For professional communicators today, there is a growing understanding that PR and marketing efforts must work in unison to be most effective. For example, the cost of the keywords that marketing bids on in their advertising outreach can be reduced when PR successfully gets those same keywords embedded and issued/posted/shared in their audience engagement efforts.
With press releases, we know that multimedia enhances click-thru rates and improves audience engagement. When public relations leverages existing marketing assets, it reinforces brand messaging and helps marketing achieve the multiple touch points needed for audiences to act. Both marketing and PR ultimately engage many of the same audiences by the very nature of how content is found and shared online.
For PR practitioners, this provides an opportunity to show how they can cost-effectively and measurably complement and boost the overall marketing impact. As you build your next press release, work with marketing to develop and use common campaign keywords, add SEO-relevant, measurable touch points such as links from press release content deep into the organizations website, include “buy this” buttons and add multimedia visuals and videos, all driving measurable traffic, revenue and engagement tied to shared campaign objectives.
The launch of our new Smart Marketing Page provides a tremendously cost-effective new platform to achieve marketing/PR message unity that is measurable. It helps PR grab a larger share of the marketing voice by pushing out press release and multimedia content via the powerful Business Wire news network to media and online audiences across the country, deep into your industry and around the web. It also posts to our EON: Enhanced Online News platform, all designed to provide easy audience engagement and SEO-boosting exposure.
The Smart Marketing Page gives marketers a branded platform that is SEO friendly with assets that are easy to share, allowing for the inclusion of polls, multimedia galleries and custom branding. It provides both with valuable multimedia tools and measurement metrics to evaluate and adjust campaigns against marketing objectives.
by Sandy Malloy, Senior Information Services Specialist
The term “social media press release” surfaces from time to time to describe a release crafted especially to appeal to the tweeting/blogging/posting crowd that comprises its purported target audience. On its face, there is nothing wrong with this concept. We advise crafting Google-friendly, keyword-rich headlines to make sure search engines can find press releases.
But using a separate label and special (sometimes truly ugly) formatting to create a press release specifically for sharing misses the point. That idea may have had merit when introduced five years ago, but it now seems as dated as hailing color TV or air mail. Today, EVERY press release should serve as a “social media press release” (search-engine-friendly and easy-to share press release) if the person crafting it does the job properly.
Business Wire recently revamped its news display to encourage and facilitate sharing. Many of these features enhance the social media value of releases without making them unreadable by a person with a normal attention span. The most significant enhancements from a social media perspective are the prominence of sharing icons for popular sites (Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook) and the ability to share photos and videos as discrete assets.
Below we’ve listed basic tips for building effective, web-friendly, news releases that will be found, seen and shared. Take a look:
Create a short but descriptive headline
Put the most important information in the first paragraph
Don’t just tell, SHOW–include multimedia
Know the audience you want to reach
Be clear about why that audience should care
I recently reviewed videos submitted by public relations students for Business Wire’s College Video contest on The Future of Public Relations. Even though the students acknowledged the importance of social media, some speculating on future technological changes, an important thread emerged from their presentations: effective press releases rely less on technology than on the personal connections that the press release content makes with the audience.
At its best, a “social media press release” makes that connection so those reading it feel compelled to pass it along.
When it comes to optimizing press releases for search engines, most PR Peeps do it to drive traffic to their websites, the October PR Peeps Poll found. Of 240 polled, 103–that is, 43%–cited driving traffic as their primary goal in applying search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to their press releases.
Standard SEO techniques for press releases include working keywords into the headline and lead, providing deep links to your web site, adding multimedia such as logos, photos, or video, and keeping the headline under 70 characters so it is most likely to be indexed by Google news.
The poll results are not surprising given that the objective of most press releases is to tell the story of the issuer. One of the best ways to do that is to lure people to your website so they can hear your organization’s story in your organization’s words–full text, unedited, unfiltered by journalists, bloggers or others.
The second most common reason cited for optimizing press release for search engines was to “influence Google search engine results” with 69 votes, or 29%. Shortly behind was “manage reputation” with 36 votes, or 15%, followed by 25 respondents who don’t optimize their press releases for search engines (10%) and 7 respondents pegging “generate link clicks” as their main objective in applying SEO tactics to press releases.
The poll was conducted throughout the month of October through Twitter, Facebook, email and Business Wire’s webinars. Details below:
What is your primary objective in optimizing your press release for search engines?
103, or 43%–Drive traffic to our website
69, or 29%–Influence Google search engine results
36, or 15%–Manage our brand and reputation
25, or 10%–I don’t optimize my press releases for search engines
Will the death wish for the press release never cease? Something about the approach of Day of the Dead each Fall seems to provoke fantasies of its demise.
A recent article in AdAge is a case in point. Media columnist Simon Dumenco suggested that Twitter has made press releases obsolete. “The long-suffering, much maligned press release, I’d argue, finally died this summer,” he wrote. Dumenco pointed to Kanye West and other celebs as models of how Twitter can replace press releases.
This just in: Press release still not dead
But then PR people (including yours truly) chimed in, vigorously rising to the press release’s defense.
Among the comments:
“Dead?! Oh, Mr. Dumenco, I disagree.” –nravlin, Burlington, VT
“There will always be a need for someone to encapsulate that great story, that feature, in a form which has shape and rationale and the emotional appeal which is what resonates with people’s fundamental needs.”–JustWrite, Los Angeles, CA
“Press releases aren’t dead, so let’s try to be a bit less argumentative and bit more informed, shall we?”–cameronb129, Baltimore, MD
“Yes, my industry has changed. I used to type news releases on an IBM Selectric. Now I compose them in a word processor, and embed hotlinks and keywords….the purpose of the news release itself hasn’t changed. And, luckily for my clients, neither have my results when it comes to writing and distributing news releases.”–Kathleen Hanover, Las Vegas
The discussion has churned for years. Silicon Valley blogger Tom Foremski stirred up the nondebate back in 2006 with a now infamous rant, Die Press Release! Die! Die! Die! I wrote about it right here almost exactly two years ago. A Google search of the phrase “death of the press release” returns more than 19 million results. And the AdAge article referenced above provoked more than 20 comments, a slew of blogposts, and an active discussion in the PRSA group on LinkedIn.
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, press releases are here to stay. They continue to serve as one of the most useful, cost effective, enduring and yes–ubiquitous–tools in the marketing and communications arsenal. We can legitimately debate what to call them: press releases, news releases, h-releases, social media releases, social media news releases. But that’s another blogpost.
For more on the State of the Press Release, check out our White Paper.
We often post a recap of our webinars, hoping to offer the wisdom shared to those who couldn’t make it. On Wednesday, we staged What to Expect When You Tweet Your Press Release, and explored the ups and downs of using Twitter to supplement press release efforts.
Then we got lucky. Our friends over at 451 Marketing in Boston did a fantasic recap of the webinar in their blogpost, Tips for Promoting Your News Via Twitter. For that, we say thank you, Team 451, you saved us some work!
For those who want to access the webinar in its entirety or check out a PDF of the presentation, both are available in our webinar archive.
As a company that makes its living from press releases, we don’t pretend to be objective about their relevance and importance. That said, we are REALLY TIRED of inflammatory and inaccurate headlines pronouncing the press release dead. To paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of (its) death have been greatly exaggerated.
We’re not alone in our view that the press release is alive and well. And the data backs us up.
Here’s some facts from our recent white paper on the subject:
Just at Business Wire, we issue an average 1,000 press releases each work day (not that many on Saturdays and Sundays).
One study suggests 1.7 BILLION press releases are sent out via email each year. That doesn’t include the millions sent on paid and unpaid services like Business Wire.
A decade ago, a press release would sit at the altar of journalists, hoping to be “picked up,” rewritten and published. Today, it’s likely to skip gatekeepers altogether and jump straight to the screens of consumers.
A recent survey suggested 92% of journalists get their ideas from press releases.
For more info and insights on the State of the Press Release, and tips on how to maximize their success, please check out our White Paper: The State of the Press Release. We invite you back here to share your comments.
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
Join Business Wire experts in your area for media breakfasts, panel discussions and other insightful events. We bring local media members and industry thought leaders to your market to discuss today’s most relevant topics, from writing for SEO to marketing with social media. Best of all, Business Wire events are usually free of charge. Check out some of our upcoming events in your area:
Join Business Wire in Durham for lunch and a panel discussion on using video to maximize your marketing communication efforts. Learn how integrating video into your marketing and public relations plans can enhance your SEO reach and provide real results. Panelists include: Valerie Aguirre, CBC New Media Group; Rachel Toole, MEDIAmobz; and Scott Sharpe, The News & Observer. This event is free for all attendees.
Hosted by Business Wire Charlotte[Charlotte Event]
Join Business Wire Charlotte for breakfast and a panel discussion on using video to maximize your marketing communication efforts. Learn how integrating video into your marketing and public relations plans can enhance your SEO reach and provide real results. Panelists include: Joe Carleo, Advanced Language & Media Services; Corrie Harding, WCNC-TV; Jason Silverstein, ACBJ/Bizjournals.com; and Rachel Toole, MEDIAmobz. This event is free for all attendees.
Thursday, June 17 at 7:30 a.m. ET Maggiano’s
4400 Sharon Rd., Charlotte, NC 28211
To register: Please RSVP to Angela Haysworth at 704-347-1590 or email angela.hayworth@businesswire.com
Looking for new ways to reach and engage your audience? Would you like to add value to your news & generate interest for your campaigns? Join us as our experts discuss the power of video & the benefits of including a visual element to your press releases. Speakers include Rachel Toole, Sales & Marketing Consultant for MEDIAMobz, Rick Christie, Breaking News Editor for the Palm Beach Post and Doug Perry, Executive Producer for Digital Content for WPBF-TV. This event is free for all attendees.
Todd Defren of PR Squared tweets about a blog entry at The Practitioner by Steve McAbee of Wunderkind Public Relations, called “Social Media: Breathing New Life Into the Press Release.” McAbee discusses ways to use the traditional press release in conjunction with social media, by using links to attract online readers to your company’s social media newsroom on your website, as well as to content on Flickr, YouTube and other sites. This is a notion that we’ve been pushing for years – since launching our own site in 1995, we’ve always tried to stay ahead of technology and urge our users to do the same. We describe press releases as search engine optimized platforms for connecting with your audiences, including the media; not having appropriate links to content just won’t work. Whether you use Todd’s SMPR template or continue to write your releases the traditional way, appropriate multimedia and link content is a must.
(Steve does briefly praise Google’s use of using a wire release to link back to their own newsroom, but in the contest of their recent earnings notice-and-access release, which Neil Hershberg discussed here yesterday.)
I do have to take issue with one thing, though: Steve also links to a piece at Fast Company by Wendy Marx, “B2B PR: New Uses for Press Releases.” In that article, Marx notes that “The social media release came of age in 2006 when wire services like PR newswire didn’t include multimedia components in releases.” While I’m not going to defend the competition, Business Wire has had multimedia components in press releases for more than a decade now.
We launched our multimedia Smart News Release back in 1997, with photos and video available right from the get-go. At first, they were linked to from a thumbnail or link within the release. Today, they’re embedded in the release, with multiple resolutions and bandwidths available with a single click; and in many cases, they display at the downstream sites, too. We made both hyperlinks and embedded logos available by 2001.
We believe in making the tools available to our users to have implement the best PR strategy possible. It’s nice to see our notions of using the press release as a pathway to other content taking root in the PR community.
With 30 bureaus around the world and more newsrooms than all of our competitors combined, Business Wire is proud to provide local expertise and superior service, backed by the most accurate editors in the world. In Editor’s Corner, we ask some of our best to chime in on how to get the most out of your press release, based on their years of experience in the industry.
BW LA Senior Editor Roger Johnson
Years ago, teaching English composition at the University of Arkansas, I gave a half-joking, half-serious commandment to my students the first day of class: don’t bore me.
I didn’t mean that a tiger had to leap out at me in every sentence, or that each paragraph should end with someone hanging from a cliff. I meant that their prose should be vigorous –clear and concise, filled with specific detail.
In my past 13 years as an editor at Business Wire, I’ve discovered that readers of your news releases want the same thing. They’re not looking for pouncing tigers – just clear, concise, detailed information that keeps them reading. And keeps them using your releases — in their newspaper, television broadcast, blog or online database.
We all know “the rules” by now: omit needless words, clearly attribute speakers in quotes, use nouns and strong verbs, etc. (Pick up a style guide for a refresher course. From the fussy Elements of Style to the practical and sturdy AP Stylebook, there’s a million of ‘em out there.)
Writing a tight, detailed release definitely will get your news noticed. But an even better way to attract media attention is to include a multimedia element with your release — something you can do by ordering a Smart News Release (SNR).
Press releases about new hires or promotions will definitely attract more eyes if you include photos. Open up any newspaper’s business section, which is filled with executive headshots, and you’ll see how valuable these are to editors – and thus to your company.
That old adage about “a picture being worth a thousand words” endures because it’s true. Many times I’ve worked on an SNR one day and then seen the same image in the pages of USA Today or the Los Angeles Times the next morning. And I’ve seen videos SNRs I’ve worked on in the morning on that evening’s local news broadcast.
Some things to keep in mind when you send in a photo as part of your SNR:
Send it in .jpg format. (Other graphics files like .tif, .gif, .bmp, and .png are usable, too.)
Send images of at least 2400 pixels on the longest side. (Although we can run any size as an SNR, print media won’t use smaller images.)
Always include a caption with your photo.
Some things to keep in mind when sending us video files:
Send original digitized files (MPG, MP4, AVI, WMV and MOV files, for example) rather than files already converted to a streaming format.
Make the video for a window of at least 320×240 pixels (a 4:3 aspect ratio).
The frame rate should be at least 15 fps (frames per second) or higher.
Most web viewers say they prefer videos of five minutes or less.
Along with photos and videos, you can supplement your news releases with Excel spreadsheets and charts; PowerPoint slide shows; PDF documents; Word documents; or Flash animations.
Finally, include your company logo with your photo or video. This will help brand your company news and help complete your multimedia package.
-Roger Johnson, Senior Editor, Business Wire Los Angeles
For professional communicators today, there is a growing understanding that PR and marketing efforts must work in unison to be most effective. For example, the cost of the keywords that marketing bids on in their advertising outreach can be reduced when PR successfully gets those same keywords embedded and issued/posted/shared in their audience engagement efforts.
Posted by Tom Becktold, SVP Marketing, Business Wire 
Then we got lucky. Our friends over at 451 Marketing in Boston did a fantasic recap of the webinar in their blogpost, 
