For many new business owners, press releases are viewed as sales pieces to be distributed to members of the media. Most think a well-written press release will generate an influx of phone calls from reporters and producers desperate to cover company news. Unfortunately, since few announcements address issues of important national interest such as a cure to cancer or a new energy source, this rarely occurs.
For most organizations, a proactive approach is required to reach and communicate with key reporters and producers. The reason for this can be found in the number of news releases that are distributed each day. BusinessWire, Marketwire and PR Newswire, large distribution services, send out thousands releases per day; and that figure does not include the many free distribution services available, such as PRWeb and PRLog, which also distribute news releases by the thousands.
Since companies will not achieve their marketing and PR goals through press release distribution alone, we are frequently asked if there is any value to their distribution. Our answer is absolutely!
The most effective method to get your message heard by members of the media is to reach out to target reporters who cover your industry. Short conversations with the media about the most interesting and unique aspects of your business frequently conclude with requests by journalists for your press release, increasing the odds of securing ink about your firm.
In addition, distributing regular press releases will elevate your company site’s search engine rankings. The firm’s name, products and services will obtain instant visibility and credibility when the release becomes highly disseminated and visible throughout the Internet. This is because many Internet news sites, such as Bloomberg, Forbes, AOL and Yahoo have contractual relationships with many press release distribution services; so depending on which newswire you select, every word of your release may automatically appear on several specific sites.
Press releases are also powerful tools to communicate directly with your clients. These can be viewed as periodic updates that let everyone know what that the organization is up to and working on. Press releases are frequently posted on the company site and sent to customers with the firm newsletter or through other forms of direct mail or email outreach initiatives.
Although crafting and distributing an impressive press release alone rarely guarantees significant press coverage, news releases are a very valuable tool for growing your company and increasing opportunity.
Editor’s Note: DeAnne Merey founded D M Public Relations in 2004 after specializing in media relations for over a decade. D M Public Relations provides the full range of public relations and crisis management services, which are designed specifically to meet the business and professional needs of our clients and help them compete more effectively both in the U.S. and abroad.
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Press releases are really important for every business whether it is small business or large. By the help of press releases people get to know that what new things your are doing. Thanks for sharing info