We write press releases for a living. We also talk clients out of them most weeks.
A firmware patch. A new colorway. A regional sales lead. Each one matters to somebody. Very few matter to an editor. You're reading the proof: an agency's opinion isn't news, so it lives here on our own blog, not on a wire.
The honest test
Picture an editor who owes you nothing and has a few hundred unread emails. Would their readers learn something they couldn't have guessed? Does it change what people can buy, play, hear or do, or what it costs? If a competitor sent it, would you read it?
Mostly no? The update is real. It just isn't news. That's not an insult. It belongs somewhere else.
What crying wolf costs
In Muck Rack's State of Journalism 2026, 88% of journalists said they immediately delete pitches that miss their beat. 71% reject anything that feels overly promotional, and half are put off by anything that looks like a mass email. A wire release about a minor patch tends to be all three.
The cost compounds. Writers remember names. Send five non-stories and your sixth subject line, the one that matters, arrives with a reputation.
The wire isn't much of a back door into AI answers either. Muck Rack's May 2026 study of more than 25 million links cited by AI assistants found press releases made up 1.1% of them. A wire release is a timestamped public record, and that has its uses (we cover them in when to send a press release). It isn't a megaphone.
What belongs on your own channels
Minor features, patches and firmware, colorways, small integrations, most hires, small milestones and event recaps usually do better on your blog, changelog or release notes. Your users want them. Editors mostly don't. In games and audio, communities read patch notes line by line. Sneaker, skate and audio fans already watch your channels for drops. Meet them there.
Owned doesn't mean unseen
A strong post still gets attention if it's put in front of the right people: your social channels, your newsletter, your community, and the one or two writers in every category who track it closely and would genuinely want to know. That last group is how relationships get built (more in The Art of Earned Media).
Search and AI answer engines read owned content too. Resonance's study of 1.3 million AI citations about B2B tech brands found media titles were about 4% of citations and company websites most of the rest. Muck Rack's study found how-to questions lean on reference and brand-owned material. When someone asks whether your headphones work with their console, your own post may be the answer. Write it so it can be quoted accurately, and follow Google's guidance on people-first content.
When a post becomes a release
Sometimes the small stuff adds up. Three features together can be a version-two story. A household-name partner, a hire who signals a change in strategy, a milestone that would surprise an outsider and can be verified: these can cross the line. So can a post that takes off on its own. If writers start asking, they need a proper press kit.
Making that call well is a matter of judgment about what editors will want next month, not just today, and it's one we make with clients constantly.
If you're a listed company, disclosure is a decision for your lawyers and investor relations team, not your content calendar.
A post, not a pasted release
A release dropped onto a blog reads like a form letter. A good post headlines the change for the reader, says what people can do now that they couldn't yesterday, and sounds like the people who built it. Dateline, boilerplate and the "we're thrilled" quote don't belong. The facts do, exactly, and the same everywhere.
Spend press capital like it's finite
Because it is. Every release spends a little credibility with the people who decide what gets covered. Save it for the news an editor would hate to miss. The rest of the year, publish well on your own channels and keep the right writers informed. Then, when the big announcement comes, people already trust your name.
Not sure if it's a release or a post? Request a briefing and we'll tell you honestly.