press@ and media@: Set Up a Press Email Address That Gets Coverage

Journalists work to deadlines measured in hours. When a reporter finds your company at 4 pm and cannot see a press address, they quote your competitor instead. A press@ or media@ mailbox on your own domain, answered fast and backed by a ready press kit, is the cheapest PR tool a small business can own. Here is how to set it up so it produces coverage rather than silence.

Quick summary

• A named contact: "Media enquiries: Tendai Moyo, press@yourdomain.com". Reporters trust a name more than a mailbox.
• A response commitment, for example "we reply to journalists within 2 hours during business hours (GMT+2)". State your time zone.
• A downloadable press kit: a one-page company fact sheet, founder bios, 2 to 3 high-resolution photos, your logo in PNG and SVG, and the correct spelling and capitalisation of your name.
• The last three pieces of coverage or announcements, so a writer can see you are quotable.
• A phone number for urgent requests, ideally a mobile that is actually answered.

press@ or media@?

press@ is the convention most reporters try first, so make sure it exists. media@ is common in Africa, Australia and the UK and doubles as the address for podcast and event invitations. Create press@ as the published address and media@ as an alias that lands in the same mailbox. Add pr@ as a third alias if you have ever worked with an agency, because agencies tend to guess that one. All three are free role mailboxes or aliases on OquMail, so there is no reason to leave any of them bouncing.

What to publish next to the address

• A named contact: "Media enquiries: Tendai Moyo, press@yourdomain.com". Reporters trust a name more than a mailbox.
• A response commitment, for example "we reply to journalists within 2 hours during business hours (GMT+2)". State your time zone.
• A downloadable press kit: a one-page company fact sheet, founder bios, 2 to 3 high-resolution photos, your logo in PNG and SVG, and the correct spelling and capitalisation of your name.
• The last three pieces of coverage or announcements, so a writer can see you are quotable.
• A phone number for urgent requests, ideally a mobile that is actually answered.

Set up the press inbox

1. Create press@yourdomain.com as a real mailbox and set the display name to "[Company] Press Office" or the named contact's full name.
2. Put the mailbox on the owner's phone via IMAP and turn on notifications for this account only. Press mail is the one category where a two-hour reply is the whole job.
3. Prepare a canned first reply (below) that attaches or links the press kit and asks for the deadline. Save it as a draft or signature so it takes ten seconds to send.
4. Create folders for "Enquiries", "Published", and "Declined" so you can build a list of friendly journalists over time.
5. Add a second person with the login so holidays are covered; a press request that waits a week is worthless.
6. Set a light auto-reply only when nobody can respond within the day, and make it say when a human will.

The first reply that gets you quoted

Subject: Re: [Their subject] - [Company] press response

Hi [Journalist first name],

Thanks for getting in touch. Happy to help with your piece on [topic].

To make sure we hit your deadline, could you let me know:
- When you need a response by (date and time zone)
- Whether you would like written answers, a phone call or a short video call
- Any specific figures or angles you are after

In the meantime, here is our press kit with company facts, founder bios and images: [link]

You can quote me as [Full name], [Title] at [Company]. Direct line: [phone].

Best regards,
[Full name]
[Title], [Company]
press@[yourdomain].com

Answering common press requests

Most enquiries fall into four buckets: a request for comment on an industry story, a fact check on something already written, an interview request, and a request for data or a case study. Have a one-paragraph position ready on the three topics you most want to be quoted about, keep a short list of three customer stories you have permission to share, and be honest when a question is outside your expertise. A quick "not our area, but you might try [person]" earns goodwill and a callback next time.

Mistakes that cost coverage

• Routing press@ into a general info@ mailbox where it competes with spam and supplier invoices.
• Replying from a personal Gmail because "that is where I saw it", which makes the quote look unverified.
• Sending a 30 MB zip of photos instead of a link; newsroom mail servers reject large attachments.
• Asking to "approve the article before publication". Most journalists will not agree, and asking signals inexperience.
• Leaving the address off the website and only listing it on LinkedIn.
• Going quiet after the article runs. Thank the journalist, share the piece, and add them to your "friendly" folder.

Common questions

I am a one-person company. Do I still need press@?

Yes. It costs nothing and it signals that you take enquiries seriously. Point it at your own mailbox and simply answer as yourself.

Should I send press releases from press@?

Send releases from a named person's address with press@ as the reply-to, so responses land in the shared inbox but the email itself looks personal. Send individually or in small batches from your mailbox; do not blast a list from a marketing tool without permission.

How do I stop PR spam and "sponsored post" offers?

You will get them. Keep a "Declined" folder and a two-line reply template, and do not engage beyond that. Genuine journalists identify their outlet and deadline in the first paragraph.