This blog post is part of “The Ultimate Guide to Public Relations” blog series.
If you’re working in public relations, you know there are numerous options for distributing a press release through a wire service. You can generally expect anything from distribution to regional newsrooms, outlets that cover your specific industry beat, submission to search engines, distribution to industry media lists, and more. The costs of each wire service option can vary significantly. Some set pricing based on word count and some use a flat fee. I looked into the big four wire services to see what their costs are and what they give you, and here is what I found:
PR Newswire: PR Newswire was acquired by Cision, one of the largest providers of PR software and services. PR Newswire has a large range of media for your release to hit that has statistically proven to increase your media pickup by 48% and search visibility 3x to their competitors. The downside to PR Newswire is their pricing, as they are by far the most expensive wire service. You must be a member of PR Newswire in order to use their wire services, which includes paying a varied annual fee.
- First 400 words: $795
- Each additional 100 words: $225
- Any release that is 500 words or more will cost you over $1,000
While they may get great results, this may not be the best service option for lower budgeted companies.
Marketwired: Marketwired was acquired by Nasdaq, the second highest stock exchange in the world. Marketwired allows you to publish and track your releases around the world. You are able to customize your release with images, video, audio, social media tags, and hyperlinks to enhance your release. This would be your middle of the road option financially, but will still give you access to great distribution channels.
- First 500 words sent to the Northern California region: $235
- Each additional 100 words: $60
- First 500 words sent across the United States: $580
- Each additional 100 words: $190
This would be your middle of the road option financially, but will still give you access to great distribution channels.
PRWeb: PRWeb is more similar to Marketwired in terms of pricing, but is still ultimately the cheapest. The costs vary based on where you want your release to go.
- Basic: $99 per release, hosted permanently on PRWeb, release may appear on search engines and news sites
- Standard: $159 per release, sent to thousands of news outlets, uses social media sharing technologies to help your release go viral
- Advanced: $249 per release, optimized for search visibility, your release is sent to premium news sites
- Premium: $369 per release, your news goes to larger news outlets, release can include video/attachments/images/links to engage your customers
We use PR Web and have found it to be efficient and affordable for our clients. There is no membership fee and it is very user-friendly. Plus, being easily found on a search engine results doesn’t hurt!
Business Wire: While you must be a member of Business Wire to send out a release, there is no fee. Your release may hit the newsrooms of media outlets in your geographic area, large newswire services, major national dailies, and more. Business Wire’s prices vary based on the location you want your release sent.
- First 400 words sent to the San Francisco Bay Area: $350
- Each additional 100 words: $100
- First 400 words sent across the United States: $795
- Each additional 100 words: $205
Business Wire offers a range of features for your releases including custom formatting, a company profile, NewsTrak reports, and LogoLink. Although this wire service can get pricey, it can be worth it if you have can afford to use it.
Ultimately, your company needs to evaluate each wire service based on what their needs are. It may be best to try Marketwired or PRWeb if you’re looking for a moderately priced wire service with high value and Business Wire or PR Newswire for a higher costing enterprise option. Check out our blog how much does it cost to send a press release for a further breakdown of pricing. If you have any other wire release questions, feel free to reach out to us!
This blog post is part of “The Ultimate Guide to Public Relations” blog series.
