What Happens After You Write a Press Release?

By Memona Zafar

Writing the press release feels like the finish line. It isn’t. Plenty of well-written announcements sit unread because nobody planned the part that comes next. What you do after writing a press release falls into seven small jobs, and most mistakes happen in the first three.

Step 1: Check it once more, with fresh eyes

Leave it for a few hours, then read it again. Check:

• Names, titles and spellings, especially in quotes
• Dates, prices and numbers
• Every link, by clicking it
• That the first paragraph explains the whole story on its own

Once a release is published on other sites, corrections are hard or impossible. Five minutes of checking saves a lot of trouble.

Step 2: Choose when to send it

Timing matters more than most people think. A release about a product launch should go out on launch day, not a week later. Weekday mornings in your audience’s time zone usually work better than weekends or late evenings, because editors are at their desks.

Avoid big news days in your industry, when your announcement is likely to be buried.

Step 3: Decide where it should go

This is the distribution step. You have a few options:

• Email it yourself to journalists you have researched
• Post it on your own website and social channels
• Use a distribution service to publish it on news sites and send it to search engines

Most businesses use a mix. If you have not done it before, this guide on how to distribute a press release explains each option and when to use it.

If you choose a distribution service, check the outlet list and the report before you pay. With this press release distribution service, for example, the release is reviewed by an editor before it goes out, and you receive a report with links to every site that published it.

Step 4: Expect an editorial review

Most reputable services review releases before publishing. Editors may ask you to remove sales language, unsupported claims or too many links. This is normal and protects the credibility of the outlets. Releases that read like news, not adverts, pass faster.

Step 5: Track where it appears

Once published, your release will appear on a set of sites over the next day or two. Save the report and check the links yourself. Note which outlets carried it, and look at your website analytics for visits from those pages and from searches for your brand name.

Step 6: Put it to work

A published release is a useful asset. Use it:

• Add it to the press or news page on your website
• Share the best published link on LinkedIn and other channels
• Send it to customers or partners who would care
• Use it as a reference when you pitch journalists for a longer story

Step 7: Follow up, but only once

If you emailed journalists directly, a single polite follow-up after two or three days is fine. Add something new if you can, such as a photo, a data point or an interview offer. Do not send the same email again and again.

Think of it as a campaign

The release you send today can still be bringing visitors to your site months from now, but only if you treat it as more than a single send. Check it, time it, place it, watch where it lands and then keep using it. That small amount of extra effort is usually what separates an announcement people remember from one nobody noticed.