The Best and Worst Times to Publish Your Press Release
This question is one of the most common questions that people ask. The truth is that while there are some general rules of thumb, testing and tracking your press release results will help you answer this question most accurately. So let’s talk about the best day of the week and the best time of the day to publish your press release.
The Best Time of the Day to Publish Your Press Release
You probably won’t be surprised to learn that between 8 am and 9 am is the most popular time to send a press release. Ten in the morning (and all of the times given here are Eastern Time Zone) and four o’clock in the afternoon are also popular times. It makes sense; people are either starting or ending their work day and sending out media releases is a priority for the day.
The least popular times are between ten at night and four in the morning. No one is sending press releases in the middle of the night. No one is there to view or receive them either. So that means you may not have much competition but you’re also not going to get many views and by the time journalists get into the office and your audience hops online all of those eight o’clock releases are first in line.
So what’s the solution? Mid-afternoon seems to be a logical option. However, be sure to look at the clock when you set your distribution time. Many people schedule their press releases for the top of the hour. You can reduce your competition and grab more attention for your release if you schedule it to be distributed or shared at an odd time. For example, instead of 1:00 you might schedule it for 1:22.
What Day of the Week?
The same logic follows for choosing the best day of the week. Tuesdays are the most popular day to send press releases. Monday is the second most popular and fewer releases are distributed on Fridays. If you choose to send your release on the weekend then you’ll have little competition.
One thing to keep in mind is that most people are working all the time. The concept of a work/life balance is fading fast. Access to information including press releases is as simple as opening a browser on your mobile phone.
Test the time of the day and the day of the week with your audience to see what works best. You may find that Saturday at midnight is just as effective as Wednesday afternoon. Make sure that your press release distribution service offers reporting and tracking features so that you can accurately assess the information and adapt your press release marketing campaign for maximum results.
