Your company just landed a major funding round, launched a game-changing product, or hired a C-suite superstar—and you fire off a press release expecting reporters to swarm. Instead? Crickets. The brutal truth in 2025: 9 out of 10 press releases never get read by a single journalist, and most die from the same seven preventable mistakes.
For U.S. marketers, PR pros, and founders searching “press release mistakes 2025,” “how to write a press release that gets coverage,” and “common PR release errors,” this wake-up call is dominating Google trends right now. These exact pain-point keywords reveal thousands of professionals desperate to stop sabotaging their own announcements in an era where AI-skimmed inboxes and shrinking newsrooms make every word fight for survival.
Mistake #1: Writing a “Press Release” Instead of a News Story
Fix: Lead with the news, not the navel-gazing. Journalists don’t care that you’re “excited to announce.” They care about impact. Swap “Company X is thrilled to unveil…” for “Company X’s new AI platform cuts customer onboarding time 78%, saving enterprises an average $1.2 million annually, according to beta clients.” Real data + real outcome = instant credibility.
Mistake #2: Burying the Lede in Paragraph Six
Fix: Follow the inverted pyramid religiously. Who, What, When, Where, Why—and most importantly, Why Anyone Should Care—must live in the first three sentences. In 2025, the average journalist spends 11 seconds deciding your fate. Make those seconds count.
Mistake #3: Zero Multimedia (or Worse—Low-Res Logos from 2009)
Fix: Google now prioritizes releases with visuals in Discover and News. Embed at least one high-resolution hero image (1200px+), an infographic, and a 30-second video clip. Tools like Canva Pro and Biteable make this painless. Releases with multimedia get 4.7× more views, per Cision’s 2025 State of the Media Report.
Mistake #4: Keyword Stuffing Like It’s 2012
Fix: Yes, optimize—but write for humans first. Google’s Helpful Content Update and Gemini-era algorithms now penalize robotic SEO spam. Use one primary keyword naturally in the headline and subhead, sprinkle 2-3 long-tail variations in body copy, then let the story breathe. Example headline that ranks AND gets clicks: “Austin-Based Fintech Startup Lands $42M Series B to Fight Hidden Bank Fees—Backed by a16z and Chase Executives.”
Mistake #5: Forgetting the Boilerplate Is Your Second Headline
Fix: Most reporters scroll straight to the bottom. Turn your 15-year-old boilerplate into a conversion machine. Old version: “Company X is a leading provider of solutions.” New version: “Company X powers payment infrastructure for 3 of the top 10 U.S. neobanks, processing $18B in volume last year with 99.99% uptime.”
Mistake #6: Sending on Friday Afternoon or (Gasp) Sunday Night
Fix: Data from Prowly and Muck Rack shows Tuesday–Thursday 9 a.m.–12 p.m. ET remains golden hour. Monday mornings drown in weekend cleanup; Friday releases get ignored for weekend plans. Bonus 2025 twist: avoid the first Tuesday of every month—SEC filing deadline day buries everything.
Mistake #7: No Follow-Up Plan Whatsoever
Fix: The release is only step one. 2025 best practice: pre-pitch 10–15 targeted reporters 48 hours before distribution with a 3-sentence teaser and exclusive data point. Then, 24 hours after wires hit, send personalized LinkedIn or email follow-ups with fresh angles (“Here’s the one metric investors asked about most on our cap table…”). Agencies using this sequence report 9× higher coverage rates.
Quick 2025 Bonus Mistakes to Avoid
- Using AI to write the entire release without heavy human editing (journalists spot ChatGPT prose in 3 seconds flat)
- Skipping distribution to Google News-approved wires (EIN Presswire, Business Wire, PR Newswire still drive 70% of pickup)
- Neglecting mobile readability—40% of journalists now read on phones first
The bottom line: In an attention economy where the average press release now competes with 4,200 others daily, perfection isn’t optional—it’s survival. Fix these seven mistakes and watch your coverage (and Google rankings) transform practically overnight.
By Mark Smith
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