Press Releases are not "Dead." We Need to Fix How You Use Them

editorial team
6 hours ago
3 min read

Rumors of the press release's demise are exaggerated and bordering on untrue. In a world where newsrooms utilize AI and have cut down their staff by half, the press release is your most versatile asset to quickly capture attention, make intranewsroom communication easy and set a foundation for other promotional materials.

By: MMM Editorial Team, Keirah Chen

In a world of flashy videos and AI-generated graphics, press releases stand out as a trustworthy way to quickly tell a large audience important updates about your brand. Here's why: the specific format of the press release (especially at MMM) ensures you quickly communicate the most essential details. Overall, a well-crafted, professional press release is the ultimate tool for both newsrooms and your brand. And besides serving as a powerful memo for reporters; it is an easy content strategy your team can use to build multiple materials. Here's how each piece serves an important role:

Your headline forms the exact message that most will use when speaking about your event, new product or response to trending news.
Your quote: Allows you to be extremely biased about the thing.
Call to action

The Big Issue

Press releases are your way of shaping the story. You identify the angle, the sources, and the core details. While social media content is attractive, the "sturdy" press release is a work horse: communicating the most critical and compelling parts of your launch, event, or brand update.

The narrative that press releases are dead ignores the way modern newsrooms actually function. As editorial teams continue to shrink, journalists are under pressure to produce a surplus of content with fewer resources. Often, journalists are quickly skimming pitches, receiving ideas from colleagues or newsroom leadership, and sometimes using AI tools to look for specific keywords, verified data, and quotes that look good on paper.

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The press releases allows you to write your message in a way where it can be actionized (a term we often use at MMM to demonstrate the power of good writing). More than attractive and accessible, this kind of content, the press release includes language that is needed to get people moving: to write the story, pass it onto a reporter friend, tell someone at the dinner table, share the event, register for the launch. While a photo says a 1000 words, the interpretation of that 1000 words is up to the viewer whereas a press release? You control the message to the last period.

In many newsrooms, reporters get their assignment through a forwarded email or a printed press release tossed on their desk in the old days. You want your message to be so clear and compelling that it moves even tertiary audiences and people who are the recipients of your primary's shared content

From a Boring Memo to a Stylized Asset

So why is this narrative that press releases are dying persist? Well, we do live in a visual world and the press release has not been updated for modern times. A general block of text with no visual guarantees that your message will not be seen on most platforms – and even in newsrooms, pitches sent with art or media are more likely to be opened.

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But don't the press release. Simply update it. And watch how it transforms into a kaleidoscope of other content.

One Document, Four Platforms

The true power of the press release lies in its versatility and usability in repurposing. At MMM, when we draft a release for a client, we do not just write one document; we write four.

[Related] Are you ready to see your brand in the news? Use the same workbook we use on thousands of clients to get them into major outlets across the nation.

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We write a full, formal announcement with data and contact information for the newsrooms.
We create a blog post that boosts your SEO with keywords for the website.
We write a lead quote that can be used as your Instagram caption and a key takeaways list that can become a LinkedIn carousel for social media.
We draft a summary that becomes the body of your community newsletter for your email marketing chain.
And if this press release/update proves popular by your metrics, we rocket it up with a proprietary leveraging system that includes monetization, deeper investigation of ROI and future planning of utilizing that engagement.

All from one press release.

That's the MMM way. For visionaries, the press release is your official record. Don't leave your brand legacy to the mercy of an algorithm; take charge of your narrative with authority.

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