Press Release Case Study: From Press Release to Dr. Phil Show

June 22, 2010

 

by Monika Maeckle, Vice President New Media

A well-written press release, a heartfelt story, and a timely news hook  landed self-published author Jodi Bean on the Dr. Phil Show to promote her book and her cause.   How much did it cost?  Only $300.

Bean, of Alpine, Utah,  issued a press release on Business Wire’s Utah circuit on April 14  about her challenges raising a difficult adopted child from Belarus.   The story was especially compelling in the wake of the media furor over a Nashville mom who was vilified for sending her troubled adopted son back to Russia six months after his arrival because of violent behavior and psychological problems.

With help from online PR pro Janet Thaeler, Bean’s press release resulted in an April 30 story on the front page of the Salt Lake Tribune with the headline “Preventing failed adoptions: Prospective parents need more info on childhood trauma.”   Bean’s book, Love Lessons and her Finding Hope Foundation,  were founded specifically to address those needs.

Shortly after the front page placement, and following an email follow-up, the Dr. Phil Show called.  By June 10 Jodi Bean was being interviewed on national television. 

” The important thing was to link to the book, her other appearances and to her foundation. These built trust and gave her credibility,” says Thaeler, author of the book I Need a Killer Press Release, Now What??.   Thaeler inserted useful, relevant links throughout the press release.  She also detailed the press release case study in a recent blogpost.

Apart from great media placements, Bean relayed that she went from selling two-three books a week, to two-three books a day. 

“It was my first press release and it was really successful,” says Bean.  “I’m going to do another one.”  

We’re glad to hear it.   Do you have an impressive press release case study that involves Business Wire services? Email monika.maeckle@businesswire.com

2 Comments | All Things Press Release, Business Wire, Education, Media Relations, Press Release Case Studies, Press Release Tips, Public Relations, Publicity, Social Media Release, Web 2.0 | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Monika Maeckle

Viva the Press Release! Social Media Diehard Hails “Traditional” Press Release and Paid Wire Services

May 19, 2010

by Monika Maeckle, Vice President of New Media

“I think now, more than ever, traditional press releases matter and that wire services like Business Wire are worth the expense – or rather – the investment.”–Alan Weinkrantz

We don’t pretend to be objective about press releases, and indeed a quote from our boss Warren Buffett, seems appropriate here:  “Don’t ask the barber if you need a haircut.”

That said, it’s refreshing to see a PR practitioner who’s been  embracing social media for five years laud the attributes of  the “traditional” press release as well as those of the ”paid wire services”–in this case, yours truly: Business Wire.

Alan Weinkrantz, a high tech PR consultant in San Antonio, is a contributing business columnist for the San Antonio Express-News and a peripatetic poster on Facebook, Twitter, Posterous, LinkedIn, Flickr, his own blog and elsewhere.  I often wonder if the guy ever sleeps.   As he details in a blog post , Alan used Business Wire to issue this press release for his client, DenimGroup, a San Antonio-based IT consultancy and security software firm.

Typically Alan pitches stories via email to a targeted list of media, bloggers and industry analysts and points to the release on social platforms like Twitter and Facebook after it’s been disseminated by Business Wire.

“Business Wire is our core distribution platform for reaching journalists, analysts and bloggers who search for key words in their area of interest.  We also use social sites to supplement our efforts and hashtags on Twitter so we can be found this way,” says Alan.  “Business Wire provides confidence that we’re  helping the client populate the Internet, major search engines and industry sites that we can’t reach on our own, no matter how many pitches and phone calls we make.”

Alan’s Business Wire distribution hit a homerun for his client with an application story in RFID Journal.

He’s quick to point out that the release itself did not carry the story.  ”It led to the opportunity,” he said, adding that when the lead came in,  he followed up to coordinate story development with the client and the PR teams involved. “It was a great story that brought attention to an industry looking for innovative and secure ways to integrate RFID.”

And that’s how it can work.  Thanks for sharing the story,  Alan.  We agree with you:  “Long live the press release. Viva wire services (paid ones I might add) like Business Wire.”

 

Leave a Comment » | Business Wire, Press Release Case Studies, Press Release Tips, Public Relations, Publicity, social media | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Monika Maeckle

Seven Traits of Highly Effective Press Releases

May 6, 2010

For this edition of SEO Tip Jar I wanted to look at hit releases and see what attributes they tend to have in common.  My methodology was simple and straightforward.  I defined hit releases as those getting the most release reads (or page views) and took the top 10 releases on EON: Enhanced Online News for each full month so far in 2010.  I looked at 40 releases in total.

For each release, I counted the words in the body, the date and time of release, whether the release included a photo, and so on for a total of seven main traits.

The “Average” Hit Release

Across the board, these releases were an average of 642 words, with the longest being nearly 1500 words and the shortest being just over 250 words.  The word counts were quite evenly distributed as well, and there didn’t seem to be any word count exceptionally more likely to hit than another.  In total, 58% of releases were over 500 words.

The most common day of the week to release was Thursday, which was the date of choice for 22.5% of releases.  Tuesday and Wednesday were close behind with 20% of releases each and Monday and Friday were slightly less likely at 17.5%.  Just one lonely hit was released on a Saturday and no hit releases premiered on Sundays.

Moving on to the best time of day (rounding to the nearest hour), 10am and 12pm ET were tied for the most frequent, each with 12.5% of releases.  Additionally, 40% of all the hits were released before noon, 35% between noon and 3pm, and 25% from 4pm onward.  It looks like news consumers tend to be early risers, so get your release out during the workday if you can.

Traits from Top to Bottom

  1. 87% of releases included at least one link in one form or another in the body of the release, with many of the top releases containing quite a few very descriptive links.  If your company happens to be a holdout in the release linking game, I hope this may persuade you to start adding descriptive links to your press releases.
  2. 73% of releases incorporated some special formatting within the body of the release, whether it be bold, italics, underlining or an embedded image.  In today’s xhtml world, special formatting can be an excellent way to emphasize key points of your releases, break your content into distinct sections  and provide cues for ‘skimmers’ to gather meaning as they quickly scan content for relevant information.
  3. 68% of releases had a subheadline.  This stat was the most surprising to me.  The subhead seems to have an unclear role in press release SEO, since it’s not really the headline and not really the body either.  While the robots digesting releases may not pay it much mind, it’s clear that the subhead offers valuable supplementary guidance to readers as they consider whether to continue on reading a release and possibly even share that release.
  4. 58% of releases included the company name in the release headline (Ex. Company X releases XYZ app).  Of course, this also means that 42% didn’t include the company name and still performed quite well with readers.  There is very little real estate available within your headline and if it is more than 22 words you might not make it into Google News.  With this in mind, consider the goal of the release and campaign when making your choice.  If company branding is a chief concern, including the name is probably a good idea.  However, if the focus is more product or service focused, for instance, maybe the company name should take a back seat.
  5. 35% of releases included a photo or video, with the vast majority of those including a photo only.  It’s safe to say that much fewer than 35% of all releases include multimedia, so it’s clearly a good idea to include multimedia in order to help your releases stand out.  Product photos, charts, infographics, company executives, high-resolution logos . . . the list of possibilities is nearly endless.
  6. 23% of releases encouraged social sharing or engagement within the body of the release, typically Facebook or Twitter.  All EON releases already offer social sharing chicklets covering all major social networks, so it’s not absolutely critical to give them additional emphasis within your release.  However, if social engagement is a priority or your release is geared towards “sharability”, why not give readers a bit more of a push?
  7. 5% of releases, just two, had any special characters in the headline.  So perhaps adding special characters in headlines is not a good idea.

Have a burning SEO question? Drop us a comment or talk to Joseph on Twitter @EONpr to get it answered in the next SEO Tip Jar!

24 Comments | EON: Enhanced Online News, Press Release Case Studies, Press Release Tips, seo, SEO Tip Jar, Web 2.0, WiredIn Articles | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Joseph Miller, EON Product Manager

Heinz Press Release Case Study: All Things Press Release Podcast

November 2, 2009

Latching  onto a timely news hook and  adding a great photo to your press release can be the key to online traction and increased sales.  That’s what happened with the launch of www.myHeinz.com, a website created by Heinz, Inc., where you can make custom labeled ketchup and mustard for your special event.

Hear the details of this case study in the most recent edition of the All Things Press Release podcast:     


Like what you hear?  Subscribe via RSS or iTunes.  You can hear our other podcasts by clicking on the All Things Press Release tab at the top of this page (third tab from left).

Have ideas for a future podcast?  Please let us know.  Email blog_group@businesswire.com or connect with us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/businesswire

Leave a Comment » | All Things Press Release, Business Wire, Podcast, Press Release Case Studies, Press Release Tips | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Monika Maeckle

Press Release Case Study #1: Lessons Learned From Texas Armoring Corporation

June 23, 2009

We had such a successful webinar last week on press release case studies that I thought I’d recap and suggest ”lessons learned” from each case.

For those who missed our webinar, we took five recent press releases and asked our clients:

1.  What was the goal of the press release?

2.  Did the press release meet or exceed expectations?  and,

3.  Was it worth it?

All five clients answered the above questions ”YES.”  Each example featured a great story, well told, and smartly distributed.  In our webinar poll, Texas Armoring Corporation won the “readers’ choice” for favorite case study of the five presented. 

No surprise.  This press release had everything:  a great story including the drama of guns, violence, and international intrigue, a timely news hook (carjackings of the wealthy in Mexico), and a rich, well-built news release complete with a photo and deep links.  When the Associated Press picked up the story, well, read on….

Texas Armoring Corporation

Circuit:  San Antonio/Metro and Mexico w/ photo

Texas Armoring Corporation (TAC) is a small company of 50 in San Antonio, Texas, that transforms cars into armored vehicles. One car cult website described TAC as “a Texas company building pedestrian-looking cars capable of withstanding snipers and IEDs.”Univision featured Texas Armoring Corporation after a successful press release.

In addition to visibility and branding, TAC’s goal for this press release was to generate sales leads from private, wealthy individuals concerned with safety in Mexico. Their initial Business Wire release was widely syndicated and produced respectable link clicks,  but when the story was picked up by the Associated Press, a media avalanche ensued.

Geraldo, CNN, and myriad TV affiliates jumped on the press release–even in español!   A reporter from Univision visited the TAC facility and recorded dramatic footage of an AK-47 blasting at a TAC-treated windshield and resulting only in a bullet sized hole with spiderweb cracked glass.  Very impressive.

Jason Forston, Executive VicePresident of Texas Armoring,  relayed that he did no pitching, and yet more than 160 editorial articles and dozens of video clips resulted from the press release.   “Our competitors are now imitating our every move—we’re truly leading the industry in a new way as a result of the coverage,” said Forston.

“It’s hard to quantify where every single lead comes from, “ said Forston.  “We had three- four sales from the U.S.–direct sales from the press release.”   NOTE:  a sale is worth more than six figures to Texas Armoring.

Lesson learned:  A great story, excellent photos and formatting, deep links that drive traffic, and turning the head of your local AP reporter can result in massive coverage that drives sales.

To watch the entire press release case studies webinar, check out the archived event.

Do you have an impressive press release case study that involves Business Wire services? Email monika.maeckle@businesswire.com.

1 Comment | Business Wire, Business Wire Events, Press Release Case Studies, Press Release Tips | Permalink
Posted by Monika Maeckle

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