Writing a press release, and then not promoting it, means you’re missing opportunities galore for more readers and possibly more customers.
Here are five reasons why you should be promoting your press releases (same as a news release):
1. There’s too much noise online, including billions of press releases.
Every day, people feel as though they’re drinking from a fire hose. They’re bombarded with articles, photos and videos from links on Twitter, Facebook, and in their email.
Add to that mess the billions of press releases that live online, from the websites managed by the paid press release distribution sites to inside a business owner’s online press room. Only the very best SEO press releases command attention. Yours needs to be among them. Or it will lost in the big black hole.
2. You can target to niche audiences.
Social media makes it so easy to reach out to a narrow niche of people, or to the masses if you have a lot of followers. On LinkedIn, for example, millions of people are discussing the narrowest of topics within special interest groups. If your press release would appeal to your group, share it there!
On Twitter, hash tags make it so darn easy to target people who are interested in certain topics and want to stay on top of the discussion.
3. Social media friends, followers and connections can share your content–but only if they see it.
Often, all you have to do is ask people to share the link to a press release, and they’re happy to help you.
If you have a large circle of followers, and just a few of them share the link, you can potentially get that press release in front of several thousand more people. That means more eyeballs and more people seeing the call to action within your release. (You do have a call to action, don’t you? Please say you do!)
4. Press releases loose their oomph over time.
If you distribute your release through one of the paid press release distribution services, you’ll likely see a bump in traffic to your website as soon as it’s uploaded. But over time, the traffic slows.
If you don’t use a paid service, you’re at more of a disadvantage. That’s why you need to know every trick imaginable to pull traffic to your releases over several months and years. Earlier this week, I shared three tips here on how to drive tons of traffic to your press releases.
5. “Rinse and repeat” with your marketing message.
Marketing experts say it takes at least seven impressions before your marketing message finally sinks in.
If your press release promotes a new product or service, you can’t rely just on that one release to get the job done. You must create signposts everywhere online that lead people to your releases, and other places where you deliver your message in a variety of formats such as articles, video, audio, photos and infographics.
Yesterday’s webinar on “33 Ways to Promote Your Press Releases” walks you through a variety of ways to use those media to draw attention to your important messages. These days, many press releases aren’t “newsy” like they had to be 20 years ago. They include helpful how-to tips and advice that position you as an expert and that consumers crave. Those tips, in turn, drive traffic to your website.
If you missed the webinar, you can access the replay here. It comes with a handy PDF checklist that you can use every time you write a release.
What are your best ideas for promoting your own press releases?