In this fast-paced digital world, timing is crucial in capturing media attention and ensuring your press release reaches the right audience.

To maximize the impact of your public relations efforts, it’s important to understand the best day and time to send a press release.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore proven strategies and expert tips that will help you optimize the timing of your press release and enhance your chances of gaining media coverage. 

Here are some key considerations and tips for finalizing your press release distribution plan.

 

Analyze Media Cycles

Understanding news cycles is the first step in determining the best day for press release submissions. Daily newspapers run on a 24-hour cycle, while digital media and TV stations release content throughout the day. 

These days, most stories break on social media, specifically Twitter. And the news spreads further on other platforms within the next hour. 

Depending on what your press release is announcing, analyzing these complex cycles will go a long way in helping you determine the best day to send out a press release.

Consider how relevant your news is with regard to the current cycle. Some critical questions to answer are:

  • What publications would be most likely to cover my release?

  • What is the news cycle they follow?

  • What is their target audience?    

  • What is the “newsworthiness” of my release?

Tailoring Press Releases to Target Audiences

Another essential step to figuring out when to send a press release is understanding your target audience. 

This involves two questions:

  • What are your audience’s main topics of interest?

  • What are their media consumption patterns?

Take this example. Let’s say you’re sending out a press release announcing that you’ve launched a new app to track weather patterns in the Atlantic Ocean.

You may want to target tech enthusiasts. Your release should focus on the intricacies of how your app works. Meanwhile, an audience of climate activists would be more interested in what your weather data will reflect. And if your audience is water sports enthusiasts, you’d tailor your release to indicate that the app can identify the best time to surf.

Analyzing your target audience will tell you about their news consumption patterns and, consequently, the publications you should target.

Detailed research into the demographics and preferences of journalists, bloggers, and influencers in your industry could help in this regard. For example, it wouldn’t make sense for a breaking news website to publish your press release about your weather app. However, a niche interest online magazine would be more likely to give you coverage.

These factors can help you zero in on when to send a press release.

 

Time Zones and Geographical Considerations

When targeting national or international audiences, you must also consider variations in time zones.

Experts advise against sending out a press release in the afternoon—from 2 to 6 PM—as journalists would be wrapping up their work days. Similarly, sending a press release at midnight or too early in the morning also isn't ideal.

Geographical considerations and time zones also come into play when deciding the best day to send a press release. Breakfast time in Montreal is still almost the middle of the night for Edmonton. 

Similarly, cultural and religious holidays should be considered depending on the country. For example, most Muslim countries observe their weekends on Thursdays and Fridays, so your release is less likely to be read on those days. 

 

Avoiding Busy News Periods

Ask any journalist, and they’ll confirm: some days are busier than others. Major holidays, industry events, or competing high-profile news will likely overshadow your press release, depending on its relevance.

While it isn’t possible to predict when breaking news will take center stage, there are some ways to target quieter periods where your release can benefit from increased visibility. 

You can use the following tools:

  • Google Trends: Look up keyword phrases and identify their popularity. Access demographic data, related topics, and the volume of searches to identify low periods for certain subjects.

  • Social media monitoring tools: Software like Hootsuite or Nexalogy can help you track social media trends, which, in turn, influence the news cycle.

  • Trendhunter: Explore trends and categorize them based on popularity, freshness, and click-through rates. 

Morning vs. Afternoon Sends

It’s time to settle the debate. Should you send your press release in the morning or afternoon?

Most experts indicate that mornings are best. According to research by PR firm Prowly, which analyzed over 55,000 releases, the best time to send press release notifications was between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. 

Any earlier, and the editor may miss your release. Anything after 2:00 p.m., and chances are, the editor’s attention has already shifted to the next day’s news. Click-through rates between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm stood at an impressive 45%.

Furthermore, other resources suggest that over 60% of journalists prefer to receive pitches in the morning, while 30% consider afternoons better, and the rest prefer evenings.

Finally, late morning and early afternoon are statistically better than post-lunch or early morning. Of course, factors like the relationship with the editor and time zones also come into play for the ideal press release timeline.

Days of the Week

When it comes to the days of the week, most experts rule out the weekend. It’s considering which weekday to opt for that the analysis gets a little more challenging.

Depending on who you ask, the best day of the week to send a press release could be Monday or somewhere in the middle, like Wednesday.

It has been noted, that he highest number of views generated by a press release was between Tuesdays and Thursdays. This data reflects that editors were most likely to be catching up on the previous week’s work on Mondays, and by Friday, they had shifted their attention to the weekend. 

Other studies,  analyzed emails and concluded that the best day for opening cold emails was Monday. However, the highest reply rates were found to be on Wednesdays.

Some important factors to consider when analyzing this data also include: 

  • The industry workload

  • The availability of journalists

  • Reader engagement patterns

     

Leveraging Email Analytics

When building your press release timeline, don’t underestimate the importance of data. 

Email tracking tools, such as EmailAnalytics or extensions like Right Inbox, can help you gather information about when emails are opened, along with engagement and reply rates.

Analytics tools, such as every data analyst’s favourite, an Excel spreadsheet, could be a handy way to make sense of all this information. By making data-driven observations, it’s much easier to zero in on when you should send out your press release. 

 

Conclusion

Timing is a critical factor in the success of your press release distribution. By understanding the best time and day to send it, you can significantly increase your chances of capturing media attention, enhancing your brand’s visibility, and achieving the desired PR outcomes.

Implement the strategies outlined in this guide to optimize your PR efforts and maximize the impact of your press releases. Stay ahead of the competition and make a lasting impression on journalists, influencers, and your target audience.

Hopefully, the contents of this article have encouraged you to take the first step in creating or refining your press kit. If you have additional queries or require any assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Canada Newswire team.