Once you have drafted your press release according to the current regulations, it is time to distribute it. But how do you choose which journalists to send it to? What methodology should be followed for distributing a press release? Our Press Relations department reveals a proven method.
Nowadays, 99.9% of press releases are sent via email. A journalist can potentially receive dozens, even hundreds, per day! It is not easy to stand out, especially when distributing your press release directly, without going through a press relations agency. But it is not impossible!
To be effective, your email must include:
First, it is important to carefully craft your email’s subject line. In the field of Press Relations, it is customary to include an abbreviation at the beginning of the subject line, which is very useful for the journalist: PR for press release, PI for press invitation, PP for press pack… This allows the journalist or editor-in-chief to immediately understand the content. Therefore, begin your subject line with “PR” and then summarize your topic in a few words, if possible, in a concise and impactful manner. At a glance, the journalist should understand who or what the press release is about.
Next, your email body is equally important. Your email should be concise and explain why you are contacting the journalist: inform them that you considered it worthwhile to send them your press release, which discusses –specify your topic-.
Indicate the attachments you are including, and any photo credits, and always conclude by informing them that you are available to discuss it in more detail. Ensure you are genuinely available. It is pointless to send a press release on Friday at 6:00 PM, just before you leave for the weekend!
The most crucial aspect of a distribution is to have thoroughly targeted the journalists who will receive the press release! Each journalist potentially has their preferred area of focus: economy, politics, finance, social issues, environment… therefore, when compiling the press file, which gathers the contacts of journalists to whom you will send your press release, it is very important to select those who are interested in the field you will be discussing. It is better to send a single email to the right journalist than to conduct a massive, indiscriminate distribution to all journalists in the newsroom, which risks labeling you as SPAM and being counterproductive.
There are two ways to distribute a press release once your email is ready and your attachments are included.
The fastest and most commonly used method involves copying the email addresses of all target journalists and pasting them into the BCC (blind carbon copy) field – you will have previously entered your own email as the primary recipient. This allows you to transmit the information to all journalists (provided the list is limited to a reasonable number of recipients) with a single click, without differentiating between them. This approach is particularly recommended for regulatory communications, for example, to announce the postponement of an event date. This type of distribution most often results in a factual reproduction of the information – if interested, the journalist will use a portion of your press release in an article, a brief, or a short piece.
The alternative solution takes significantly more time and requires more preliminary work, but it yields results in the long term. In this approach, if you have 30 journalists on your distribution list, you send 30 personalized emails, one per person, adding a specific detail relevant to the journalist each time, if possible. For example, mention that you know they are interested in a particular subject or that you noticed they addressed the same issue in a recent article.
Journalists appreciate not being just a name and an email in the middle of a distribution list! This type of personalized email fosters more precise contact; do not hesitate to suggest a phone discussion or an interview to discuss it in more detail, for example. This type of distribution can more easily lead to an interview than a mass distribution; and above all, you build a genuine one-to-one relationship with each journalist… which is the key to long-term success.
