The Best Time to Send a Press Release
The best time to send a press release can vary depending on several factors, but here are some good rules of thumb:
- Between 8 AM and 10 AM, is best. This timing allows journalists to see your release early in their workday. In our testing, the email open rate for these press release emails was over 45%.
- Don’t send reporters a press release or email after lunch. After lunch, the open rate drops to 15%.
- Consider time zones: If you’re targeting a national or international audience, factor in different time zones to ensure your release arrives at an appropriate time for all recipients. This may involve sending your press release out in different batches.
- Industry-specific timing: Some industries may have different optimal times based on their news cycles or schedules.
- For online publications, mid-morning (around 10 AM) can be effective as it coincides with peak internet traffic.
Remember, reporters are busy people. If you wait until the end of the day, they might not want to read your message. They’ll likely wait until the next morning.
Your press release email could get lost in a sea of other emails as a result.
Remember that the “best” time can also depend on your specific audience and the nature of your news. It’s worth experimenting with different times and tracking the results to find what works best for your particular situation.
The Best Days for Sending Press Releases
- The best day to send a press release is Thursday. Press releases sent on Thursdays had an email open rate of over 22%.
- Meanwhile, the worst day of the week to send a release is Friday. Press release emails sent on Fridays have an open rate of only 15%.
- However, other experts argue that Tuesday, followed by Wednesday, is the most popular day to send a press release.
- Avoid major holidays or significant news days when your release might get overlooked.
So the Best Time and Day to Send Out Press Releases is…
The best day and time to send out press releases is Thursday, (followed by Tuesday, then Wednesday,), between 8 and 10am in the recipient’s time zone.
Then, use your email marketing platform to determine which day had the highest open rate.
Once you determine the best day to send your press release, you’ll need to consider the timing.
Why It Works
Why is it best to send a press release on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday?
For many journalists, Mondays are the busiest days of the week. They have to riffle through all the emails they received over the weekend. It’s likely they’ll prioritize other tasks on a Monday morning.
If you send an email on a Friday afternoon, journalists will likely wait two or three days before checking their email. Your email could end up buried or sent into a spam folder.
Once Tuesday rolls around, journalists will start skim-reading through the emails they didn’t mark as urgent. These emails often include press releases.
Why is Thursday considered the best day of the week to send a release? It’s possible that by the end of the week, journalists have completed most of their bigger tasks. By Thursday, they finally have time to read their unopened emails.
On a Friday, however, they likely have their mind on the weekend. Most people push non-priority tasks to the next week.
Remember, most people check their emails first thing in the morning. In fact, 61% of reporters prefer pitches in the morning. Unfortunately, these reporters have an average of 300 emails waiting for them every day.
Sending your email early will ensure it’s at the top of the journalist’s inbox. Otherwise, it might take a few hours before they finally reach your message.
What to Avoid
Avoid sending your press releases on Mondays or Fridays.
It’s likely journalists have the most emails waiting for them on a Monday morning. By Friday, they’re likely not focused on reading press releases. Instead, they’ll let that task wait until the next week.
Sending an email on a Monday could risk the chance your press release will remain unread for some time. If your press release is time-sensitive and urgent, you could miss your chance.
You should also avoid writing press releases to send over the weekend.
Most journalists don’t open their work emails over the weekend at all. If they do, it’s for urgent emails, not press releases.
You should also avoid sending your press release at the end of the day or at night.
Journalists are likely ready to go home and sleep. They won’t check their work emails. Your email open rate could drop as a result.
Meanwhile, your email could get lost in the journalist’s inbox as they receive other messages.
Avoid Sending Releases Too Far in Advance
Before distributing press releases, consider the content. Is the piece newsworthy now? Should you wait a little longer before sending the press release?
It often depends. First, consider the nature of your news. Think about current events that are occurring in your industry, too.
If there’s a lot going on within your industry, journalists might not consider your piece newsworthy at the moment.
Avoid Embargoing Your Press Release Date
You also need to consider whether or not the news is confidential.
If you want the journalist to wait before publishing your release, use an embargo. You can add “EMBARGOED until [Date/Time]” within the title.
You should use an embargo for:
- Mergers
- Acquisitions
- Funding announcements
- Partnership announcements
- New leadership announcements
Otherwise, consider whether or not you want to schedule the press release for immediate release. Immediate release events might include breaking news.
For a product launch, consider distributing press releases one to two weeks in advance.
For a conference, grand opening, trade show, or another event announcement, send it three weeks in advance.
If your press release is in response to ongoing news, release it immediately.
Avoid Unnecessary Stress – Hire a Press Release Distribution Service
Trying to find the perfect press release send date and time can feel stressful. You don’t have to work through the process alone. Instead, consider hiring a press release distribution agency.
An agency will already have strong connections with journalists within your industry niche. They can leverage those connections to benefit your business. With their help, you can increase the chances that a media outlet will pick up your story.
Otherwise, you could waste time experimenting, trying to find the perfect time to send your releases.
Avoid wasting valuable time and effort trying to get the timing right. Instead, leverage an agency’s years of experience and expertise. They’ll know when to send your press releases to the right publications.
With their help, you can reach more readers, boosting brand awareness and recognition.
Using Email Analytics to Determine the Best Time for Press Releases
If you are sending out your own press releases, leveraging your email analytics can provide valuable insights into the optimal timing for your press releases. Here’s how to use this data effectively:
- Track Open Rates: Monitor when your emails, including press releases, get the highest open rates. This indicates when your recipients are most likely to be checking their inboxes.
- Analyze Click-Through Rates (CTR): Look at the times when your links get the most clicks. High CTRs suggest periods when your audience is most engaged and likely to act on your content.
- Segment Your Data: Break down your analytics by different factors such as:
- Day of the week
- Time of day
- Geographic location of recipients
- Type of media outlet (print, online, broadcast)
- Consider Response Times: Note how quickly journalists or media outlets respond to your releases at different times. Faster response times may indicate more favorable sending periods.
- Use A/B Testing: Send the same press release at different times to different segments of your media list. Compare the results to identify the most effective timing.
- Look for Patterns Over Time: Don’t rely on just a few data points. Collect and analyze data over several months to identify consistent trends.
- Utilize Email Marketing Tools: Many email marketing platforms offer analytics features that can help you visualize and interpret this data more easily.
- Adjust for Seasonality: Be aware that optimal times may change during different seasons or around major events in your industry.
- Consider Individual Preferences: For key media contacts, pay attention to their individual engagement patterns. Some journalists may consistently interact with your content at specific times.
- Continuously Refine: Use the insights you gain to continually adjust your sending schedule. The media landscape evolves, so your optimal timing may change over time.
- Make Sure You Have Big Enough Numbers: Everything here should be measured over a series of press releases to more accurately find patterns in your specific data.
By consistently analyzing and acting on your email analytics, you can significantly improve the effectiveness of your press release distribution, ensuring your news reaches journalists when they’re most likely to engage with it.
Helping Your Press Release Stand Out
Journalists receive hundreds of emails every single day. It’s not enough to send a press release at the right time. You need to make sure your email stands out from the bunch, too.
One of the most important steps you can take when drafting your email is improving the subject line. After all, the subject line is the first thing a journalist will see. If your subject line doesn’t stand out, the journalist could toss out your email.
You’ll miss a chance to gain media exposure as a result.
Instead, make sure your subject line is engaging and promising. Highlight the value you’re offering the journalist and their readers.
Make sure your content is relevant to the target audience, too. If the reader won’t find it interesting or appealing, the journalist won’t.
Before you hit send, make sure to proofread through everything. Typos and grammatical errors can impact your credibility. Journalists might ignore press releases that are full of mistakes, too.
Use these tips to learn how to submit a press release properly.
Make sure your contact information is included and accurate as well. Otherwise, the journalist might struggle to follow up.
As you begin distributing press releases, track your success. What time and data are helping you get a response? Tracking your data will help you make more informed decisions in the future.
You can find the perfect press release send date and time. Then, you can send out and distribute more releases, helping you reach more customers.
Timing Is Everything: When to Send a Press Release
Timing is everything, especially considering how busy journalists can get throughout the week. If you want to send a press release, you need to time it right. Finding the best press release send date can increase your chance of media exposure.
Then, you can reach more customers, generate brand awareness, and set your business up for success.
Need help finding the perfect send date and time for your next press release? We’re here to help.
Explore our pricing today to get started.