Four ways to get press coverage
A retainer with a traditional agency, a wire distribution service, pitching journalists yourself, or done-for-you secured placement. Here is an honest look at how each one actually works, including where Publisive is not the right fit.
Side by side
| What matters | A traditional PR agency | Press release distribution | Doing it yourself | Publisive Media |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You choose the publication | Network only | |||
| Real editorial feature about you | Sometimes | Usually a quote | ||
| You approve the final copy | ||||
| Predictable timeline | ||||
| Long contract required | Usually | |||
| Money-back guarantee |
How each option actually works
A traditional PR agency
You pay a monthly retainer and the agency pitches journalists on your behalf.
You sign a contract, usually for six or twelve months, and pay a retainer every month. The agency builds media lists and pitches reporters. Whether anything gets published depends on whether a journalist decides to run the story.
- Strategic counsel and long-term relationship building
- Can land genuinely earned, reported coverage
- Useful for crisis communications and ongoing media relations
- Large retainers before anything is published
- No guarantee that any coverage runs at all
- Months of waiting, often with little to show early on
- Little control over how you are written about
Best for: Established companies with a communications budget and a long time horizon.
Press release distribution
You write a release and pay a wire service to syndicate it across a network.
You submit a press release to a distribution service, which pushes it out to a network of sites. The release appears as syndicated content rather than as an article written about you.
- Fast and predictable
- Wide syndication footprint
- Useful for formal announcements and compliance filings
- It is a press release, not an editorial feature
- Readers and journalists treat wire content differently
- Little narrative or storytelling value
Best for: Formal announcements such as funding rounds, appointments and regulatory news.
Doing it yourself
You pitch journalists directly or answer source requests on platforms built for it.
You monitor journalist requests, write your own pitches and follow up. When a reporter picks you as a source, you may be quoted in their article.
- Little to no direct cost
- You build your own media relationships
- Coverage is fully earned
- Extremely time consuming with a low hit rate
- No control over timing or which outlet responds
- Usually a quote in someone else's article rather than a feature about you
Best for: People with plenty of time, patience and a genuinely newsworthy angle.
Publisive Media
You choose the outlet, our editors write your feature, and we secure the placement.
You pick the tier 1 and tier 2 publications you want to appear in. We onboard you, you share your story through a short questionnaire, and our editorial team writes the feature. You review it, request unlimited revisions, and nothing publishes until you approve it.
- You choose the publication rather than hoping for a response
- Real editorial features, not advertorials
- You approve every word, with unlimited revisions
- Done for you from brief to published link
- Backed by a money-back guarantee
- Not a substitute for crisis communications or ongoing media relations
- Works best when you have a clear story to tell
Best for: Founders, executives, experts and brands who want specific, predictable coverage without a long retainer.
Common questions
Is guaranteed PR the same as a paid advertorial?
No. An advertorial is labelled as sponsored content. Publisive secures real editorial features, and you keep full approval over the final piece.
Why would I use this instead of a traditional PR agency?
A retainer buys effort, not outcomes. If you want a specific publication and a predictable timeline rather than months of pitching with no guarantee, secured placement is the more direct route.
Is a press release the same as a feature?
No. A press release is syndicated content you wrote. A feature is an article published in the outlet itself, which carries more weight with readers and in search.
Can I do this myself for free?
You can pitch journalists yourself and some people succeed. It takes significant time, the hit rate is low, and you usually end up quoted in someone else's article rather than featured in your own.
Think secured placement is the right fit?
Tell us who you want to reach and where you want to appear. We will recommend the outlets that make sense for your story.