The “death of the press release” has been a topic people have been discussing for years, but let me settle the debate: the press isn’t dead, it’s just not going to get you the media coverage you think it will.
According to PR Daily, roughly half of journalists don’t use press releases to find new story ideas. While that’s not news to us at Fish, it could strike a blow to brands that have been relying on these announcements to drive their media strategy.
Press releases aren’t a strategy, they’re a tool. As a freelance writer, I’ve never once written a story based on a press release. (OK, one time.) For every press release I receive, I have to read it, and then re-read it, to figure out if it fits my beat and what my angle or larger story will be. (Press releases are typically very promotional and one-sided.) That requires a lot of time and energy that I don’t have. Full-time journalists are no different. They’re strapped for time and under a lot of pressure to deliver an increasing amount of content.
A press release is a helpful tool to provide more supporting details, but journalists need a story idea before they need a press release. PR pros will have much better results if they spend those coveted retainer hours developing proactive story angles targeted to specific reporters rather than simply sending a press release to those same writers.
As an example, we recently distributed a release for a client announcing that they’ll be exhibiting, sponsoring, and speaking at an upcoming trade show. While the release was picked up by over 230 online outlets that automatically run press releases, we didn’t receive a single inquiry from a reporter interested in a story. That’s to be expected, of course, because the act of exhibiting at a trade show isn’t newsworthy for reporters. However, the CEO now has a sit-down meeting with a reporter at The Wall Street Journal. It was only through our careful research, targeted pitching, and simple mention that the CEO would be in town for this trade show that we were able to land this meeting. The press release didn’t do it — our proactive story angle did.
I don’t think press releases will ever go away, but certainly reporters will continue to expect more from the PR industry in helping them conceive relevant, timely, and interesting stories that will attract readers. And if PR doesn’t adapt, you’ll fail to get the media coverage clients want.
