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11630 SW 97 Street, Miami, Florida 33176, US
11630 SW 97 Street, Miami, Florida 33176, US
There are many tips telling you to send a press release on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday morning. Some even specify which hour you should send a press release. These tips are helpful in helping you determine the best time to send a press release, but they ignore an equally important factor in terms of press release timing.
There is a difference between sending out a press release on a Thursday in September and a Thursday in December. Your journalists are probably going through different levels of pressure; you could be operating at a different stage of the business cycle in your sector, and there might be less or more competition for their attention.
We have compiled this guide to help you master the full picture of press release timing, combining daily timing, time zones, and the critical factor of seasonality.
However, newsrooms do not run at the same speed all through the year. The period of December serves as an example. Editors might be preparing materials concerning holiday celebrations, year-end issues, annual summaries, predictions for the upcoming year, and much more, in addition to a number of scheduled releases.
Companies will try to publish their last announcements before Christmas time. In this way, a release that would draw attention during another quiet period could be drowned out among other messages.
Summer represents the situation where some journalists and editors are on vacation, and some of the magazines work with a reduced team of workers. However, there are fewer companies issuing significant announcements during the same period.
This does not mean that summer is better. It only implies that there is a different level of competition your release will face. This is the reason why common tips about the best day for a press release are quite simplified. How long a news release should be is another important consideration when preparing your announcement. Thursday is not that crucial. What takes place around it is important too.
There is no such month that could be suitable for any kind of announcement. Everything depends on your announcement and target audience. Planning a press release calendar can help you organize announcements around seasonal trends, industry events, and important business milestones.
January is all about the announcements. Businesses roll out their strategies, make leadership announcements, launch new products, give predictions, and talk about their plans for the upcoming year. January is thus a perfect month for proactive storytelling.
The issue here is that you have plenty of competition for it. If your announcement is directly related to the beginning of the year, releasing early could make sense. Publishing later, at the end of January, would make your announcement part of a growing flood.
February is often quieter. The holiday season is over, the initial January announcements are released, and companies are back to business as usual. A February release could make sense for companies that are not targeting a certain deadline for the release and are announcing products, partnerships, fundraising, studies, or company announcements.
More activity takes place during March when many businesses progress further into the year. Businesses could have news to share based on their first-quarter performance; conferences and industry events start to create opportunities for coverage.
This month can also be used to launch announcements with a business or industry focus rather than a seasonal consumer focus.
April can be an ideal time for stories involving spring-related activities. Real estate, travel, consumer businesses, outdoor products, and events can all use the opportunity presented by a change in seasonal interest.
Businesses with first-quarter results and developments to share can also distribute releases in this month. What is most important here is a solid reason for the timing. It is not enough to choose April simply because it is a good PR month.
May will bring the momentum built up in April forward. Activities like real estate, travel planning, outdoor events, consumer marketing efforts, and spring product launches will present many opportunities to publish stories. B2B businesses will also have a lot of stories to cover during this month.
A lot of companies take stock of the first half of the year and plan ahead. It is a good time for mid-year reports, corporate information, research results, and industry event announcements. If your story has something to do with an industry conference or trade show, releasing the information in conjunction with the event will allow journalists another reason to cover it.
July is often described as a sleepy month. This is somewhat true as people go on holiday and there is less newsroom activity, while a number of companies work in low gear. However, it does not mean that nothing can be done.
If your information is not urgent, then July might just be a good time to release it. There would probably be less competition from other corporate releases, especially in those industries that take it easy in the summer.
While some people might be on vacation, firms in other industries will be gearing up for autumn. And then there are the educational firms, which have a rather direct link with the month of August. This is the month when students and schools prepare for the upcoming academic year.
And retail firms might begin mentioning their autumn collections and campaigns. But if you want to send out a message to corporate clients, check first whether that’s a good time for your news release.
In September, everything starts moving again. People come back from their vacations, conferences start becoming busy, firms turn their attention to the last quarter, and journalists have fresh ideas for stories.
All this means that this is a great month for technology, B2B, financial, professional services, and many other business-related announcements. Of course, this month has its downsides too. Many firms know about it as well. So a September announcement should have a compelling reason to interest journalists.
October is a vital time for retail and e-commerce firms to prepare for their holiday shopping season. For brands that have planned to reveal their Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns or gifts during October, it would be ideal, since waiting until the shopping season starts means having less wiggle room to use this information in your press release. October can be helpful for tech firms who have planned to make their year-end statements or are expecting major industry events.
November becomes more competitive. The holiday season is being launched by retailers while consumers begin their holiday shopping. Publications are churning out lots of holiday-themed content.
It is the exact type of environment you need for your holiday-related press release. However, for any other business news, it could prove difficult because your story is competing for attention in a highly consumer- and commercial-filled environment.
December can be tough on regular corporate news releases. Newswriting staff is coping with their holiday schedules, and many journalists and business contacts are on vacation. News publications are also considering how to prepare their annual reviews and upcoming year coverage.
This does not mean that all December releases need to wait. If your news release is essential, then go ahead and send it. If the news release is related to any event scheduled in December, then waiting till next year would clearly miss its mark.
The best time to send a press release calendar impacts each business sector differently. The reasons behind picking a certain month may vary for retail and software companies alike.
Technology firms might have some openings during January industry events and the increased business activity associated with September. Product launches, financing news, partnerships, research, and any significant corporate news can be naturally incorporated within such periods. However, this does not mean that you must wait for September if your important technology news is not associated with such dates. It is always better to release news based on the news value.
There is a calendar of financial journalists, and one of the seasons in this calendar is the earnings season. Thus, if a bank, investment firm, fintech company, or a financial services company releases non-earnings news, it might make sense to find out what large firms in the industry release during that time. Small corporate news is likely to get less attention from journalists than a large financial report.
The spring season is considered a crucial season for real estate matters. March, April, and May can be suitable months for publishing market reports, housing studies, development news, and buyer news. It is worth noting that local conditions may prevail here. There is no unified approach to the seasonality of housing markets.
For a holiday-themed campaign, October might serve well. In November, many newspapers have their shopping stories prepared. The early launch provides journalists with additional time to evaluate whether the story is suitable for them.
January is the month when people start thinking about their health, well-being, physical fitness, and lifestyle. September is another option since people return to their regular schedules following the vacation season. However, this does not mean that all the healthcare news needs to be included in these two months. They may have their own calendar for healthcare news and announcements related to events or new research results.
Nonprofits have their own seasons as well. Giving Tuesday and year-end time are those periods when charity institutions get the closest attention. Thus, the news on fundraising, charity, and donations will fit very well into that time period.
The months of August and September are easy choices. There will always be an opportunity within the back-to-school season that provides a built-in hook for journalists and their audiences regarding education-based topics. News on learning platforms, educational partnerships, studies, and students’ products might have greater relevance during these times.
Regulatory news, crisis communications, acquisitions, management transitions, fixed-date product launches, and many others have no choice but to be communicated at certain times. During such moments, it should not matter whether it is a Friday afternoon or even December.
The most important thing is that the tale be delivered correctly and reaches its target audience. This may be through paid promotion or additional distribution, particularly if the news is to be anticipated to compete against other news. When to make important announcements for maximum media attention depends on the nature of the news and the target audience.
In short, no one month will guarantee higher media attention. The best time to send aa press release relies on the message, target audience, what is occurring in the business at that point of the year, and the level of competition. February and July are relatively slow months. September signals a good start for a business. October is critical for retailers before the holidays. November and December are busy with general business news but critical for holiday-related campaigns and charity drives.
The old recommendation to issue the news on a certain day of the week is still valuable. But it should not be the only one. Good timing will not transform dull news into exciting information. But if the news is already interesting to the audience, the right timing will help them reach it.
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However, there is no perfect time for every organization. Many companies issue press releases in the morning so that journalists have enough time to become aware of the release on the same day. It all depends on where your intended audience lives, which publication you aim at, and what kind of information you release.
Friday afternoons and weekends may be rather inconvenient for some newsrooms, especially when there is nothing important in the release. Also, Monday mornings are rather busy for journalists because they need to process a lot of messages and plan their week.
Yes, the time matters. Journalists have deadlines, so if the press release comes while they are working, there is a higher likelihood that it will be considered. It is not just about the right time. There are many other things, including the topic of the press release, the title, the information provided, and the relevance to the journalist who receives it.
There are several news wire services that provide wide coverage for press releases. Sometimes direct contact makes more sense depending on the audience that you are going to reach. Publishing the press release on your website is a good idea too, preferably in a separate newsroom or press section.
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