There’s always been debate among PR professionals about which day of the week is best to issue press releases. An interesting study came out last week regarding this. PR.co looked at 50,000 releases and published this infographic that shows which days press releases get the most views.
I always advise Tues. or Weds. for press releases, as Mondays are the day when everyone’s inbox is flooded with messages and Fridays have long been associated with issuing bad news (so that no one notices it…). Turns out this study seems to support mid-week releases….but it also talks about issuing them on weekends, because so few releases are issued on Saturday and Sunday. The rationale here is that there’s much less competition for reporters’ attention.
What does all this mean? I’d stick with mid-week timing (and I always issue releases in the morning, whenever possible—usually early morning, say 8 a.m.’ish). Weekend days seem like a stretch, although I have seen an increase in the number of reporters who seem to be catching up on their email over the weekend and respond to pitches that were sent during the week.
Most importantly, we can’t lose sight of the key factors that make a release successful. I’d say the bottom line is that the content and news value are still what makes the difference as to whether or not a release is viewed. If you have a poorly written release, it really doesn’t matter which day of the week you issue it. Or, if you issue a release that isn’t newsworthy, you can’t expect the day or time you issue it to make it any more worth the reporter’s time. (Read more about the power of press releases here.)
So, what should you focus on to make sure your press release is read? If you do your best to make sure each release is newsworthy and well written, this is by far the biggest factor in ensuring an audience for your news. Then, issue it on Tues. morning at 8 a.m.! <grin>
