When a marketer sets out to create a public relations strategy, the first move is often to get started publishing press releases. That would have been the most effective way to get out your message and get some press ... years ago. However, there are now other tactics that need to be coupled with press releases in order to make them effective.
As a marketer, it's important to know when press releases will benefit your public relations strategy, and when another tool or tactic should be used. There are many cases when press releases are still valuable to use, but there are even more misconceptions about them. We're going to debunk all of those right now, and lay out exactly when press releases rock -- and exactly when they don't.
The Benefits of Using a Press Release
1) It will be picked up by other publications.
The purpose of a press release is to get your news in front of as many people as possible. Many companies see success by posting a press release to the wire, where it will be sent out to thousands of publications and ultimately reposted other places online.
But how do you really get some attention with this tactic? First, we've found that when companies include data in their press releases, it's even more likely that it will be picked up by other publications. But even more important than presenting your story with interesting soundbites -- yes, there's more to success here than just quality content (gasp!) -- you need to get your timing right.
According to our own Dan Zarrella's research, press releases are viewed on average about 275 times during the week:
And the media views it about an average of 70 times during the week:
The more people, especially journalists, who are viewing your press release, the more likely you are to have it picked up by other publications. So if your goal is to get a lot of views and reposts of your press release, it may be something valuable to include in your strategy, provided you're timing it right ;-)
2) You build links.
One of the greatest benefits to including PR in your marketing strategy is link building. Even though an actual press releases does not necessarily help with SEO (stay tuned for more information about that later on), the editorial coverage you get from a press releases will bring great benefits to your SEO. Make sure to include keywords that you want to rank for in your press releases so that when journalists see the release, they may include some of those keywords, themselves -- particularly if they pull quotable snippets from you to include in their own coverage.
According to an article by Search Engine Watch, there is tremendous synergy between SEO and PR -- and hey, we believe it, too. The press that stems from a press release is a boon for SEO managers everywhere, because remarkable actions spur people to create (read: activity that warrants press coverage) tends to spur content coverage. And coverage of your brand often also comes with inbound links back to your website. That means you shouldn't depend on your press release to do all the work; it might simply be the means for communicating to the rest of the world that more coverage of a story is warranted. You can, however, use press release real estate to sprinkle in important keywords, and include helpful links for readers and media alike.
3) They help journalists check information.
When you create a press release, all of the information you want journalists to know about your company is in one place. Even external documents, including presentations and research documents, are available in a press release, making it really easy for journalists to find and accurately reference all of the information they need to write their story (about you!).
Even when you're connecting with a journalist by e-mail, and not just putting a press release on the wire in the hopes it will be picked up, include an attachment to a press release to help the journalists out. It makes writing about your company insanely easy, and establishes a good relationship that will help you get future press coverage.
4) They refine your messaging.
As you're putting your press release together, you need to make sure you've nailed your messaging for the announcement to get maximum exposure. It's the place everyone will go -- both within your company, and externally -- to get "the story" and cite important data points. When you've refined the messaging of your press release, you're providing the right messaging for all other content creators to draw upon. From bloggers, to sales reps, to external content creators, everyone will be speaking about your brand with a unified message that's set forth during the drafting of your press release.
5) The best press releases provide content for other marketing channels.
The content you should include in press releases is pretty standard from release to release: an opening paragraph giving more information on the story; background information on the company; quotes from employees; and, of course, your boiler plate at the end. But then there's the extra stuff that takes a press release from typical to rock-star status. For instance, the previously cited research from Dan Zarrella shower that if you can provide links to videos and embed pictures in the press release, that increases engagement by about 18% for photos and 55% for videos.
Not only will your press release performance improve, but you're able to repurpose some of that visual content in other areas of your marketing -- like emails, landing pages, social media, and blog posts.
The Drawbacks of Using Press Releases
1) Press releases alone don't help your SEO.
As mentioned earlier, press releases can help SEO if there is additional editorial content published as a result of your press release. However, despite popular belief that press releases help your SEO, they actually don't help as much as you think. A recent article quotes Matt Cutts of Google verifying that your SEO ranking in Google will not increase after a press release is posted.
Why is that? Because press releases are syndicated for a certain amount of time ... but are actually taken down at some point. Even though they are full of keywords and your company's name, their temporary status online does not lead to any progress in the SERPs.
As mentioned before, press releases can help your SEO in an indirect way -- by leading to other beneficial press. However, your PR strategy should not depend on them for SEO success. Use them as a means to an end that will get you higher rankings, instead.
2) Press releases don't improve your communication with consumers.
Even though press releases may get the attention of a journalist, it is very unlikely that it will reach your target audience (or enough of them to make a difference in your marketing). Consumers like to read information in a way that is easy to digest, and feels more natural -- like news stories and blog posts. The press release format takes longer to read, and is often harder to understand without reading a couple times through. In a world with thousands of stories being posted every hour, readers want to be able to quickly understand the story by reading it through a blog post or another form of writing.
So marketers, that means in addition to posting your press release, you should make sure the content is somewhere else in a better format so that your audience gets access to it. Instead of promoting your press release through social channels or email, promote your blog post to achieve the same effect of the press release and get your audience the information in the announcement.
3) Press releases are difficult to measure.
Data is the prime way marketrs can prove success to the rest of their department and company. Unlike other parts of your marketing strategy, however, press releases are extremely difficult to measure, and therefore it's hard to prove whether or not they are successful. I mean, it's pretty hard to say "X amount of people viewed our release, and X amount of journalists decided to write about it/not write about it as a result."
Do not rely on press releases to be the way you prove to your boss that public relations is a necessary part of your marketing strategy. Press can be measured in some ways, like how many times your press release was reposted, or referral traffic from the release (if you used tracking tokens in your release's links), but it's hard to get an accurate number of just how many leads or customers are generated as a result of your work.
4) Press releases are not cost effective.
Posting one press release can cost hundreds of dollars, if not over a thousand dollars. Many times they are not picked up by journalists and are simply reposted on other websites. They have become a bit outdated as public relations relies more on building relationships with the media instead of sending out hundreds of emails with press releases to journalists you may not even know.
Marketers, instead of spending your dollars on posting press releases to the wire, spend time meeting with journalists, figuring out what they look for before writing a story, and finding out what beat they write about. Building these relationships with the media will end up paying off much more than having a strategy where you simply post press releases onto the wire.
What other things are press releases great for -- and not so great for -- in your marketing?
Image credit: Ionics
Inbound Marketing Blog Feed
Bob Zimmer 9:40 AM on January 14, 2013
Always helpful a must read for all types of business
Bob Brotchie 9:51 AM on January 14, 2013
Useful insight and congruent with other material and opinions out there that I'm reading just now.
Late last year I commenced a 12 month bi-monthly press release strategy, on the back of assertions around just how much benefit would be available from the SEO perspective! Hum, well I guess it's less than surprising but, as they say, every little helps!
Thanks for yet another informative article.
Jeannette Paladino 10:59 AM on January 14, 2013
Having written probably thousands of press releases over a lifetime in PR, I agree with much of what you said. The press release is no longer the principal communications funnel in getting the news out. There are fewer reporters and a major contraction of the media. Press releases are of value as "for the record" documents that state the company's position on a topic and be archived on the company's website as a source for reporters doing research on a company. The new approach is targeted email pitches to individual reporters. I also need to correct one statement you made and that is to attach a link to the press release. That's a no-no. Reporters will not open attachments - they could contain viruses, just like you don't open attachments from strangers that come into your email box. You've got to copy and paste the release into the body of the email. You can include links in the boilerplate about the company which the reporter can choose to open or not.
Heather 11:57 AM on January 14, 2013
Any suggestions for PR release services? We're a small business and don't have the resources to exhaust the services provided in Cision, Vocus, etc. I need something cost-effective for a small business. Mostly just wire release, but something better than Business Wire.
Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound 12:34 PM on January 14, 2013
I disagree with your statement that "Press releases don't improve your communication with consumers." They can definitely improve your communication with your customers if:
--They are well-written, easy to digest, and include helpful tips and links. If consumers do't like your press releases, journalists certainly won't.
--They can help you bypass journalists and reach consumers directly. In fact, the real benefit of press releases is reaching the consumer, not journalist. Journalists hate press releases, which seldom result in big stories. They want a customized pitch, not a press release that everybody else gets.
I'm a former journalist.
Will Morris 2:12 PM on January 14, 2013
Pefect timing for this article as I was just beginnning to start writing my very first PR.
I am the sole marketer for a small software company and I'm always looking for new ways to drive traffic to our site, so I thought a PR would be a good idea, but after reading this, Im unsure. I am a frequent blogger so maybe promoting my blog is a better route. The trouble is, sometimes my blog article draw a lot of attention, but probably 75% of the time they have mediocre performance data.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance and a great article.
Darcy Grabenstein, APR, ABC 2:15 PM on January 14, 2013
I agree with Joan's comments above. I'm a former journalist too. Both consumers and journalists can see right through a news release that's more hype than news.
Rachel Sprung 2:21 PM on January 14, 2013
Thanks for your comments everyone!
Heather, if you are a HubSpot customer, you have access to an app in our marketplace called iReach (http://academy.hubspot.com/blog/bid/109245/New-PR-Newswire-iReach-Blog-Distribution-App-Distribute-Press-Releases-from-your-HubSpot-Blog) that will distribute press releases to less places but also for a much more affordable price.
Joan & Darcy, I agree that press releases can be useful, but the standard release that is not customized and sent out to hundreds of journalists (which the majority are) will not get the attention of consumers or journalists.
Will, I think promoting your blog is part of your PR strategy. Take some of the most valuable content (the content that is drawing a lot of attention), and use it to start conversations with journalists and others.
Brittanie 3:29 PM on January 14, 2013
I work for a small startup SEO company and we are also looking to start doing press releases. We are currently doing blog and social media posts but we are looking for ways to get our name, chatmeter, out there to more people.
Problem is, we are also on a small budget so free is definitely better for us!
Rick Noel 5:09 PM on January 14, 2013
Great post with a ton of great points. Not so long ago, the industry was selling PR positioning it as a link building strategy, which as you point out, it is not. I really appreciate your balanced coverage of both the "puts" and "takes" imagined in a pure British accent ;-)
Charise 7:39 PM on January 14, 2013
Well thought out article! We're working on new press releases this month and a lot of this info is well needed for our marketing here in San Antonio. Great stats!
Chhavi Miglani 11:35 PM on January 14, 2013
My Point : Even if we are best friends with media, the story has to be newsworthy and interesting in order to get sufficient coverage and placement.
Scott Mozarsky 11:39 PM on January 14, 2013
Very interesting article. Prior to commenting, I want to disclose that I am PR Newswire's Chief Commercial Officer. We power the iReach app that Rachel mentions above. As Rachel points out, it goes to less destinations than our other distribution offerings, but it has proven to be an effective and cost efficient tool for businesses interested in complementing their marketing efforts with earned media distribution aimed at driving consumers and others to their websites, blogs and landing pages.
The traditional press release has evolved over the last five years. While the press release remains a great tool to get pick up from journalists and bloggers, the online syndication network associated with release distribution enables companies to connect directly with a large number of consumers, B2B buyers and investors. Multimedia elements such as videos, photos and infographics are common. A significant percentage of our customers are leveraging our earned media distribution in their content marketing efforts. Press release distribution complements the other elements of a company's content marketing strategy and amplifies a company's messaging. This is effective because of our editorial processes, the authentic voice of the relevant customer and also because the distribution (whether it be video or text) shows up in earned media units that audiences perceive to be more credible than display or PPC advertising. Distributions can be targeted to small audiences or can be sent to thousands of websites, journalists and bloggers in multiple languages globally. Customers are focusing more and more on placing actionable links for consumers in marketing releases (as opposed to releases going to newsrooms) in order to drive consumers back to a landing page to take action.
Vicky 1:10 AM on January 15, 2013
Yay! Finally we have intelligent life in the marketing world!
I agree with everything you have said. The biggest challenge for marekters responsible for the PR section is to convince the big bosses that their outdated form f communication doesn't work in our technologially changing work environment.
Good one.
Keep 'em coming...
Carrie Reber 9:51 AM on January 15, 2013
I agree fully with most points, but challenge the assertion that news releases aren't cost-effective. It depends on how you do it, and what you are comparing them to.
Compared to advertising and other outbound marketing, a well-crafted news release is very cost-effective. Also, there is the assumption that every news release must be posted over a wire service to be "real." There are various wire services at differing price points if the goal is to reach news aggregator sites (a temporary benefit, as the author states). But if you know your target publications (and their readers) well, targeted, personalized emailing to editors with a genuine interest in the topic will be much more effective. If it gets picked up by your key publications and appears on your site as a matter of public record, you can get a lot of the benefit without any wire service charges.
Stefan 2:37 PM on January 15, 2013
I think this article misses many important features of dealing with the press and other media.
1. If all you do with a press release is post it on a site it will fail most times.
2. The term press release also misses the point .. I prefer media release as it should be media rich and be sent to all forms of media ... journalists at papers and magazines, radio and TV stations, relevent websites and be posted on your own site ... then once this is done (and it is all free) then consider using a news distribution site.
3. It is the use of the story on other sites that gives the SEO value .. not being on a distribution site.
4. The ensuing coverage in the printed press is much easier to measure but, like on a website, it is the conversions that matter most ... and in many cases this means sales.
5. A good story will get you syndicated across radio and TV ... some of my stories have gone out on BBC World Services to over 50 countries .. in a world where reputation matters this makes a huge impact.
6. Online and with media releases there are significant opportunities to "newsjack" stories and get the media calling you.
I should explain I run a small marketing conultancy in the UK and I get requests for interviews several times a month from national radio stations and requests to write columns ...all because I've built a relationship via media releases. I'm not that special in doing this and anyone can do the same if they apprecaite the difference between press/media releases and focus on sending them to the corrdft media (not sites!).
Nina 11:40 PM on January 15, 2013
Thank you!
This post is quite timely for me, as I am thinking of writing a press release or should I say a media release.
Bogdan 3:15 PM on January 17, 2013
I'm not into Press Releases,but I've used them in the past for a short while.
My guess is that if you want to have maximum results you have to go for the Premium or Premium plus packages, meaning the paid ones.
Then the distribution is to AP, Newspapers, News Sites and via PR Newswire.
With the free package they get distributed only to search engines.
In terms of Seo, my links are still on their sites, but they don't count much, as the page authority is closed to 0. However they are still backlinks.
I had 10 free press releases submitted 3 years and 4 months ago (in the real estate field) and I had around 14,000 views in total.
That breaks down to 350 views per month for 10 articles posted on 1 press release site.
So there is some traffic coming from press releases.
matt b 7:05 PM on January 17, 2013
From a B2B perspective, we have found relationships with the press less important, first of all because we serve a niche industry (mortgage technology) and press is small, and secondly because our clients are channel partners that sell for us. Our press releases alone, while admittedly not awesome performance-wise (avg 1500 views - usually the wrong audience though, 100 clicks w/ tracking), have gotten us many new clients annually because we write them for our target audience and not for the press, and use a wire to transmit our information - cost is about $800/month for a bi-monthly schedule. Last year we started creating more interactive releases with engaging content enclosed and we have seen a double in views and clicks. So this lines up with what you were saying about videos and related performance.
For direct to consumer - this seems like your info would be spot on. As a consumer I am not going to read a press release from the company about a new formula for bathroom cleaner. I am going to wait for press coverage or an ad or a review by another consumer.
As far as press goes - we have seen that if you dont throw money at them for advertising, they're not gonna pick up your story anyway (the scratching backs thing is still around) unless they are desperate to meet a deadline and their regular advertisers' phones are busy.
By the way this is really great info because it made me think and have to prove out what it is that we're doing and what's valuable based on the data (thank God for Analytics). Thoroughly enjoyed it.
"If you can't track it, it's not worth doing." - Avinash Kaushik http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/
matt b 7:07 PM on January 17, 2013
From a B2B perspective, we have found relationships with the press less important, first of all because we serve a niche industry (mortgage technology) and press is small, and secondly because our clients are channel partners that sell for us. Our press releases alone, while admittedly not awesome performance-wise (avg 1500 views - usually the wrong audience though, 100 clicks w/ tracking), have gotten us many new clients annually because we write them for our target audience and not for the press, and use a wire to transmit our information - cost is about $800/month for a bi-monthly schedule. Last year we started creating more interactive releases with engaging content enclosed and we have seen a double in views and clicks. So this lines up with what you were saying about videos and related performance.
For direct to consumer - this seems like your info would be spot on. As a consumer I am not going to read a press release from the company about a new formula for bathroom cleaner. I am going to wait for press coverage or an ad or a review by another consumer.
As far as press goes - we have seen that if you dont throw money at them for advertising, they're not gonna pick up your story anyway (the scratching backs thing is still around) unless they are desperate to meet a deadline and their regular advertisers' phones are busy.
By the way this is really great info because it made me think and have to prove out what it is that we're doing and what's valuable based on the data (thank God for Analytics). Thoroughly enjoyed it.
"If you can't track it, it's not worth doing." - Avinash Kaushik http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/
Cal 12:45 PM on January 18, 2013
Very informative article. We are planning to make our first PR this month. We've actually found a source of great coverage for a very reasonable fee :)
Afzal 6:07 AM on January 19, 2013
Those who wish to market your product or services offering globally as well as locally, then try email marketing- which is very fast and reliable marketing strategy ever and will get instant result without wandering around. One of the easy email marketing tools available in the industry is http://www.webymailer.com.