PR ON THE GO May 13, 2022

Public Relations Hacks: Benefits Of Using a Newswire to Distribute Your Press Release

What is a newswire?

We raised this question with our PR and growth experts to help entrepreneurs better understand the benefits for publicizing their press releases. Learn how newswire distribution differs from media pitching and which newswire services our experts recommend here.

Enhance Exposure To A Larger Audience

Brandi Sims, Strategic Communications Consultant and Founder of Brandinc PR

"Newswires are often very helpful and underutilized tools to help get the word out about an event, announcement or launch of a brand. As a publicist, I often tap into this resource whenever I am needing to enhance the exposure of a press release to a larger audience beyond personal contacts. The benefits are that newswires allow your release to be seen in major publications alongside local ones. That is a key difference between regular media pitching and newswire distribution, one is personalized to individual reporters while the later focuses on simply sharing releases to all media outlets within a network. I’d highly recommend Cision for newswire distribution."

Sharing Your Long-Form Announcement

Emily Reynolds Bergh, Founder of R Public Relations Firm

"Newswire is a service that shares your information, often in a press release format. Sometimes, if something is not getting picked up with traditional pitching, you use a wire service for a client; be careful, however, as some journalists do not like to see a wire post before they get to it. On the other hand, some journalists vet the wire for story ideas—so again, a professional will be a good source to guide you either way. A press release is a long-form explanation of your announcement; a pitch is a short-form story idea sent to a journalist to pick up and expand upon. We use a variety of newswire services, but the most common is Cision. You would need a publicist to connect you to the rep to be able to get a package for your send out."

Brand Awareness

Jamie LaDuca, Partner at 143 Communications

"Newswires are a great way to get wide distribution on your press releases, which can help with both brand awareness and to gain media coverage. But, press releases aren't ALWAYS the answer or a necessary part of a strategy. Consider what you want to announce - is it a brand launch, commissioned survey statistics, a big event? All of those examples would warrant a press release.

One-on-one media pitching should always be a part of the brand's media strategy as it is highly targeted outreach to specific media. Just make sure you've researched each individual person to ensure that they will be interested in the news you have to tell - that will secure better results and not spam media.

At 143 Communications, we use and recommend PRNewswire."

A Report To Measure Success

Breanna Suden, Owner at SUDEN PR

"A newswire is a paid service that distributes press releases to media publications and journalists across the globe. The benefit of using a newswire is that you are guaranteed syndication of your press release to many media outlets, depending on the distribution you decide upon. This will result in the release being syndicated word for word by some of the top national and local outlets, which can help build SEO and guarantee that your key messages will be shared within the news cycle. While there are many different newswire services out there, I prefer PR Newswire. They provide a detailed report two hours, 48 hours and 5 days following the release distribution with key metrics to measure success."

Google News

JM Littman, Director of web design agency Webheads

"Issuing a press release can help advertise your new business or product to potential customers and investors once you've written an announcement. It gives you immediate exposure that you wouldn't otherwise obtain without sharing releases. You may position your brand at the top of the buyer's consciousness by writing out the most important aspects of your business or product. By emphasizing the advantages, you can persuade them to work with you.

A press release distribution provider can help your story get picked up by Google News. It increases the number of people who can find you on the internet. Your audience can learn more about your company and products by clicking on the links in your releases. Investors will become aware of your presence if you publish releases regularly. They'd figure out if it's worthwhile to put money into your company."

Keyword Placements

Harry Hughes, CEO & Co-founder at Dangler.co.uk

"You may optimize your release for search engines by using newswires. Google News has 3.4 million monthly unique users. If you do not optimize your news for search results, you will most certainly miss out on this fantastic chance. Your news can be published on Google News for up to 28 days. It provides a lot of exposure to your story. People who use the keywords you employ are more likely to find you. Make sure to optimize with relevant keywords or search queries. To prevent a Google penalty, avoid keyword stuffing."

Attract Potential Investors

Steve Pogson, Founder & E-commerce Strategy Lead at FirstPier

"When you use newswires to distribute your content, you can reach out to a large number of people and places, which would otherwise be difficult. Newswires can help you get your article in front of people that are interested in your industry.

Customers can learn about your company and its items. It is difficult for them to be aware of your existence without distribution.

Regular releases can help attract potential investors. You are an authority brand for those looking for firms to partner with. Keep in mind that they are only interested in companies who have shown their industry credibility.

When you write newsworthy and relevant releases, the media will pay attention. If they often see your brand in the news, you will attract media chances such as future media coverage."

For Crisis Management

Paul Somerville, Editor-in-Chief at Electric Scooter Guide

"Anyone can easily write critical remarks about your brand thanks to the internet's power. A release is the greatest technique to deal with concerns during a crisis. A distribution provider can quickly distribute your message over various channels if you use one. It's crucial to express yourself during these critical moments. It can instantly harm your brand identity. You might utilize a press release to show your audience that you are serious about resolving the issues. The advantage is that you may choose what information you want people to know. You can compose your own statement in such a way that folks will comprehend what occurred. It has the potential to save your company's name. In times of crisis, it's a fantastic tool."

Backlinks

Hector Gutierrez, CEO of JOI

"Newswire services can boost your brand visibility and website traffic through backlinks. However, we have to remember that newswires don’t equate to press coverage, and they don’t offer much SEO value. You can select from several effective newswire services, including EIN Presswire, which offers competitive rates and sends industry-focused press releases."

Sent Out To Every Editorial Department

Chris Zacher, content marketing strategist at Intergrowth

"A newswire is a service that sends your press release to all of the writers, publishers, and news agencies in their network. Working with a newswire is an easy way to get your press release in front of hundreds of sources who might potentially write about it in their publications.

Newswires typically publish your press release on their own website. If you include a link to your website in your press release, you’ll get a backlink from the newswire’s website. This is great from an SEO perspective, as backlinks make your site look more authoritative to search engines, so your site is more likely to appear in searches.

Some newswires have several websites that they publish press releases on, so you can earn a handful of backlinks from one press release. If any of the publishers they send your press release to decide to write about it, you’ll pick up even more backlinks.

Press release distribution is automated — the newswire sends it out to every source in their network, even if it might not be relevant to all of them.

Media pitching is more personal and customized, at least when it’s done well. When you’re pitching to a media source, you’re trying to show them that your story is relevant to their publication.

PRNewsWire is a good one in my experience."

Quick Access

Teo Vanyo, CEO of Stealth Agents

"Rapidly generate coverage with minimal effort.When you use a newswire service, your press release will be distributed immediately to many relevant news publications.When you can get this list through a newswire service, it is not a productive use of your time to compile and maintain a list of contacts for all of these big news outlets.Consequently, using a newswire enables you to quickly access and communicate with many media contacts."

Vast Media Lists

John Tian, Co-Founder of Mobitrix

"A newswire is an online service that distributes news to journalists and editorial offices, the print industry, and database systems. It helps reach the right audience since their services use multiple distribution methods, ensuring that your press release reaches the right audience at the right time.

A press release is a written announcement of some newsworthy event in a company to get attention from the media. A media pitching is an outreach to journalists by revealing only a few facts about your product rally. I recommend the Sitetrail service because of the vast media list."

Credibility

Deana Graffeo Weeks, Co-founder & Head of Marketing at Alchemy Media

"Many publicists see the newswire as a waste of money, as it rarely yields earned coverage. They are not a replacement for good old outreach and media relations. While I do agree with that in part, for startups, one of the biggest challenges is credibility - it’s hard to get attention and close deals when you’re unknown, especially if you have a product with a long sales cycle. Often, the first thing a potential customer or investor will do is a Google search that’s not likely to yield anything but owned media results (if you’re lucky!). It's difficult to warrant earned coverage when you’re still cutting your teeth. I’ve often heard startups say they can’t close deals because the prospect just doesn’t trust that the business is real or that it will be around for the long term. Many inexpensive newswires get your news out to third-party sources, and the SEO value alone warrants consideration. I’ve used and continue to use many different newswires based on the company's needs and budget. I'm partial to PR Web as it’s low cost and owned by Cision, so it features some of the reporting that companies need to feel the instant ROI. From an SEO standpoint, they are worth their weight in gold, and I always include them as part of my plans."

Reach Asia

Yuping Xu, Digital PR for China, Japan, Korea with Topic News PR

"If you have an online business, or your business relies heavily on online reputation, then using newswire is a quick solution. What is a newswire? A newswire is a news website network for publishing press releases. A press release can be sent to news editors begging for a report, or to a newswire network for fast mass publication.

But there are pitfalls… I’ve seen online newswire services using self-built websites that attract no readers, and even increase spam risk. If you simply want SEO, it will bring some value; if you want real exposure, you might want to think twice. For English newswire, I recommend newswire.com.

I am affiliated with Topic News, a press release distribution service focused on Asia combining newswire service and news editor pitching, which has helped hundreds of companies get press attention and readers."

Niche Distribution

Melanie Marten, Owner of The Coup

"PRNewswire is the most trusted and efficient newswire, and best used for B2B news, as it has the strongest publishing partners in the business media. This is related to the original use of newswire services, designed solely to inform investors about corporate news. Also check out niche distribution services for your industry; for example, TravMedia lets you distribute your travel press releases to vetted travel editors and travel writers. The same goes for Food4Media for food and beverage brands."

Thank you!