I am often asked if there is a good day to send out a press release.
And you know what? There is no easy answer. A lot depends on who you are targeting and the type of news you have.
If you have a press release for a local paper, you will be no doubt be aware that the publication will be published on a set day of the week. So the run up to those days will be pretty hectic in the news room. News editors will be frantically putting the final touches to their features, checking photos and headlines and editing the text ready for the work to go off to the printers on time. So work backwards, you don't want to hit the phones on the press day when journalists are working up against deadlines. You can always phone the editorial assistant who will let you know the best days to call.
This works the same for monthly magazines too. Magazines work 3-4 months ahead. If you have a feature relevant to the middle of summer, you'll need to hit the editorial team with your ideas in early Spring. Similarly, if you a product or news release relating to Christmas, well guess what? Forget trying to send the release in during November or December. For monthly magazines you'll want to start sending news in around August-September time.
Online works a little differently of course, as the news needs to be constantly updated, and the lead times are a little quicker. But there will of course still be good and bad days to approach the press. You will need to quite simply take your time to get to know the editorial team and the best days to approach them.
For more PR tips drop me a line at [email protected] and ask for my five point PR checklist.
And you know what? There is no easy answer. A lot depends on who you are targeting and the type of news you have.
If you have a press release for a local paper, you will be no doubt be aware that the publication will be published on a set day of the week. So the run up to those days will be pretty hectic in the news room. News editors will be frantically putting the final touches to their features, checking photos and headlines and editing the text ready for the work to go off to the printers on time. So work backwards, you don't want to hit the phones on the press day when journalists are working up against deadlines. You can always phone the editorial assistant who will let you know the best days to call.
This works the same for monthly magazines too. Magazines work 3-4 months ahead. If you have a feature relevant to the middle of summer, you'll need to hit the editorial team with your ideas in early Spring. Similarly, if you a product or news release relating to Christmas, well guess what? Forget trying to send the release in during November or December. For monthly magazines you'll want to start sending news in around August-September time.
Online works a little differently of course, as the news needs to be constantly updated, and the lead times are a little quicker. But there will of course still be good and bad days to approach the press. You will need to quite simply take your time to get to know the editorial team and the best days to approach them.
For more PR tips drop me a line at [email protected] and ask for my five point PR checklist.