From Julie Lindy, Editor!
"As an editor who gets tons of press releases daily, I've never had strong feelings about how a press release is delivered to me ... until recently. I think most editors & journalists overwhelmingly prefer e-mail press releases and have for some time, and I've finally jumped on the bandwagon." Julie Lindy, Editor INSIDE Public Accounting
Eight reasons to distribute press releases by e-mail:
1. Less gatekeeping. Except at the highest levels, most editors and reporters read their own e-mail. Snail mail and faxes, on the other hand, are often handled by a gatekeeper and then distributed. The authority of the gatekeeper to weed out mail and faxes will vary from one news organization to another, but there's less chance of any gatekeeping with e-mail. The person you send it to is probably the person who will read it.
2. Perceived importance. E-mail releases convey a sense of urgency about the news you have to tell. Nowadays, when I receive releases exclusively by snail mail, it occurs to me that the senders weren't in a big hurry to get their news out.
3. Reduced chance of errors and misspellings of names of firms and people. In an editor's eyes, cut & paste is a beautiful thing!
4. Competitive advantage. Electronic format (except pdf) is so darn easy to work with for editors that I believe it gives the sender a competitive advantage. Picture this: The editor is on a tight deadline and has room for one more item. Is he/she more likely to cut and paste your e-mail release and drop it in, or to start entering information into the system from a snail mail/fax release? Ideally, the value of the news would dictate the decision, but all things being equal, the editor will go for the e-release. It's just more efficient. The snail mail release will be held until the next publication cycle.
5. Reincarnation. E-mail releases are more likely to get a "second life," because electronic filing systems are so much more user-friendly than paper filing systems. As an editor, I may not be interested in the release about your new staff accountant, but I notice that it mentions your manufacturing niche, and I'm planning to write a story about
manufacturing niches in the next few months. The release gives me your contact info and perhaps a partner's name ... I put it in the electronic file I'm keeping for my manufacturing niche story because your firm is now a good source for that story. I could do the same with a paper file, but they're becoming more obsolete and are so much more cumbersome.
6. Image. E-mail releases are so common now that releases exclusively by fax or snail mail are almost unusual. "Don't they have e-mail?" the editor wonders. "Why are they still doing things the old-fashioned way?"
7. Easy forwarding. Ooops! You sent the e-release to the wrong person, or to an editor who wants to assign it to a reporter. The recipient just forwards it to the proper desk. No sweat.
8. Easy confirmation. Most e-mail programs can be set up to deliver the sender a receipt indicating the e-mail was read, so you know it was received and who read it.
One caveat: don't treat an e-release like a paper release. I posted my thoughts on that subject on this listserv a few months ago. Anne Stanton was kind enough to include that post on her blog: http://thenorwichgroup.blogs.com/fieldnotes/marketing_/
Main points: treat the subject line as the headline and don't force the editor to open an attached file to find out what you're sending. Nothing makes an editor grouchier than an inbox with 50 e-mails from 50 strangers, all with the same subject line ("Press release") and no further information except attached file. That said, if I was a marketer, I'd probably follow up my e-mail release with a paper release (unless my department was a press release mill).
Two reasons:
(1) It reminds an editor about your release -- important if he/she put it in a "maybe" file; and
(2) I think paper releases are more effective for branding in the minds of editors and reporters.
Face it: most of us are visual learners. There's something about holding a piece of paper in your hands and taking a mental picture of it that creates an impression that isn't communicated as well by e-mail. So the purpose of paper follow-ups would be more for reminder and branding purposes, while the e-release would be the primary news breaking tool.
Just some thoughts from an editor's point of view." Julie Lindy, Editor INSIDE Public Accounting
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