Emailing press releases
One of the responsibilities associated with being a publicist or public relations specialist is the writing of press releases. Press releases are client-information and publicity pages that must be distributed to the media. Their distribution may correspond to a new company, a company product, a merger, a special event, a new band, an author's book, or a number of reasons that depend on the publicist's type of client.
Many public relations specialists or publicists mail press releases, some use fax machines to send them, but many have turned to email. Publicists find email inexpensive, convenient, and fast. Journalists or media personnel frequently prefer to receive press releases through email for the same reasons.
However, a publicist emailing his or her client's press releases must consider the pros, cons, and protocol for sending press releases by email.
The Pros of Emailing Press Releases:
- It is inexpensive;
- It is efficient and fast;
- An emailed press release is received by the addressee within seconds;
- An emailed press release may have a better chance of being read than a mailed press release;
- The recipient can instantly and/or easily reply.
The Cons of Emailing Press Releases:
- The press release may involuntarily end up in the recipient's junk mail inbox;
- You may inadvertently transfer a computer virus;
- The recipient may instantly or accidentally delete it;
- The press release may be mistaken for spam;
- The press release email may not follow appropriate protocol and be deleted;
- The press release email may be garbled in transit, difficult to read, or have long, obnoxious recipient addresses that extend too long. None of these are pleasing for the recipient to deal with.
Although the list of cons may slightly outweigh the pros, some of these cons can be avoided by following email etiquette and being alert of the functions of your email.
How to Email a Press Release
Emailing a press release requires a bit of email etiquette and knowledge of media relations protocol. Before emailing a press release, review these important points for greater chances of publicity success:
1. Start with a subject.
The subject line of your press release-containing email is the first thing your recipient will see. Take the opportunity to grasp their attention by providing a subject in the subject line. A journalist or member of the media who scrolls through his or her email inbox and sees "Press release" rather than a succinct, and informative hint of what the email contains, may be much less likely to open it. Make your press release subject succinct, informative, and helpful to gain the attention of the recipient.
2. Address the email to the recipient.
An email that causes the recipient to scroll through pages of email addresses before coming to the actual press release is both unprofessional and discourteous. Additionally, spam filters may mistake it for junk mail and delete it instantly. When sending a press release via email, use the recipient's name and email address only. This courtesy is convenient for the journalist or media personnel, polite, and can help reduce the chances that your email will be mistaken for spam.
3. Send emails from the same address.
Press releases being sent should always come from the same email address. If you use multiple addresses, the risk for a reply being lost, or forgetting what address you used for a particular recipient, is great. Additionally, some email programs may not allow multiple addresses from a single source. Always be consistent in the address you send from.
4. Send an email that will get through filters.
Frequently, a perfectly safe press release is mistaken for junk mail by the recipient's email provider. Email marked as bulk or junk will normally be deleted instantly and therefore, not reach the recipient. You can reduce the chances of your email being mistaken for spam by using a single recipient's email address in the "To" field, do not use all capital letters or exclamation marks in the subject line, and do not use the word "free".
5. Fulfill each recipient's email preferences.
Some journalists or media personnel prefer or demand set email formats or protocol before they will even look at a press release. Some prefer the press release to be in simple HTML text, while others may prefer an attachment. Some vendors can help you find a recipient's preferred format. Once you know the protocol, sending your press release that way will better your chances the email will be read.
6. Send emails that look good.
An emailed press release of unreadable merging columns, pages of email addresses, unnecessary jumble, single lines of text that require hours of scrolling, tiny font size, or other email hazards, will greatly reduce the chances that your press release will be read, because it is unreadable. Try sending a test press release to several associates before sending it to the media. Unattractive emails represent your client and professionalism in a poor way.
7. Keep tabs on your email.
Check your inbox specifically for failed attempts at sending an email. Additionally, email programs can allow you to be notified when a recipient has received and/or opened the press release you sent.
Keeping these crucial points in mind can improve your chances of a successful, professional press release emailing, and the chances that your press release will be acted upon.
