The Wonder of Words: Boost Your Business With Press Releases

Many business people are aware that a press release can provide some valuable oxygen to your marketing campaign or boost sales of a product when it is featured in the media.

The problem seems to be that far too many of us are a bit unsure or nervous about how to successfully put together a powerful and well-presented press release which is going to catch the eye of an editor and give you some valuable free publicity.

Once you have learned the secret of writing a press release that ticks all of the right boxes, you can consider using someone like www.newswire.com to help with press release distribution and be on the way to increasing your online visibility and company profile.

Effective use of press releases

When they are used correctly, press releases can prove to be an effective form of marketing for any small business and is a potential ally in helping you to build a brand and generate goodwill.

You can find research to support the theory that any company which is able to consistently grab the headlines and achieve the most media attention and coverage, often has a competitive advantage over its rivals.

Media connects consumers to businesses and it is interesting to note that when you consistently achieve positive media coverage, it often has the effect of portraying you or your business as someone knowledgeable in your field.

Another point that is certainly worthy of mention is the fact that media mentions can be worth thousands of dollars in free publicity, so press releases can be effective in any number of ways, which is why you have to get the tone and content right.

Hot topic

One regular misconception about press releases, especially amongst smaller business owners, is the belief that it is only worth doing a press release when you have some new product to launch or have a promotion to talk about.

You don’t have to have a new product or promotion to consider using press releases, the main criteria is that you have something interesting or maybe controversial to say and perhaps a way to tie in with a current hot topic of conversation.

A recent business award often gets local press coverage so spread the word if your local business has received some sort of critical acclaim recently and even being able to provide an informative view of a current hot topic can get you some media attention.

Good SEO

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is one of the critical components that will help propel your business to the front of the search rankings on the main search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.

When people are searching for a product or service which is considered relevant to your business, if you are high up in the rankings there is a good chance that your business name will be included in the results returned in the search results, which is why SEO is so important.

Getting your press release published on an online or industry-related news site and getting coverage on a social networking site and other outlets, will help to enhance and improve your websites overall SEO.

This can lead to a snowball effect where other sites and blogs find your press release and print on their pages as well, boosting your visibility even further.

In an increasingly online consumer and business environment, good SEO is a valuable commodity and press releases can definitely help to achieve this.

Writing a press release

Your first objective is to try and stand out from the crowd and then once you have done this, make your press release interesting and convincing.

There is a lot of competition for attention and so many press releases fail because the headline is either uninspiring or not even there at all, which almost certainly condemns it to the bin.

Probably the most important part of your press release is the headline. Journalists and editors simply don’t have time to find the story or angle that justifies publishing, if it is buried within the main body of the text.

You have to write a headline that conveys your key message in no more than 15 words and do try to make full use of your language skills with some colorful verbs and adjectives included in that word count.

It takes practice to write a headline that hooks people in, but that is what you have to do in order to get the rest of your press release read and then hopefully published.

Try to make your press release as concise and to the point as possible and aim to be original rather than repeating quotes used elsewhere in your sales literature.

Press releases can be marketing gold and are very cost-effective, so don’t be shy or nervous about using them, and try to follow some tried and tested advice on getting yourself noticed.

From the trenches, Anthony Santiago shares his insights and experience on how to craft a press release for maximum effectiveness. After working with thousands of clients, he provides key points for press management and media outreach that anyone can use for their marketing efforts.