A whole bunch of PR newbies ask this question every day - did you get my press release? Either their bosses are desperate for coverage or they need to report back to a client with outreach details.
This question irks many journalists. These same journalists get hundreds of emails a day. Many of them irrelevant and poorly targeted, so being followed up for a release that they would never cover is tiresome.
I spoke to a journalist yesterday and he was trying to get some features done but said that every two minutes he is getting a PR call. Potentially an exaggeration, but I am not a journalist so I'll take his word for it.
So what is a poor PR to do? Sometimes you just need to accept that the press release your client wants you to write won't be covered by many journalists, so don't bug the journalists. This doesn't mean that your clients news isn't interesting. For partners, customers and suppliers maybe the news of a certification or minor appointment could be interesting. This news can be shared on your client's website, a newswire or social media, or maybe the story is relevant to a niche media title.
Of course there are some great client stories or maybe you've commissioned some research that reveals some interesting facts and figures. Anyway the news sites need filling so I would recommend identifying your top stories and deciding who to target.
Once you have a list of news and schedule in place, decide what you need to enhance your release, whether that's a great image, a Q&A, a review, demo or interview opportunity with a key spokesperson.
Now decide who is getting what. Tier your target list and determine a best case scenario. XX journalist gets this while YY gets this. With careful targeting, you improve your chances of coverage.
Get your material ready - don't scramble around for an image on the day of the release for example.
Do not press send on your email YET. But pick up the phone. Picking up the phone before you send out the release, IMHO, will give you a better result and avoids having to ask the dreaded question.
Sometimes for major news, we pick up the phone 2 - 4 weeks before we issue a press release. We offer interviews, first looks and sometimes more and we won't set a concrete date for launch until we have spoken to some target journalists. They will tell us gems like there's a major vendor event on the week we are thinking of launching. This info may not be on the general public's radar, but could potentially scupper our news. Talking to journalists before a release goes out usually helps to refine your verbal pitch too. The journalist may challenge you, which is actually very useful. Once you have talked to your target journalists only then do you send out your release and hopefully you will never have to pose the question again.
