Getting It Out There: Distribution & Integration

How to Use Them without Wasting Your Time

Why This Matters

Even the best-written press release accomplishes nothing if it sits unpublished. Distribution is how your release becomes visible—to journalists, investors, analysts, customers, and the general public. But remember: wire distribution ≠ press coverage.

Founder's Point of View

Founders often assume that putting a release on the wire means journalists will discover and write about it. The truth? Reporters rarely scour wires for startup news. A press release is only as effective as your distribution strategy. Think of it as an anchor you can link back to during proactive outreach, not a silver bullet.

Overview

A smart distribution plan has three layers:

Wire services (paid + free/low-cost)
- Paid: PR Newswire, Business Wire, GlobeNewswire
- Budget-friendly/free: EIN Presswire, PRLog
- Wires establish your news in the public record and provide some SEO benefit, but don’t rely on them for actual media pickup.

Owned channels
- Publish to your company newsroom or blog (this ensures your release is searchable and permanent)
- Share on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Instagram, and your company newsletter
- Include releases in investor updates or recruiting emails as credibility markers

Direct distribution
- Send the release directly to your media list with a short, tailored pitch
- Reference the release as a source of facts, quotes, or visuals, not as the pitch itself
- Consider embargoes: offer journalists early access to your release in exchange for coordinated coverage

Integration into your comms plan:
- Treat press releases as anchor content you can cite in pitches, sales decks, analyst briefings, and social posts
- Time releases around known events: funding rounds, launches, conferences, seasonal relevance
- Measure distribution impact carefully—release views are vanity metrics. Focus on what comes next: coverage, backlinks, or inbound inquiries.

Key Actions to Take

Metrics

Coverage rate: # of stories citing your release vs. releases issued
Referral traffic from release-hosted pages to your website
Backlinks generated from coverage citing your release
Engagement on owned channels (social shares, newsletter click-throughs)

Examples

A fintech startup posts its funding press release on Business Wire, then emails 10 targeted reporters with custom pitches linking to the release. One lands a TechCrunch feature.
A SaaS company creates a newsroom hub where all releases are archived, boosting SEO and giving analysts a reliable reference.
A consumer brand shares its product launch release across LinkedIn and its customer newsletter, generating direct engagement—even without major media coverage.

Tools

Distribution platforms: PR Newswire, Business Wire, GlobeNewswire (paid) + EIN Presswire, PRLog (budget/free)
Owned hosting: Presspage, Notion, or CMS newsroom templates (paid) + WordPress, Squarespace, HubSpot (free/low-cost)
Pitching channels: MuckRack, Cision (paid) + Gmail, LinkedIn, Twitter/X (free)

Optional Assets

Pro Tips

Always link to your release on your website in every pitch—this gives journalists a credible “official source”
Use embargoes strategically to build relationships and give select journalists a head start
Treat wire distribution as table stakes, not strategy—real impact comes from how you integrate the release into broader outreach

Don't Make These Mistakes

Relying solely on wire distribution and expecting coverage
Treating the release itself as the pitch (instead of pairing it with personalized outreach)
Forgetting to host the release on your own website for long-term visibility
Sending journalists attachments instead of links to an accessible, clean release