Press releases can be an effective mechanism of a digital marketing strategy. Distributing a press release is a fairly inexpensive way of capturing the attention of your target audience and gets your announcement in front of key media contacts. In 2013 Google released an update that mandated links within press releases be “nofollow” as they were considered to be unnatural links. Writing a killer press release isn’t always easy. There is no surefire formula that will always get you the coverage you want, but there are some things you should keep in mind to improve your chances of success.

 

#1 – Use Keywords Naturally

The best piece of advice I can give you is to write for people, not search engines. If you stuff your press release full of keywords people will not read or share your release. Sure, you may get some automatic distribution but nothing that is impactful or sustainable.

 

#2 – Know Your Audience

It can be tempting to try and make your press release applicable to as many different audiences as possible. After all, you’re investing money in distributing it right? It is recommended that you focus your message on a specific audience based on your desired outcome. By taking this approach you can better identify their specific pain point or messaging that will inspire them to take action (be that visit your web page, share your release, etc.). If you want to create messaging to appeal to a wider audience consider utilizing your blog or other digital marketing tactics for this purpose.

 

#3 – Upload Images & Include Captions

As with any type of digital content, the addition of images will help connect your audience to the content. Research has also said that utilizing a variety of content types (including images) can help boost your social and search visibility. Make sure that you include a caption with your image to provide additional clarity to your audience.

 

#4 – Have Something Interesting to Say

Writing a press release without actually having something new and exciting to share is a waste of resources and effort. Reserve press releases for occasions when you have something newsworthy to talk about. Press releases are effective for making announcements such as:

  • New business partnerships
  • Addition of a big client or customer
  • Launching a new product or service
  • Success of the organization

 

#5 – Share Your Press Release

If you utilize a service like PRWeb or PR Newswire you can select where you would like your release distributed and to whom. You can also link your press release to your business social media sites. However, you will also want to share the release on your company social channels. Encourage employees or clients to share the message as well by providing pre-written social messages that they can quickly share on their own social media accounts.

 

Give Press Releases a Shot

As you can see, key to the success of a press release is being selective in your material, defining your audience and sharing socially. If you haven’t distributed a press release before, what do you feel is holding you back? If you’re a press release super user, what types of releases have garnered the most response?