Know When to Send Your Media Release for Free Publicity

Timing…oh what a controversial subject!  Timing can mean the difference between success and failure for getting media exposure.  There are a lot variables including time of year, what your competitors are doing, current trends in your industry, whether it’s good news or bad news, and the list goes on.

To start, find out what the deadlines are for the various media during your initial research for publications and editors.  After all, there is no point in sending a media release on February 1^st that promotes a Valentine’s Day event on February 14^th if that publication is printed two months in advance!  It’s a waste of everyone’s time.  However, it could be perfect timing for radio or newspaper publicity. 

Here are a few guidelines that will help you get the best response:

• Send a media release at least two weeks before an event, preferably three or four weeks.
• Know the deadlines for publications – some magazines are 2 – 3 months in advance.
• Between Christmas and New Years is a great time to get coverage as it’s the slowest news week of the year.
• Many businesses do not send media releases out during the summer months as they are on holidays and assume everyone else is as well.  This means editors are hungry for newsworthy events to fill their pages and you have less competition.
• Preferred days for sending a media release is Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays – in the mornings.
• If two newspapers or publications that you are sending your release to are direct competitors, don’t send it to both right away.  Instead, offer exclusivity to one of them.

Now you’d think anyone would realize that you should avoid sending your media release out on Friday afternoons or the eve of public holidays, but some still believe if they send it Saturday morning it will automatically be printed in Monday’s newspaper.  Not true!  But there is a reason to send it at these times.

Occasionally, you may have incidents that you’d like to sweep under a rug or hide in a closet.  If the news media find out, you had better be prepared to deal with them frankly and openly.

You don't have to announce any bad news – but it may be important to do so. It helps to diffuse a situation when you break the news.  You are being pro-active instead of re-active. If a journalist thinks information the public would want to know is being hidden, the story may be blown out of proportion.  There is an opportunity hidden in every crisis.  And the best way to take advantage of that opportunity is to plan ahead and be ready to turn adversity into possibility.