Press releases have been around for decades and they are still one of the best methods of providing people with news and information. A press release can garner the attention of the press, bloggers, and other entities to help promote your product, service, or business.
You’ve taken the time to create an awesome document, but when is the best time to send a press release? Timing matters and it could mean the difference between making it page one of The New York Times or relegated to the back pages of little-seen sites.
We’ll examine the best time to send a press release, so you can maximize coverage.
When Is Best Time to Send a Press Release?
There are many different types of press releases. The overall goal is to promote the news of your business. It could be a product launch, hiring a new CEO, etc. The key to a good press release is there is some type of news that interests the recipients.
Press releases aren’t meant to go out to the public. They are designed and formatted to be concise news stories that journalists and bloggers can either run in their entirety or embellish upon through interviews. A good press release has quotes, access to assets such as pictures, and contact information for follow up questions.
There is also a boilerplate that provides a general description of the business or person.
Members of the press, bloggers, and other news sites receive many press releases every day. They are inundated and most never get opened. If you want to get their attention, then your email needs to have a catchy subject header, press release title, and reach them at the right time.
There are certain rules developed through the years that determine when the best times are to send a press release and when not to.
The Best Day to Send a Press Release is Thursday
When you promote an event such as a product launch, you want to send out the information with plenty of time for them to react. Many websites and publications have editorial calendars that dictate the stories they publish within a specific time frame.
If you want to make that calendar, then send it several weeks in advance. While they can change the calendar, it’s not likely to happen unless the news is big. Instead, you’ll end up somewhere random on the site or publication where people won’t read it.
You’ve taken the time to create the best press release possible, sent it to a distribution service and now it’s time to release it. The absolute worst times to send a press release are Fridays and over the weekend.
People are ready to go home and end their workweek and they might not check their emails until Monday. That’s a three-day backlog of emails that the reporter must go through on Monday. They won’t see the release until the beginning of the week and with so many, your release gets lost.
Mondays and Tuesdays aren’t the best days either as people are just getting back into the work routine after the weekend. Studies show that Thursdays are the best day to send a press release based on opening rates.
There is only an 18 percent chance of a press release being opened during most days of the week, but data analysis shows that it jumps to 26 percent on Thursdays. The first step to the publication of your press release is someone reading it, so do your best to get it to people on the best possible day for them to open it.
Why is Thursday the Best Day?
While there could be many reasons why people open their emails on a Thursday, the prevailing explanation is they’ve done most of their work for the week and finally have time to go through their emails and do something they want to do.
A journalist or blog owner is a busy job. They have deadlines they need to meet and copy to write, so their time is valuable. Thursdays seem to be their least busy day of the week and have more time to read emails.
When’s the Best Time to Send a Press Release?
You know what day to send it, but should you do it first thing in the morning, early in the afternoon, or in the evening? Many press release distribution services allow you to choose what time to send out the release.
You might think that having your email sitting in their inbox when they come in would be the best, but the opposite is true. They have all the emails from the overnight and they need to start their day. There could be breaking news they need to cover and your press release isn’t a priority.
It’s also pointless to send it in the evening for the same reason. It’s just sitting in their email when they arrive to work. The best time to send a release is between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Reporters are at their desk and see the emails as they pop up in their inbox.
Don’t send it directly on the hour or half-hour either as that’s when most people do. You’ll be one of several emails they get at these times and it decreases the chance of the journalist seeing it. Instead, pick a random minute time like 1:43 p.m. to stand out from the crowd.
Send Out Your Press Release at the Right Time
Your news is important, and you want to get as much traction as possible as soon as possible. The day and time you send a press release may not seem like a big deal, but it can make or break your news publication. We’ve explored the best time to send a press release, so now it’s time to create it and send it out.
If you want to learn more about how to create a press release and when to send them out, then please contact us today.