do you distribute a press release the right way?
Let’s Start With…The Best Practices in Deciding When to Release a Press Release
PR pros don’t send out news releases, cross their fingers, and pray. They decide when to release a press release based on:
- Their specific needs
- Known schedules of their target editors and journalists
- Historical successes
Some PR writers make it a point to beat the opening bell on Wall Street at 9:30 A.M. if their press releases are specifically written for stocks trading.
If you are trying to plug an event, four or five days prior is the best day when to release a press release. The goal is to give your target audience enough time to arrange their schedules, buy tickets, and find dates (hey, it’s important). Even if that ideal day for a reminder falls on a Monday, you should go ahead and send out the PR anyway.
Decide when to release a press release based on the unique schedules of your target audience. It goes without saying you have to know your target audience. “Spray and pray” is the thing of the past. PR experts specifically seek out journalists whose beats are related to the topic of the PR. So if you’re writing about a new gadget, you should reach out to tech magazines and blogs that will appreciate receiving a PR from you. Take note of the days and times when they engage you the most.
If you are observant enough, you will develop a keen sense for when to release a press release. People are creatures of habit, so study the daily and weekly rhythm of the people you work with. That boring task of taking notes is the key to making smart decisions on when to release a press release.
Perfect timing is only half the job, because at the end of the day, an unhappy editor won’t publish your slightly spammy PR even if he stumbled upon it. Still, deciding when to release a press release is just as critical as knowing how to do it well. Before desk editors get the opportunity to judge your work and publish it, they’ll have to see it first.
We recommend: Thursday
GetResponse claims Thursday is the perfect day, and confirms that weekends record the lowest click-through rates. Why are Thursdays the best days when to release a press release? The reasons, we can only guess.
Mondays are generally hectic for everybody. Rejuvenated over the weekend, people are eager to catch up on work so they are at their desks going through a ton of emails. This process is rather overwhelming, especially for desk editors, so they go through the pile quickly and eliminate what looks like junk. In other words, Monday is the day for cleaning up the Inbox.
Christopher Penn of Shift Communications likewise adds that a greater number of PRs come in on Mondays so spotting a newsworthy one is like finding a needle in a haystack. Penn says the best day when to release a press release is on an “off-day” when traffic is the least heavy, but that’s a risky tactic. If it makes sense to you, you can always do a little test. Studying what works best is part of the process of deciding when to release a press release.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays are safe days as well, but Thursdays record the most number of click-throughs and responses from desk editors. That’s why we love Thursdays more.
Your press release might get some attention on a Friday, but remember that your work might end up getting published in the weekend edition, so it’s not such a hot day in terms of actual readership. In fact, PR experts send out unpleasant news on Fridays precisely for this reason. As you decide when to release a press release, you have to consider the habits of readers as well.
What about time? What is the most strategic time when to release a press release?
We recommend: 8:30 A.M. to 9:00 A.M
Do editors work during business hours only? Or do they check their emails after six too? Is lunch break a smart time when to release a press release? The work schedule of journalists, how they manage their time within a day, is another factor in deciding when to release a press release.
Mornings, but not too early, is the best time to send out a PR. At 7 A.M., people are getting dressed, having breakfast, or fighting off the rush hour mob so it’s not the best hour. By the time journalists and desk editors check their inboxes, there’ll be 200 emails ahead of yours.
Don’t take for granted how critical timing is the next time you plan when to release a press release. As far as we’re concerned, 8:30 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. is perfect.
Is emailing out a PR in the afternoon always a bad idea? Not necessarily. According to GetResponse, click-throughs are high from 3 P.M. to 4 P.M. as well. At 5 P.M. to 7 P.M., your target audience might be driving home, picking up the kids, or having dinner so emailing your PR before 4 P.M. is wise.
But at 8 P.M., there is a good chance they’ll check their inboxes again just to make sure they didn’t miss anything important. You can send in a PR around this time too.
So far we’ve identified best days and times when to release a press release (generally), but it doesn’t mean this schedule is going to work for you every time. Be sure to use your judgment based on the information you now know. Knowing when to release a press release will significantly boost your marketing or PR campaign.
Read more: https://www.virtualedge.org/
