How do press releases work?

The life of a press release

1. You write the release around a genuine news angle.
2. It is sent to relevant journalists, usually with a short personal pitch.
3. Interested journalists ask questions or request assets and interviews.
4. They write their own article, citing and often linking to your source.
5. You track coverage and follow up on missing links.

Who actually reads it

News desks, beat reporters, freelance writers and trade editors. Each wants something different: news desks want speed, trade editors want depth, freelancers want an angle they can sell. That is why one release often needs several different pitches pointing to it.

Embargoes and timing

An embargo asks journalists not to publish before a set date and time. It gives them time to prepare and lets you coordinate coverage. Embargoes only work with journalists who have agreed to them, so confirm before sharing embargoed material and state the time zone clearly.

Where the release lives online

Publish the full release, data and assets on your own site, ideally on a newsroom or study page. That page becomes the target for the links your coverage earns. A release that exists only as an email attachment leaves those links with nowhere to go.

• A clear headline and date
• The full findings or announcement
• Methodology and sources
• Downloadable images and charts
• Press contact details

Wire distribution versus pitching

Wire services publish your release across networks of sites and send it to subscribers. That creates copies, but copies rarely count as real coverage. Personal pitching creates fewer touches and far more articles written by journalists for their own readers.

A worked example

An illustrative launch: a payroll software company releases a report on small business hiring. The release goes live on its newsroom at 7am under embargo lifted for one exclusive outlet. At 9am, personal pitches go to 30 business and HR journalists with the key figure in the subject line and a link to the newsroom page. Over the week, nine articles appear, six linking to the report page. The release itself never ranks for anything; the articles it enabled do the work.

What goes into a release journalists use

1. A headline that states the news.
2. A dateline with city and date.
3. An opening paragraph with who, what, where, when and why.
4. Supporting detail, figures and context.
5. A quote that adds opinion, not repetition.
6. Notes to editors: method, assets and contact.

Keep it to a page. Anything longer belongs on the study or newsroom page, linked from the release.

Press release marketing versus PR

Some teams use press releases mainly as marketing: publishing them widely for visibility in search and on news aggregators. That can help with branded search, but it is a different goal from earning coverage. If the aim is articles written by journalists, the release is only the supporting document; the pitch does the work.

Signs your release is not working

• No replies after the first wave: the angle may not be news.
• Replies but no articles: assets or spokespeople may be missing.
• Articles but no links: your source page may be weak or hidden.
• Coverage only on syndication sites: the release was distributed, not pitched.

Each points to a different fix, which is why tracking results by stage matters. If you want a release built around data journalists genuinely want, that is the core of our data-led campaigns.

Frequently asked questions