Marketing through Press Releases
You cannot conduct business in splendid isolation. Using publicity to get business is essential. Advertising is the medium most used for informing your target market about your services and goods, although sometimes it is difficult to communicate why your goods and services are different from or better than the rest. Whilst advertising tends to be the most conventionally accepted way of getting your product known it tends to be expensive. Moreover, you need to match your advertising method to your business medium which makes some of the more relied upon advertising channels unsuitable for businesses conducted on the Internet.
A more suitable route may be through press releases. These
are short pieces with a news focus (this is why they are different to ads) that are delivered to the news media. It is a fundamental business tool, this single sheet briefing, but it is also mighty effective - if and only if you make proper use of the tool. Remember that a single press briefing can reach out to thousands of would-be buyers.
Press releases need to be subtle. You cannot issue a press release that is blatantly an advertising piece. The media will give coverage to your business if what you are doing is going to interest the readers. Thus the most important point is that what you are going to say through a press release must be news worthy.
Time is of the essence when it comes to issuing a
press release. Ideally, issuing a press release a
day or two before an event is often recommended.
You get the publicity just when you need it the
most. The content of your press release must be
creative, eye catching, and somehow moving to the
reader. Your final release copy should be able to
communicate ideas and your USP in a manner that
makes the copy of interest to the news-hungry. You
must prepare the press release by highlighting the
points that distinguish your company from others.
Don’t forget that your objective is to encourage more
people to vist your site or business. You have to create sufficient interest in your business that they want to find out more.
Anything that appears to oversell the product or service or that uses marketing jargon like - ‘unique’ or ‘newly improved’ is likely to be dismissed by editors. In order to be successful the writing of a press release should follow a journalist style. It is important to avoid using any claims that are not true because all facts tend to be researched before they are published. Any untruths therefore may have a detrimental affect on your company image and reputation.
It is a good idea to set about finding a good anchor for
your story and something that is impactful to lead it with
that is a summation of the content. The importance of a
well thought out headline should not be underestimated as
it may make or break your chances of being considered by
the reporters. The press release should also be impartial
in its tone and not over-personal or one-sided.
Targeting the right people is also essential to getting
your story aired. A bit of research is therefore advisable:
go to websites that cover news or look in newspapers in
order to find out which reporters have covered activities
or events that are comparable to yours means you will know
who to send your release to.
Press releases can be an effective tool for marketing
your products and services. You can also hire
professionals and online press release service providers
to create and distribute valuable press releases for
your company. The contact databases for some of the
reputed press releases distribution firms are detailed
and extensive. They have dedicated staff that cater to customized needs of each client and avoid the pitfalls and cliches when it comes to marketing the right press release at the right time.
A number of these services will also have advanced
technologies to ensure that you get constant traffic on
your website and that your website is crawled on a regular basis by the major search engines. Some of these providers also provide additional services like blogs and syndicated network news feeds.
There are now various online press release distribution services that can help you create and distribute your press release to the targeted channel(s) of your choice, including top daily and national newspapers, top industry and segment publications, TV, Radio, and top online news sources. Most of these services such as PRWeb.com, MarketWire.com, pressbox.co.uk, eReleases, Eworldwire, Send2Press are designed to save you money and time while delivering your press release to your most targeted prospects.
Mark Vandorone is the founder and CEO of Five
Marketing, a
quality provider of highly targeted traffic for your online marketing campaigns. Stop putting up with junk clicks and poorly converting traffic from PPC search engines! go to http://www.fivemarketing.com