A press release is not a pitch. I repeat, a press release is NOT a pitch.

We use press releases very differently than other agencies and I thought it would be helpful to shed some light on the subject. You will come across many agencies who spend countless hours on a press release and use it as their first line of communication with members of the press. The problem is, blindly sending just a press release via email to all of your contacts doesn’t provide any context for the editor. Most times, there are unique angles that can be derived from your announcement that appeal to different editors with various beats, so why treat all of them the same?

Editors want to know one main thing – why would my readers care? It is our job to gain their interest by providing that context up front, in an email or phone call. So, how and when do WE use press releases? We write them quickly and effectively, but use them primarily as a means of follow up (except with blogs, who are handled differently). We first tailor our communication to what the editor would want to share with his readers. Once we receive interest and the editor requests more info or an interview, THEN we provide the press release for all the hard facts.

Companies who have been in the PR game for awhile still hold press releases near and dear to their hearts. They often fight us on the content of the press release and put too much energy into it – taking valuable time away from actually pitching the announcement. Many still don’t understand that the press release is not the first line of offense – it should come secondary to the conversations that we will be having with our contacts. Don’t get me wrong – a well-written press release is extremely important and many of the old-school rules still apply (it must be newsworthy, fact-based and free of fluff), but it is simply not relied upon solely for coverage today. We crank out great press releases here, but we’ll get you coverage with or without one.

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