Why does one press release get multiple publications while another fades quietly into inboxes? That question is central in almost every PR strategy. The answer is often sought in reach: bigger press lists, more contacts, more sending. But is that perception actually correct?
As you could read in an earlier blog: no, having more recipients is not always better. But if reach is not decisive, what are the predictive factors? To investigate this, we looked at all the PR campaigns from December. Various factors were compared alongside the final number of publications.
The relationship between PR score and publications
One of these factors was our internally assigned PR score, a score that reflects the content, structure, and relevance of a press release. Specifically, we examined the correlation between the PR score and the number of publications achieved. The result: a Pearson correlation of +0.33. This concretely means that campaigns with a higher PR score more often result in more publications. Not always, and certainly not automatically, but more visibly than campaigns with a lower score.
This indicates a positive correlation, and although +0.33 can usually be seen as a weak to moderate effect, it is more relevant within PR data than it might sound. PR campaigns operate in an environment of much noise: news agendas, current events, competition, and editorial choices all play a role. This makes it difficult to find hard correlations.
This is precisely why this outcome is interesting. The PR score does not explain full success but does show that quality consistently contributes to results. It is no guarantee, but also not a coincidence.
What this means for practice & for you
These results align well with how PR works in practice. A higher scoring press release is often more clearly written, more relevant to editors, and better structured. It sounds like a no-brainer, but it increases the chance that a journalist will take the message seriously.
So, maximize that PR score! If you are manually writing a press release, follow our instructions, tips & tricks, and have it edited by our AI copywriter, Annie. Or let us write your press release directly, so you know for sure that it is immediately correct in terms of tone of voice, content, and structure.
Also, add an image, but make sure it is not excessively AI-generated, and that there are no marketing texts in it, etc. This all influences the PR score, and the higher it is, the greater the chances of publications.
Final takeaways
At the same time, PR remains dependent on more than just quality. Timing, news value, current events, and press list quality remain crucial. The PR score explains part of the success, but never the whole.
In other words: you cannot guarantee success, but you can demonstrably increase the chances. Questions? Let us know!
