Newswire is an online press release distribution service that lets small businesses get their latest news updates in front of local or national media.

Newswire is unique for their tremendous customer service. Across the top six news release distribution organizations reviewed, Newswire were the fastest in responding to questions.

The Newswire website is also far clearer than their rivals, with a clear, easy-to-navigate interface and a clearly laid out pricing structure that details exactly what features are included in detail.

Who it’s best for

Newswire has a range of plans for different price points, some of which are better suited for small businesses. Newswire is suitable for:

• Small businesses with restricted budgets looking to issue a single press release (the premium option for single-release costs just $119)
• Companies who need multiple press releases per month at affordable rates (Newswire have subscription plans starting at just $317 per month)
• People unfamiliar with press releases who might need help getting started.
• Companies wanting to improve their SEO (search engine optimization) to show up higher on sites like Google or Bing – whether it’s national or local SEO
• Businesses who want to include a lot of supplementary media with their release, like photos, videos, or attached documents (four files and two images are included)

How many outlets and journalists receive a Newswire release?

It varies by package. For small businesses who want to send a single release, there are four plans available. The more expensive plans offer access to more outlets.

• Premium –  The release is sent to around 250 outlets through ‘Premium Network Distribution.’ It will also appear on Google News
• Premium Plus – Includes the Premium distribution, plus ‘PR Newswire Distribution’, which gives access to approximately 4,000 additional websites, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, and the Business Journals Network
• State Newsline – All the above, plus Reuters Network Distribution and Associated Press Distribution targeted within states (both impressive networks, but the exact numbers are unclear)
• National Newsline – The same as above, but with national reach

As with many press release distribution services, there’s a large grey area around how many outlets will receive any given release.

Part of what customers pay for is the expertise of knowing where to send the release, meaning distributors may use their discretion in deciding whether to forward it to a particular outlet.

Check out our roundup of the Best Press Release Distribution Services

Features

Backlinks

While Google is careful to avoid people ‘gaming’ their search algorithms, one of the best ways to improve performance on the search engine is establishing links to a site from reputable sources.

Newswire allows users to include up to six hyperlinks in a press release. This is more than any other distributor, and is more than most businesses will need.

Small businesses can use these to link to pages they want to promote, like sales pages, and help bring in customers and revenue without paying for ads.

Visual media

All Newswire plans:

• Include up to four images (useful for branding, storytelling, marketing, and attracting interest)
• Include embedded video (both YouTube and Vimeo are supported).

Since Newswire sends each release to professionals who may see hundreds of releases per day, using visual media can help a release to stand out from the crowd.

Using the embedded video also helps customers rack up views on their YouTube or Vimeo content. This makes the original video more likely to show up to people using those platforms, which helps digital marketing efforts even more.

Can Newswire users add file attachments?

Newswire includes up to two additional files with their press release to give more information. Supported file types include:

• CSV
• DOC and DOCX
• GIF
• JPEG
• MP3
• PDF
• PNG
• PPT
• PPTX
• RTF
• TXT
• XLS and XLSX
• ZIP

No other service offers attachment support this generous.

Industry lists

Huge distribution lists are good, but small businesses should use services with relevant lists. Outlets are interested in sharing content that matters to their readers.

That means Issuing a press release to media focusing on their industry is a great way for small businesses to improve the results of the campaign.

Each Newswire plan comes with the following number of industry specific lists on top of the basic distribution already included:

• Premium – 1
• Premium Plus – 2
• State Newsline – 3
• National Newsline – 3

This makes Newswire a slightly more affordable way to get access to industry-targeted lists.

However, one industry list should be enough for most small businesses, who tend to concentrate on one industry.

What reporting and monitoring tools come with Newswire?

Every Newswire package comes with a detailed analytics report. This is fairly standard among distribution services who want to prove their value to customers.

The reports and analytics included in Newswire’s plans don’t stand out. In fact, because of the extensive sharing of tools between outlets, some are identical.

For example, eReleases, Newswire, and PR Newswire all use the PR Newswire ‘Visibility’ tool for their analytics reporting.

Can users pay to send out the release sooner?

With the State Newsline and National Newsline plans, yes. With the other plans, no.

Pricing

Newswire gives customers a choice between paying for a one-time release or a subscription, which includes a number of releases per month. The subscription is cheaper if paid annually.

Note; each press release included with the subscription plans has the features of the ‘Premium’ single-release option.

To get the features of higher tier news releases, customers have to pay for a Premium Plus, State Newsline, or National Newsline release. They do get a small discount with their subscription, however.

Annual subscription

• Professional – $317/mo ($3,804/year) – two monthly Premium press releases + 10% discount on other services
• Small business – $558/mo ($6,696/year) – four monthly Premium press releases each month + 15% discount
• Enterprise – $1,271/mo ($15,252/year) – fifteen monthly Premium press releases each month + 20% discount

Monthly subscription

• Professional – $399/mo ($4,788/year)
• Small business – $699/mo ($8,388/year)
• Enterprise – $1,599/mo ($19,188/year)

Single release

For small businesses who feel a subscription is too big a commitment, Newswire offers single press release plans:

• Premium – $119 –  Premium Network Distribution and Google News
• Premium Plus – $359 – Premium distribution, PR Newswire Distribution, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, and the Business Journals Network

• State Newsline – $699 – All above, Reuters Network Distribution, and Associated Press Distribution (single state)

• National Newsline – $1,199 – As above, but national

Customer service

Newswire has a reputation for great customer service. They can be contacted by:

• Online chat
• Email
• Phone

During business hours, Newswire respond in moments. Their answers to questions are specific and easy to understand. Agents are polite and extremely helpful.

Pros

• Fast and effective customer service
• An easy-to-navigate, attractive website
• Sensible pricing that works for tight budgets or people with demanding PR needs
• Excellent rates for attachments, visual media, and hyperlinks to enhance releases

Cons

• Higher plans unaffordable for most small businesses
• Many additional services cost extra