Four Reasons Why Companies Should Send Press Releases in Summer
Despite sending many releases during the first quarter of the year, small companies often fail to send releases the rest of the year. This is a mistake. Journalists need to remember you. They get so many releases daily that if you stop sending press releases, you will not be on top of their minds. You need to keep sending press releases all year long. In fact, you have an advantage if you send press releases in summer. Here are some reasons why.
Often small companies will send press releases throughout the first quarter of the year. As the year progresses, the press releases they send start to diminish. This is not a good strategy. If you want to stay in front of journalists, you should be sending releases all the time. Summer months are excellent for sending releases. Here are some reasons why you want to send your press release in the summer.
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No News – Because of vacations, journalists don’t have much to put in newsprint or say on the air. Have you noticed that much of the news in the summer is about festivals, ice cream, the hot weather and fun things to do in the sun? Journalists have nothing else to capture attention of their readers or listeners. Local governments go on vacations; schools are closed; nonprofit organizations take off the summer; and nothing else happens. The problem is many of the small companies also go on vacation, so they aren’t sending any releases either. In August, Congress and the president also go on vacation. Therefore, any news other than what was mentioned would be welcomed. If you hire new employees, add jobs, do something important or launch new products, you are more likely to get media attention in the summer due to the lack of news available.
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Fewer Staff – Journalists are like everyone else. They go on vacation in the summer. That means junior staff members are usually left to pick stories. You might be able to interest a junior staffer more than a seasoned reporter with your news. Seasoned reporters might have seen the idea cross their desk previously and not think it is newsworthy, but the information might be new to the ones left in the newsroom while everyone else is on vacation. Also, those left in the newsroom are doing everyone’s job and are overworked. Therefore, they would welcome stories they don’t have to do.
- Something Different – If you send in a press release that isn’t about a festival, ice cream or hot weather, you will have an advantage. The news story would be different from what is normally covered in the summer months. Journalists always are looking for different ideas or fresh angles to existing stories. They want to be the first to report something because that leads to more advertising and better ratings. Therefore, if you have something new and unique, send your press release in summer.
- Independence Day – Finding a story angle that could connect to Independence Day would give you an edge. Journalists want to write about something that is linked to the summer holidays of Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day, with Independence Day being the most often mentioned. If you are celebrating your anniversary around July 4, or you are offering something special for that day. You could get media attention as long as you show the journalists the connections to that important holiday.
Don’t slack off in the summer. You need to send press releases because you might have the idea that will get your company media attention. If a news outlet does decide to run a story on your company, you will reach people that you wouldn’t otherwise reach if you sent it in February.
Four Reasons Why Companies Should Send Press Releases in Summer – Next Step
If you are wondering whether you should send your release in the summer, the experts at Faselis can help you decide. Faselis helps the PR Pros with services for small companies and startups. You can check Faselis PR features on Faselis website.
by Louise Harris
