Press Kit Distribution Plan

About this template

The plan, not the release

This form is the distribution plan that sits behind a press release: who receives it, in what order, at what time, and what happens in the day after. The release itself travels as an attachment. The label above the title reads Press release distribution plan, the gray line under the title reads “Complete it in order, from Distribution list and priority through the Pre-send check”, and the approval row ships as Prepared, Reviewed (legal), Approved (CEO). The page runs label, title, gray lead, a four-cell information table, three numbered sections, Key metrics, and Confirmation and approval.

Filling order

1. Fill the four information cells: Release headline, Requested publication, Embargo and Press contact. They ship as Service 2.0 launch, 2026-06-18 06:00, “Until June 18, 06:00”, and Communications Team, Jung Ha-yoon. Requested publication and Embargo are two different times and are meant to be written separately.
2. 1. Distribution list and priority first; the template says deciding who gets it first is half of a distribution plan.
3. 2. Distribution schedule and embargo next, once the list exists.
4. 3. Handling inquiries and follow-up last, covering the 24 hours after the send.
5. Fill the Key metrics table, then route the approval row – legal review before the CEO signs.

How the three sections read

• Distribution list and priority. Outlet groups – dailies, trade press, online – and the reporter on each; whether anyone gets an exclusive and on what terms; and whether owned channels and overseas post at the same time. The exclusive question is the one to settle before any send, because it cannot be renegotiated once the first email is out.
• Distribution schedule and embargo. “Write the send time and the requested publication time separately”. State the embargo wording and the time it lifts, and schedule any pre-briefings or interviews. An embargo that lives only in a covering email and not in the release itself is the one that gets broken.
• Handling inquiries and follow-up. Name a spokesperson and prepare the questions you expect with answers, set out the procedure and deadline for requesting a correction, then tally the coverage and feed it into the next distribution. Agreeing the correction procedure while nothing has gone wrong is the only time it can be agreed calmly.

The four metric cells

Key metrics is a two-row, four-column table with values on top: 42 / Outlets, 06:00 / Embargo lifts, 24 hours / Inquiry response, 15 / Target pickups. Outlets and target pickups are a pair – 15 out of 42 is the hit rate you are planning for, and stating it turns the wrap-up into a measurement rather than an impression. The 24-hour inquiry response is a commitment to the reporters on the list, so check that someone is actually rostered for that window, including the evening after a morning embargo lifts.

The pre-send check

The gray lead runs through to the pre-send check, and it is worth doing as a fixed list rather than from memory: the embargo line appears in the release itself and not only in the covering note; the requested publication time in the header matches the wording in the release; the named spokesperson is reachable at the hour the embargo lifts; the attachments are the versions legal reviewed; and the recipient list is addressed so that one journalist cannot see another’s address. Keep the sent list itself – it is what the coverage tally is compared against, and it is the only way to tell a pickup from a reprint.

Before you send

• Treating the requested publication time and the embargo as the same thing. The header keeps two cells for a reason.
• Sending before legal review when the release names a partner, a customer or a figure that has not been published.
• A distribution list of outlets with no named reporter, which turns a plan into a mailing.
• Promising a 24-hour response with nobody rostered for the evening.
• Leaving the sample headline and press contact in place while the schedule is already your own.