What Is a Press Release, and When Do You Actually Need One?

A press release is one of the oldest tools in public relations, and also one of the most misunderstood. Many teams reach for one by default any time they have news to share — even when a press release is the wrong format entirely for what they're trying to accomplish.

The actual definition

A press release is a formal, factual written statement distributed to journalists and media outlets announcing newsworthy information about an organization — a launch, a partnership, a financial milestone, a leadership change, or a significant event. It's written to be quoted or adapted directly into a news story, following a standardized structure editors are trained to scan quickly.

What makes something genuinely "release-worthy"

Not every company update qualifies. A press release needs a real news hook: something that would matter to an audience beyond your existing customers, something timely, and something that isn't purely promotional in nature. A minor product update or an internal reorganization rarely clears this bar on its own, even though it may feel significant internally.

When a press release is the right tool

Genuine news events — funding announcements, major product launches, notable partnerships, leadership appointments at a senior level, significant company milestones, or response to a breaking situation that affects your industry — are the classic use cases where a press release format fits and journalists expect to receive one.

When it's the wrong tool

Minor updates, incremental feature releases, or content meant purely to drive traffic to your own site are usually better served by a blog post, a direct pitch tailored to a specific journalist's interest, or a social media announcement. Sending press releases for non-newsworthy updates trains journalists to associate your organization's releases with noise, making it harder to get attention when something genuinely significant happens.

The difference between "sent" and "covered"

A common misconception is that distributing a press release through a wire service guarantees coverage. It doesn't — a wire service gets your release into a searchable database and sometimes onto SEO-driven news aggregator sites, but it rarely results in genuine editorial coverage on its own. Real coverage still requires direct relationships and targeted pitching, with the release serving as supporting material rather than the outreach itself.

SEO value, honestly assessed

Press releases distributed through paid wire services sometimes generate links, but these are frequently from low-authority aggregator sites and often carry little genuine SEO value compared to an earned editorial link from a relevant, respected outlet. Treat wire distribution as a visibility and credibility tool, not a primary link-building strategy.

The modern alternative many teams underuse

For a large share of company news, a well-targeted, personally pitched story to two or three genuinely relevant journalists will outperform a broadly-distributed press release sent to hundreds of generic contacts — because it prioritizes relevance and relationship over reach.

Knowing which tool the moment calls for

The skill that actually matters isn't writing a good press release — it's correctly judging, for each piece of news, whether a release, a direct pitch, or something else entirely is the right format to earn genuine coverage.

Infin8Content's Digital PR & Link Building feature is built around that judgment — matching the right outreach approach to the right story, rather than defaulting to one format for everything.

Tired of content bottlenecks? Infin8Content handles the entire workflow: writing, optimization, approvals, and publishing. Start today. https://infin8content.com/register

Editorial note: This content was researched and generated on 2026-07-17. Facts and pricing are verified at time of writing and subject to change.

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