2

PRNewswire'

TableofContents

19

TheRiseofMultichannel

PromotionandDistribution

ExecutiveSummary03

Conclusion23

04

HowPRandCommsProfessionalsareUsingPressReleasesin2024

Methodology24

11

TheInfluenceofGenerativeAIinPressReleaseCreation

15

MaximizingEngagementwith

OptimalHeadlinesandMultimedia

AboutPRNewswire25

3

ExecutiveSummary

Inmanyways,theworldlooksverydifferentthanitdidwhenwe

publishedthemostrecentStateofthePressReleaseReportin2021.TheCOVID-19pandemicislargelyintherearviewmirror,buttheresulting

extendedlockdownshavepermanentlyalteredhowmanyindividuals

work.Duetothedeclineofprofessionalin-personinteractions,theneedforbrandstocommunicatewiththeiraudiencesacrossmultiplechannelsismoreimportantthanever.

Inthisyear’sStateoftheMediaReport,journalistsreportedthat

“maintainingcredibilityasatrustednewssource”wastheirtopchallenge.

Becausepressreleasesaresentdirectlyfrombrandsandvettedbytrusteddistributionpartners,theyprovideanantidotetothemisinformationspreadonanincreasingnumberofonlinechannels,helpingbothjournalistsand

commspractitionersmaintaintrustandcredibilitywiththeiraudienceinanever-changingworld.

WhilesomePRandcommsprofessionals’habits—suchassendingthesamenumberofpressreleases—remainunchanged,newtechnologicaladvances—mostnotably,artificialintelligence—promisetodisrupthow

theycreatecontentinthefuture.Rightnow,earlyadoptersandcurious

looky-loosareexperimentingwithgenerativeAI’scapabilities.However,iftheprognosticatorsarecorrect,inthenearfuture,theuseofgenAIwill

becomeasubiquitousasusingspellcheckincontentcreation.

Forthisyear’sreport,weaskedcommsproshowtheyarecurrentlyusinggenAItohelpthemcraftpressreleasecontent.Theanswersreveala

willingnessamongsomePRpractitionerstotestmultipleusecasesforAIthathelpstreamlinethepressreleasecreationprocess.

Wealsoaskedquestionsaboutcommsprofessionals’useofthepress

releaseitself,andtheresponsesspoketoitsstrongresiliencyandstabilityasaPRtool.Wealsodugintohowcommsprofessionalsarerepurposingtheir

contentacrossmultiplechannelsandwhichchannelstheyareusingtodoso.

Finally,throughoutthereport,we’veincludedproprietarydataaroundpressreleasetrends,factorsthatinfluencepageviewsonand

more.OurgoalinsharingthisinformationistoempowerPRandcommsprofessionalstocraftreleasesdesignedtomaximizeengagement.

HowPRandComms

ProfessionalsareUsingPress

Releasesin2024

Whatwasclearfromoursurveydataisthatthepressreleaseremainsthegoldstandardof

communicationscontentformostPRprofessionals.Thevastmajorityofrespondentsare

planningtosendeitherthesamenumberormorereleasesonbehalfoftheirbrandsinthe

comingyear.ThesecommsprosmighthavelearnedfromourStateoftheMediareportthatthemajorityofjournalistspreferreceivingpressreleases,too.Thisyear,thereportuncovered:

?74%ofjournalistssaidthattheywantnewsannouncements/pressreleasesfromPRprofessionals.

?68%ofjournalistsfindpressreleasestobethemostusefultypeofcontentprovidedtothembyPRprofessionals.

Whilechallengesremain,commsprosreportedexperiencingseveraldownstreambenefitsofdistributingpressreleasesacrossthenewswire.

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PRNewswire'

Onaverage,howmanypressreleasesdoyousendoverthewireinayear?

Theseresponsesarerelativelyconsistentwithwhatwefoundwhenweaskedthisquestionthreeyearsago.Organizationsofallsizesandlevelsofgrowth

sendpressreleases,sothereisnoone-size-fits-allapproach.

37%

Lessthan5

24%

5to10

21%

11to25

26to50

11%

50to100

5%

101ormore

2%

5

PRNewswire'

Howhassendingapressreleaseoverthewirehelpedyourorganization?

Whiletheoverarchingobjectiveofapressreleaseistogarnerattentionfor

abrand’sstory,thereareotherbenefitsofdistributingonethatcanlastfar

beyondtheinitialsplash.Sendingapressreleasethroughawireservicewithahighdomainauthoritycanprovidealong-termSEOboost.Asmorethan

halfofourrespondentscanattest,releasesarealsoagoodtooltobolsterauthorityintheirindustry.

27%

●

Builtstronger

relationshipswith

journalists/influencers

52%

Reinforcedourbrand

authority/leadership

inourindustry

72%

Raisedbrand/product

visibility

4%

2%

SEO/linkbuilding

Requireddisclosure/

communicatewithinvestors

21%·

Other

6

Increasedeventattendance/

participation

18%

PRNewswire'

CommsProfessionalsSoundOffOntheValueofthePressRelease

“NewsroomsALWAYSaskforapress

releasefirst.Theyareavaluable

toolincompanypromotion.Youjust

needtousethemeffectively.”

“Theimpactandopportunity

providedbypressreleases

continuestoevolve.”

“PressreleasesremainavaluablePR

tool.Theysignalinstitutionalsupportfora

projectandcreateacontentspineforfuture

purposes.Inadditiontogoingtoreporters,

theyformthespineforsocialmediaand

otherstorytellingvehicles.”

“[Pressreleasesare]SO

important!Theyarenecessary

andshouldcontinuetobeas

vitalasevertogetinfoout.”

7

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PRNewswire'

Whatisyourtopchallengeasitrelatestopressreleases?

One-thirdofrespondentstoldusthatareporterhadreachedouttothem

aboutapressreleasetheysentoverthewire.Ontheotherendofthe

spectrum,somesurveyparticipantsexpresseddisappointmentthatthepressreleasestheydistributedhadnotreceivedtheanticipatedmediapickup.

Whilethere’snotonereasonalonethatreleasesfailtogarnerattentionfromjournalists,herearethetopculprits:

?Thecontinuedindustry-wideshrinkingofnewsrooms:Inourannual

StateoftheMediaReport,36%ofjournalistscited“l(fā)ackofstaffingand

resources”asoneofthebiggestchallengesforthejournalismindustryinthelastyear.So,evenifjournalistswantedtocovermoreofthepitchestheyreceive,theyaretoounder-resourcedtodoso.

?Afailuretooptimizethereleaseformaximumengagement:Includingmultimedia,craftingaconciseandcatchyheadlineandusinganeasy-to-readformatareallmust-havesforgrabbingattentionforarelease.

However,notallorganizationsfollowthesebestpractices.

?Notchoosingtherightdistributiontarget:PRNewswireoffersdistributionoptionsbasedongeography,ethnography,industryandcontentsubject.

Despiteallofthemicro-targetingavailable,notallcommsprofessionalstakeadvantageofnichedistribution.

Notgeneratinganticipatedmediapickup

38%

Ensuringtheyreachtherightperson/people

25%

Makingthemstandoutfromotherreleases

16%

Nothavingenoughnewsworthycontent

9%

Other

7%

Writingengagingcopy

5%

PRNewswire'

Doyouexpectthevolumeofpressreleasesyour

organizationdistributestochangeinthenext12months?

Asseeninthechart,reportsofthedeathofthepressreleasehavebeen

7%

greatlyexaggerated.93%ofcommsprofessionalsareeithermaintainingorincreasingtheirpressreleaseoutputinthecomingyear.

Inthisyear’sannualStateoftheMediaReport,asinyearspast,threeout

offourjournalistsstatedtheywantedtoreceivepressreleasecontentfromPRpros.Therefore,itmakessenseforPRprostocontinuetousethepressreleaseasatooltoattractattentionfromjournalists.

24%

93

%sendingsameormore pressreleasesthisyear

69%

69%-No,wewillbesendingthesamenumberofreleasesinthenext12months24%-Yes,wewillbesendingmorereleasesinthenext12months

7%-Yes,wewillbesendingLESSreleasesinthenext12months

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PRNewswire'

Whatisthefocusofpressreleasesyouplantosendoutinthenext12months?

Whilesomeorganizationsviewthepressreleaseasavehicleforprimarily

sharingtheirbiggestnews,othersknowthatnewsworthycontentcomesinallshapesandsizes.Brandswhoconsistentlysendreleasesaboutadisparate

setoftopicsdosotostaytopofmindfortheiraudience.

Productorservicenews

Events

Companygrowth-mergeroraquisition,openinganewoffice,relocation,companymilestone/anniversary

Originalcontent-thoughtleadership,surveyresults,tips,educationalresources

Branding/marketing-newcampaign,spokesperson,rebrand,updatedwebsite,sponsorship,contestorcompetition

60%

47%

44%

42%

35%

Employeenews

18%

Financial

16%

8%Other

10

11

TheInfluenceofGenerativeAIinPressReleaseCreation

SincethedebutofChatGPTinNovember2022,discussionsaroundtheimpactand

implicationsofgenerativeAIoncontentcreationhavepermeatedtheculture.IsgenAIanexistentialthreattocreativityorarevolutionarytoolenablingmoreproductivity?Whileitisdifficulttopredictwherethistechnologywilltakeus,what’sunmistakableisthatgenAIhasalreadychangedhowmanyPRandcommsprofessionalswork.

PRNewswire'

AreyouusinggenerativeAI

tocraftpressreleasecontent?

OriginallydevelopedbyEverettRogersandlatermodifiedbyGeoffreyMoore,thetechnologyadoptionlifecycleisabell-shapedcurvethatcategorizesusersofnewtechnologyinthefollowingorder:

1)Innovators(2.5%)

2)EarlyAdopters(13.5%)

3)EarlyMajority(34%)

4)LateMajority(34%)

5)Laggards(16%)

Whilenotaperfectone-to-onecomparisontothemodel,it’sclearthatthemajorityofPRproshavenotadoptedAIforpressreleasecreation….yet.

However,42%ofrespondentssignaledtheyareopentousingthetechnology,indicatingtheymaybeholdingoutforimprovements.

26%·

Yes

32%

No,andIdon’t

intendtouseitin

thenearfuture

42%

Notrightnow,butI’mopentousingit inthenearfuture

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PRNewswire'

HowareyouusinggenerativeAItohelpyoucraftpressreleasecontent?

ThosewhoareusinggenAItocraftpressreleasecontentreporteddoingso

carefullyandmethodically.AcoupleofrespondentscomparedtheiruseofAI

tohavinganinternwhocreatesthefirstdraft,followedbyheavyoversightand

editingbyamoreseniorprofessional.It’simportanttorememberthatgenerativeAIismerelyatooltohelpincreaseefficiencyratherthanreplacecreativity.

Writingbodycopy

Proofreadingcontent

Generatingpressreleaseideas

Conductingresearch

49%Writingheadlines

41%

41%

38%

27%

6%Other

13

14

PRNewswire'

AIMentionsinTopIndustries

WeexaminedmentionsofAIoverthelasttwoyearsfromfourofthetop

industriesthatsendpressreleasesacrossthewire.Whileitmightbeexpectedthatthetechindustrysentahighervolumeofreleasesusingtheterm“artificialintelligence”relativetootherindustries,thefinanceindustrysawthelargest

increaseinmentionsyear-over-yearat40%.Overall,theinstancesof“AI”inallreleasesgrew15%thisyearoverlastyear.

+16%YoY

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

+40%YoY

4,000

2,000

0

Finance

Technology

+4%YoY

+11%YoY

Healthcare

Retail

7/1/23-6/30/24

●7/1/22-6/30/23

MaximizingEngagement

withOptimalHeadlinesand

Multimedia

Withthousandsofpressreleasescrossingthewireeveryweek,forsomebrands,grabbing

attentionfortheirstoriescanbetough.Aswehavedoneinpreviousyears,wehavecollecteddataacrossPRNewswire’splatformsthatcanserveasaguidepostforwritingandformattingapressreleasedesignedtomaximizeengagement.

Themostsignificantareasofapressreleasewherebrandscanmakeadifferenceinincreasingengagementaretheheadlineandchoosingtoincludemultimedia.

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PRNewswire'

ActionVerbCommonalityinHeadlinesvs.PageViews

Oneofourmostconsistentlysought-afterdatasetsisthevolumeofpressreleaseviewsrelativetotheuseofpopularactionverbsinheadlines.

Yearafteryear,“announce”isthemostubiquitousactionverbtoappear

inpressreleaseheadlines.Inthepastfewyears,there’sbeenamismatchbetweenitsuseandthenumberofviewsthosereleasesreceive.Thisyear,“announce”begantoclosethatgap.

Whenwritingpressreleaseheadlines,it’simportanttorememberto

answerthequestion,“Whyshouldthereadercare?”Thiscaneasilybeaccomplishedbyusingactionverbsthatgetstraighttothepoint.

Aswe’vementionedinpreviousreports,usingintrigue-provokingverbssuchas“reveal”and“unveil”canincreaseinterestinastoryandgarnermoreviews.

Appoints/

Appointed

Named/

Names

Reports/

Reported

Acquire

Join

Unveil

Announce

Expand

Launch

Reveal

Celebrated/

Celebrates

InstancesPageViews

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PRNewswire'

TakingaHeadlineCount

Thecommonwisdomremainstokeepheadlinecountsbelow70characters,ifpossible.Searchenginesandemailapplicationscliptextbeyondthatamount,soourpressreleaseexpertsalwaysadviseaimingbelowthatnumber.

Asseeninthechart,thesweetspotformaximizingviewershipofareleaseisbetween51and75characters,sothatshouldbeusedasanoptimaltarget.

However,viewershipforreleasesbetween76and100charactersisnotfar

behind,sothere’snocauseforconcernifaheadlineisslightlylongerthan70characters.Consequently,craftingaheadlinebetween51and100charactersistherecommendedrangetoincreasethechancesthereleasewillbeseen.

AveragePageViewsPerReleaseBasedonHeadlineCharacterCount

PageViews

76-100

101-125

126-150

51-75

1-2526-50

HeadlineCharacterCount

17

151-175176-200201-225226+

PRNewswire'

MultimediaLandscape

Asthedatahasshownyearafteryear,includingmultimedia(definedasphotos,videosorinfographics)canincreaseengagementwitharelease.

Visualcontentisprocessedinthebrainfasterandhasbeenshowntoremaininthememorylongerthantext,soincludingitwithapressreleasewill

increasethechancesthestorywillleavealastingimpression.

Notonlyismultimediakeytoincreasingengagementwitharelease,butitcanalsobethetippingpointtoreceivingmediacoverage.Inthisyear’sStateof

theMediaReport,72%ofjournalistssaidtheyusedimagesprovidedbyaPRprofessionalwithinthepastyear.

Inacomparisonyearoveryear,multimediaattachmentsonreleasesdistributedbyPRNewswireincreasedby4%.

Howoftendoyouincludemultimediainyourrelease?

12%

Never

51%

Sometimes

37%

18

Always

19

TheRiseofMultichannel

PromotionandDistribution

Severalrespondentstooursurveyremarkedthatthepressreleaseisonetoolthatshouldbepartofalargercommunicationsstrategy,andweagree.Implementingamultichannelcommsstrategyhasbecomeincreasinglycommonforbrandslookingtobroadenthereachoftheir

message.Multichannelcommunicationsstrategiesnotonlyboostthereturnoninvestmentincreatingcommscontent,butthey’vealsoproventobemoreeffective.Themoreplatformsonwhichamessageappears,themoreopportunitiesforvisibilityofabrand’sstory.

PRNewswire'

ChannelSurfing

%

92

ofcommsprofessionalsreportedreusingpressreleasecontentonotherchannels.

●48%-Postbitsonsocialmedia37%-Writeblogposts/articles●10%-Turnitintoavideo

●5%-Other

5%

10%

48%

20

37%

PRNewswire'

Whatchannelsdoyouusetopromoteyourpressreleases?

It’sworthnotingthatmostofthe11%whoselected“Other”saidthey

distributereleasesdirectlytotheirtargetaudience.Somecommunicatedwithstakeholdersviaemail,whileotherspitchedjournalistsdirectlyor

throughmediadatabases.

Becausetheattentioneconomyisfragmentedacrossawiderangeof

platforms,commsprofessionalshaveturnedtotheintegrated,multichannelstrategiestheirmarketingcompanionshavechampionedforyears.While

receivingearnedmediacoverageisaPRpro’sholygrail,thepathto

obtainingitisusuallypavedbyutilizingacombinationofowned,paidandsharedmedia.

Newsdistributionservice

(i.e.,PRNewswire,BusinessWire,etc.)

Anonlinenewsroomonyourwebsite

83%SocialMedia

69%

61%

%Yourin

43website(notanewsroom)

11%Other

9%Paidplacement(i.e.,nativeadvertising,sponsoredcontent)

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PRNewswire'

TimingisEverything

Thosedistributingpressreleasesacrossthewireoftenwonderwhatday

andtimeareoptimalforsendingthem.Knowingwhenvisitorsareperusingnewswiresitescanhelpcommsprofessionalsmakethatdetermination.

ThecharttotherightisaheatmapoftraffictoPRN.Asexpected,

Tuesdays,WednesdaysandThursdaysfrom10a.m.to4p.m.arethemostpopulartimesonthesite.Whilelesspopular,thesitealsoreceivessizabletrafficonMondays,Fridaysandweeknights.

Anadditionalconsiderationwhendeterminingwhattimetosendareleaseistoavoidthecrowds.Mostreleasesaresentatthetopormiddleofthehour,soinanefforttostandoutfromthepack,weadviseschedulingreleasesfordistributionatanalternativetimesuchas11:07or2:42.

PRNVisitorsbyTimeofDay

12

2

4

6

8

10

12

2

4

6

8

10

am

am

am

am

am

am

pm

pm

pm

pm

pm

pm

SunMonTueWedThuFriSat

22

150K400K650K900K1.2M

Conclusion

Thepressreleaseistheculminationofyearsormonthsofhardwork,sobrandsrightfullywanttoensuretheirnewsresonateswiththeiraudience.Wehopetheinsightswe’veprovided

inthisreportpavethewayforfuturereleasesthatreceivehigherengagementwiththeir

intendedaudience.Forbrandswhodistributetheirnewsviapressreleases,itiscleartheyaredemonstratingauthorityandtrustwiththeiraudiences.

Meanwhile,thestoryofgenerativeAI’suseinpressreleasecreationisstillbeingwritten.AsweposequestionsaboutAIuseinfuturesurveys,wecanobservehowthetechnologyis

shapingthePRandcommsindus