Are news releases passé?

What exactly is a news release and are they effective? The answer is: it depends.

I am constantly asked whether a news release is the right tactic (usually with the assumption that they are). To get the right answer, here are some questions you need to ask yourself and think about first:

Are you sharing some new insights, ideas, products, or research?
Is it timely and thought-provoking?
Is it novel and move the needle somehow?

If the answer is ‘no’, then there are many other ways to share your story, however, it is likely that a news release is not the best way to do it.

Public relations and media relations is an evolving landscape and needs to be thought of as more than just a news release. They can be helpful, effective, and efficient…but they can also be useless, costly, and get lost in the shuffle.