Press releases are short contents issued by businesses and companies, large, medium, or small, to convey newsworthy information to journalists and the general public.
The type of material that goes into press releases can vary a great deal.
It can be announcement of a new product/service, a business event, or a clarification on any sensitive occurrence by a company.
To repeat, press releases are brief texts containing stories the issuer thinks are newsworthy.
Typically, such stories need to be picked up by the press to provide publicity and coverage.
Such a strategy promotes an organization’s image and reputation.
Some marketers call press release strategies as “hybrid” approaches, because it is a mix of promotional and company information.
Today, in this era of the internet, press releases are distributed online to effectively communicate with the target audience.
Such an approach serves the issuer’s business through several marketing approaches like SEO, link building, and social media marketing.
Back in the day all you had to do was call a couple of journalists to send out your release.
Nowadays, a publicist is connected to hundreds of contacts and is available to clients 24 x 7.
Thankfully, technology has made the achievement of this objective possible.
Online press release distribution has several advantages. A few of them are:
- Flexibility to include multimedia content
- Link building efforts can pay off in many ways
- Greater brand awareness
- Great potential for the release to go viral via social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter
So how do you go looking for an online press release distribution service?
There are several considerations while deciding which service to use.
- How long has the vendor been in business
- What type of distribution channels do they serve
- Who are their regular clients
Ideally, the online press release service must be well-established with its website drawing thousands of unique visitors on a regular basis. The service must share your release on several social media platforms to create the viral effect.
It is vital that you understand the importance of visual content in your release campaign.
While text based content will be the central part of your story, visual content can really set you apart.
Savvy marketers know most people tend to be visual learners. They process information basis what they see. A study has even revealed that press releases with videos can pull in many more inbound links than without it.
Use your press release smartly
Here a thing you must keep in mind. Do not make your story a huge promotional. The publisher may not bother with it then.
Your release must be newsworthy with targeted placements. Set your company apart with worthwhile, dependable, and trustworthy sources of information.
Add links to other webpages so that you can direct readers to more information pertaining to your business/company.
Online press release distribution adds to portability and convenience. People will be able to read your story on the internet via their smartphones.
To maximize penetration, you can submit releases to more than one online distribution service.
