Wondering How To Make Press Release Part Of Your Marketing Strategy?
Understand Press Release In Marketing
Due to the presence of other brand development strategies, press releases are finding it tough to sustain. They have got a side place in recent years.
However, this can be an effective tool for marketers. You can understand it to be a little extra work to stand out from the crowd.
It is a kind of marketing when a brand releases a summarized announcement of something that they aim to promote. There is a hope that new organizations would like to publish a story about it in their publications.
Don’t misunderstand it to be a pre-written story that is supposed to be copy and pasted. It lies upon the journalist whether he/she wants to follow up on the lead and write his own story.
However, press releases are often used as quotes or official statements.
When To Do It?
You can make use of a press release when something is newsworthy. This thing is significant because journalists like to write about things that can catch the attention of people and are genuinely worthy of their time.
They also feel the need to decide if they want to spend their time and effort doing research, getting quotes, and finally writing the story. The investment of time means that’s journalists are selective.
What Should Be Done In It?
Some basic components of a press release include the following:
- The main announcement
- Important dates
- Locations
- Contact information
The tone should be professional with the correct use of grammar. Because it is an official statement, its presentation needs to be done well.
The writer of the release must try to make it short and sweet. It is better to keep it within one page. You need a few paragraphs to hook the reporter and try to give them the most critical information to get them started with the story.
When it is written for a business, then some factors need to be considered. Most importantly, your press release must add value to the journalist, eventually, the community at large.
Do Press Release Work?
Nowadays, the ease of writing and sending a press release has caused an influx of low-quality press releases with little worthiness.
This strategy works when you have a big announcement to make and only when your company is doing something momentous. If you are thinking about whether it is newsworthy, then it’s not.
It must resound yes even to a layman with no investment in your operation. The strategy can be more effective if you tailor it to the publication that you are targeting.
Advantages And Disadvantages
The biggest advantage of using a press release is the convenience and ease it brings. You can whip it quickly and send and send it out to as many journalists as you want.
Moreover, it is a good way to get the word out when you have something big to tell.
When it comes to disadvantages, most inboxes of journalists overflow with flowery, unimportant press releases, which makes it easy for you to get lost somewhere.
On the other hand, things become easy when you follow certain things and write effectively. This can help your press release to stand out and will ultimately help the journalist to frame it.
Does It Help SEO?
Earlier, a press release for SEO was a common tactic. By that time, the quality fell, and the quantity increased. Also, Google started penalizing websites that were abusing this method.
Today, a press release must contain no-follow links if you want to avoid penalizing. Many syndication platforms apply the no-follow attribute to all links within press releases anyway.
The press release can help your SEO indirectly if you are working on writing about interesting developments and actual newsworthy content that will help you to bring people to your website.
If you are targeting the right reporter and audience, your strategy will help you to improve the SEO of your website by getting press coverage that develops the expertise of your brand and authority.
Write An Effective Press Release
An ideal press release is one that can grab the attention and tell a story while still conveying its message. It must be designed in a way that saves the time of the reporter.
A journalist is unlikely to work on your press release if he/she will find difficulty in finding the background of your topic. No one would like to take an extra effort for your press release to find more about it.
So, you need to finish the press release with a boilerplate, which means a short paragraph that summarizes your company at the end of every press release.
Lastly, write effectively so that it can benefit your business in the long run.