For years, press releases were the go-to tool in any PR professional’s playbook.
But today, many PR experts are realizing that there are more effective alternatives to the traditional press release.
I had a chat with the very experienced public affair / communications fractional advisor Jeremy Tunis to discuss what’s working better than press releases in modern PR.
And guess what, after he stopped sending press releases for his clients, he’s been able to get coverage on outlets like The Wall Street Journal, Fierce Healthcare, STAT, McClatchy, and more!
Jeremy brings extensive experience working with large global PR agencies (Burson, Edelman) and Fortune 500 companies like Amazon and Universal Health Services.
Here’s a closer look at what he thinks about the shift away from press releases and the new tactics driving better results.
What’s inside:
The problem with press releases
Q: What’s one thing you’ve noticed comms/PR experts often get wrong with press releases?
A: I think many PR folks, particularly those that joined the industry prior to the advent of social media, still view press releases from a legacy perspective — namely that it was one of a small handful of avenues to communicate “breaking news” to a general interest audience.
But with social media platforms (aka rented channels), and:
- internally owned channels (websites, blogs),
- influencers,
- personal leader brand development and
- deeply targeted individual outreach to select reporters…
… the use cases of the traditional “wire distributed” PR releases has diminished — particularly beyond legally mandated investor relations focused content.
At the same time, the technologies to distribute the releases have become much more efficient.
So there are more releases than ever out in the universe, but because we are being inundated with info, less people (particularly journalists who are facing huge structural changes to traditional media) are paying attention.
More effective alternatives to press releases
Q: What are the more effective alternatives you now use in place of press releases?
A:
- Leader-driven social media based announcements (particularly video),
- Bylined articles,
- Embargoed /exclusive coverage offers,
- TED and similar talks,
- Curated events surrounding large milestones (think Apple developer series).
The best performing press release alternatives
Q: Which of those alternatives consistently gets the best results, and why do you think that is?
A: It’s highly dependent on the communications and business goals of the announcement and overall PR campaign.
In many cases over the past several years, my clients have found success from:
- Exclusive embargoed announcement partnerships with relevant (to the target audience) media platforms who publish the main announcement, followed by
- Social posts and sharing from company owned and rented channels, which are often followed by other journalists, influencers, investors, regulators, elected officials, business partners, and other key constituents.
Increasingly, these constituents are coming to social media, whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, Bluesky, X, Instagram for their news.
They’re getting their news from traditional journalistic platforms, new media, influencers, news aggregators, and daily newsletter digests. Other options include internal email lists, newsletters, text blasts, etc.
The turning point: moving away from press releases
Q: What was the breaking point that made you finally abandon traditional press releases?
A: I don’t think there’s been any specific breaking point and it’s not like press releases can’t have utility in certain situations.
But it’s just that the:
- volume of releases (AI plays a big part in this),
- systemic cuts in the number of traditional journalists and the rise of online-based disruptive news outlets and influencers,
- availability of new distribution platforms and tactics…
… provides opportunities for new ways of thinking.
A major win without a press release
Q: Walk us through your first major media win without using a press release — what happened?
Or what did you do differently that led to the win?
I convinced one of my clients that historically relied nearly exclusively on press releases for media pick up to pursue a new distribution strategy for two high impact announcements.
The announcements were focused on exclusive embargoed offers to targeted journalists, followed by social amplification and direct channel engagement.
The result was a nearly 100% increase in audience penetration, reach, tone, and inbound customer inquiries than any previous press release.
Start adapting to the new PR landscape
The shift away from traditional press releases is a reflection of a broader change in how PR is done today.
As Jeremy points out, it’s not that press releases have become obsolete, but their role has changed significantly.
So, as a PR pro, you must rethink your approach and use more targeted, impactful strategies to connect with the right audience.
The challenge now is to balance the tried-and-true methods with innovative tactics that meet the growing demands of today’s media environment.
But by embracing these new approaches, you can drive more meaningful engagement, amplify your message, and deliver the results that your clients expect.
How are you evolving your PR strategies to stay ahead of the curve?
Leaps is an AI tool that makes capturing insights from your subject matter experts (SMEs) easy — no meetings or calls needed.
It then transforms those insights into Q&A article (you probably just read one on this blog) or detailed content outlines for thought leadership, contributed articles, and more.
Fun fact: We used Leaps to gather insights from the expert featured in this article (yes, without calls!) and to outline this very piece.
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Hi, I’m Victor Ijidola, co-founder @ Leaps, an easy way to get insights from your SMEs — no calls needed — and turn them into detailed, expert-led content briefs and outlines. If we're not connected yet, I'd love to meet you! 🙂
