Why Press Releases No Longer Work and What Does
23. Jun, 2011 
19 Comments
Sterling Silver and 18 karat yellow gold ring
If your PR strategy is to write a press release and send it out to the media in hopes of gaining new customers for your product or service, it’s time to stop that right now! Press releases no longer work.
I know this because when I started my eco-friendly t-shirt company, Tees for Change, four years ago, I spent almost $500 to hire an online service to write a press release and distribute it to “tens of thousands of journalists.” And then I sat and waited for the media to call me and for customers to start buying.
When that didn’t happen, I assumed it was because the press release was sent out on a Friday and who really works on Fridays anyway? So I waited another month and this time I hired someone to write a press release for me and decided to distribute it through a very popular PR service (on a Tuesday), at a cost of almost $500 again. I got one response – a journalist who wanted a free sample. I sent her the sample and never heard from her again despite my attempts to follow up numerous times.
Has this happened to you, too?
And then I tried something different. I purchased access to a media list and made a list of targeted reporters and editors who were working on holiday gift guides for their respective magazines. I then looked through some past magazines and realized that each magazine had a different angle to their holiday gift guides:
- gifts that give back
- gifts under $50
- eco-friendly gifts
- gifts for parents
- last-minute gifts
- inspirational gifts, etc.
I created a story (also known as a pitch in the media world) around my t-shirts and contacted the editors, this time individually, pitching two of my t-shirts as “gifts that give back.” And, to my surprise, over 20 editors wrote back and said that they were interested in covering my t-shirts in their holiday gift guides. Not all of them actually ended up featuring the t-shirts (some dropped them last minute, some featured them in a later issue and some changed their mind), but I made over $20,o00 in sales from being mentioned in their holiday gift guides that year!
I repeated the same pitch the following year and got my shirts mentioned in even more magazines. And then I realized that I could do this throughout the year: great gift for Mother’s or Father’s Day or gift guides, perfect gift for Valentine’s Day, eco-friendly products for their April issue (when many magazines celebrate Earth Day), products that make a difference, tees that plant trees (I planted a tree for each tee I sold and the media loved this).
So if you want more press for your products, stop spending your money on press releases. There’s definitely a time and a place for having a press release (usually after the media is interested in your story), but the press release no longer works as the main way to get press for your products. The media wants specific story ideas and launching a Spring line for your clothing or adding 10 more types of soaps to your health and beauty line is not a story.
To get specific story ideas, look through the last few issues of the magazine that you want to get your products featured in and make a list of the topics they cover. Then see if your products would fit in any of those stories and craft your next pitch around that.
Also, check out the magazine’s Editorial Calendar (which is usually found in the Advertising section of the magazine’s website or you can Google Glamour Magazine + Editorial Calendar, for example) and see if your products will make a good fit for any of their upcoming stories. Keep in mind that magazines work 4-6 months in advance, so if you are pitching a story for their holiday gift guides, for example, you’ll need to pitch it in June, July or August.
So here’s what I want you to do right now:
- Make a list of 10-15 magazines/blogs/TV shows, etc. that you want your products to be featured in in the next 6-12 months
- Check out the current issue of each magazine (you can do so at Barnes & Noble for free) and make a list of topics that each magazine covers that could be a great fit for your products
- Find and download each magazine’s editorial calendar
- Make a list of the contact information for the appropriate editor that you’re going to contact at each magazine
- Come up with a story idea for each magazine
- Email each editor with your story idea and don’t forget to follow up a week later (and then two weeks later)
If you follow the steps above, you’ll be on your way to getting more press coverage for your products!
If you’ve had a similar experience with press releases, I’d love to hear about it. Leave your comments below.
Guest Post by : andreeaayers.com
About The Author
1595 
1600
TOTALLY had this experience and I am SO happy to have someone explain why it didn’t work and how to do it better. Thanks!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Fabulous information! Looks like I have some homework to do while my kids are out of school this summer!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Sounds like a wonderful idea. I really should do it!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I have my niche and I’ve had numerous articles written about my work, but very few have led to increased sales. Most lead to sales people contacting me asking for paid advertisements! Why?
I love your articles!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Tim, this is right on target. I spent 24 years writing primarily for magazines, and stepped into book writing in 1994. Article proposals are pitched just as you describe – by studying the market, then contacting them with the high points and a good hook. Half the battle is creating a “need-to-know-more” mood that will coax an editor into responding positively.
Another tip: Pay close attention to the ads in each publication, as they give strong hints as to the audience. Each publication has a distinct audience (as you know), and an ad study helps you form a proposal that shows you’ve done your homework and know the target audience.
Great article, Tim! Wish I’d had this years ago! One disclaimer: Many editors appreciate email, but there are still a few who hate it with a vengeance. Never email unless you’re certain they prefer working that way.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
great information – thanks for this, I’m off to research.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I am so glad I am signed up for your newsletter. I was seriously thinking of writing or hiring someone to do a press release for me.
Thanks very much.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
This is so accurate ! You have to sell your product to the press just as if they were a client – offering them the product that would most suit them and with heaps of patience too . Great article
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Excellent advice. And as a professional copywriter who also writes the occaisional press release, i concur with al that Tim says. Key is always sending something out separately to each editor. No one wants to run something that was sent to everyone. For local PR, i also take the timeto call the pub to find out exactly the right person to send my info to. Often you will have more luck with an assistant than an editor.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Those are some really interesting ideas and tips. You’ve got me thinking now about how i can be featured in magazines locally. I live on a small island where shopping is limited, so getting my goods in front of people at the right times of year would be great!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Great article, thank you! This has really got me thinking.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Excellent information! We do this targeted marketing with all of the old house magazines. If you ask for ad information they will send you what their next 4-6 months of issues will focus on and that really helps with the pitch.
Thanks for the great article!!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
AWESOME advice!! I guess the only reason I never did the press releases is that after working at a radio station for 5 years I new that the press releases pretty much always went directly to the shed pile!! RARELY did they ever move beyond that pile!!
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
“knew”
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Oh goodness, my typing!!
Shred pile!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Great information! Thanks!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I agree with what Bobbi Helms stated. When I was in the music business, and would send out promo packs, I would call the festival to find out exactly who to send it to and then I would a wait a couple of weeks and call to ask that person if they had received it. If you’re friendly and light on the phone, then folks are usually willing to have a conversation with you and then you are more firmly fixed in their memory. I’m sure this will translate to magazines as well.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I can see why press releases no longer work – after all, a lot of newspapers and magazines are trying just to stay afloat, let alone looking for something golden in a sea of noise. Contacting them directly with a custom-tailored pitch is definitely more effective by your tests, and it makes sense, too.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
THANK. YOU.
This was very timely, because I was planning (yet again) to spend a decent little chunk of money to send out another press release. This post definitely makes sense.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0