Valeo Marketing

How to Write a Press Release That Makes News (Detailed Version) Part 5

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How to Write a Press Release That Makes News (Detailed Version): PART-5

Distribution:
You have invested a lot of time and research into writing your press release. You need to have a solid media distribution list, and you need to make sure you are sending to the media that would have a genuine interest in your release.

Distributing the press release to the right reporters, editors and broadcasters is an important step. The target audience and the appropriateness of the media are the most important considerations in determining the target media.

Many companies offer varying levels of service for distribution. The most popular Press Releases services are:

Paid Press Release Services:

  1. PRWeb: PRWeb, a leader in online news and press release distribution. Pricing for their optimized releases is currently $80 per release for the Standard Visiblity (Basic Submission), $140 for Social Media distribution (Basic plus social bookmarking links), $200 for SEO Visibility (Allows for controlling anchor text of links in the release, next day distribution, and advanced SEO statistics) and $360 for Media Visibility (Guaranteed distribution through AP and top U.S newspapers, addition of embedded video)
  2. Business Wire: Business Wire is the leading source for press releases, photos, multimedia and regulatory filings from companies and groups throughout the world. Pricing for their optimized releases is currently $225 per release with a Business Wire circuit, and $295 if ordered standalone (a free membership to Business Wire is required).
  3. Marketwire: Is a leading newswire service offering press release distribution, media contact management, multimedia, media monitoring services and other workflow solutions for public relations, investor relations, journalists and other communications professionals.
  4. Express Press Release: EPR Network is amongst the oldest and most trusted PR sites on the web.
    • Standard Press Release (Free): Normally it is only published on express-press-release, in certain cases on more PR sites depending on the quality of the press release.
    • Featured Press Release (Paid): Expressly published within few hours on all 12 State-based PR sites across USA, on our EPR Blog Network and PR forum part of EPR Nationwide Network as well as on 3rd party social media sites.

Free Press Release Services:

  1. I-Newswire: I-newswire.com is a free press release distribution center.
  2. PR Log: PRLog is a free online press release service. You can submit your press releases at no charge.
  3. Free Press Release: Best fit for your online marketing strategies. Small, medium or large sized enterprises.
  4. 1888 Press Release: The services include free press release submission, press release distribution, sample press releases, press release writing tips, and the most popular press releases. Press releases can be submitted here for absolutely free.

Some Guidelines:

  • Send releases to the reporter(s) most likely to use the information.
  • Ask for recipients’ preferred method of delivery, but when in doubt, use mail by post.
  • Refrain from sending mass emails, instead directly addressing them to the recipient.

Timing
Timing the press release for optimal effectiveness is also very important. Timing should consider both the media reporters and the target audience. Find out from the media source or preferably your chosen recipient what their cutoff time is.

Dailies’ cutoff is generally up to three hours prior to printing, but stories are generated between 48 and 24 hours to publication. Monthlies generally plan two or more months in advance. For feature length attention, considerably more time is needed for a story to be developed.

Publications usually cater to people’s desire to hear good news in the morning and the beginning of the week, placing bad news at the end of the day or week. If the timing does not work the first time, resend the release as a “re-release.”