Wasted $150 on a fancy press release distribution service for a product launch

My company paid for a premium press release service to announce our new software update, but it got picked up by exactly zero journalists and now my boss is asking why we wasted the budget.

3 comments

3 Comments

schmidt.willow6d ago

Ugh that stings. I've been there before and it is such a waste of money. Those services promise big results but really they just blast your release into a void and hope someone sees it. You pay for the chance to get noticed, but that's it. The real problem is journalists get hundreds of these a day and they all look the same. It's not your fault you tried it, just a lesson learned the hard way.

wesleybutler6d ago

Been there. A press release distribution service is basically a gamble - you pay for the chance to get noticed but there's no guarantee anyone will bite. What worked better for me was pitching directly to 5-10 specific journalists who cover our industry, with a personalized email about why the update matters to their readers. Also worth checking if the company sent the release on a Monday or Tuesday morning when reporters are most active, instead of a Friday afternoon when they're checking out.

sandra9166d ago

Wait, when you pitched directly to those journalists, what was your open rate like? Did most of them actually reply or just ignore you?