News
SCORR Marketing Advice: Optimizing Your PR
Tips for optimizing the value of your news release
By Cinda Orr
In ancient times, say 25 years ago, most news releases still went out via snail mail to a list of standard media outlets: newspapers, magazines, and broadcast stations. The goal was to catch the attention of an editor and have your release published or aired, after which it was never seen or heard from again.
Today, the entire public relations paradigm has shifted. A news release is as much about catching the attention of a customer as an editor, and always has an underlying goal of improving organic search engine optimization (SEO), driving traffic to your website and moving your company to the top of a search page. A modern news release is interactive, searchable, and integrated with social media outlets, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, to extend its reach and encourage dialogue.
Here are a few tips to optimize the value of your news release in a digital world.
Once we have the source materials to create a news release, our first step is keyword research. We research the terms individuals use to look for the kind of information we are presenting, rank them, and embed them within the release — preferably in the subject line, headline and first sentence. We also use them throughout the body of the text and, wherever appropriate, include hyperlinks that will take the reader straight to a website that contains additional specific information on the topic.
The decision of whether or not to click on a news release is made in the blink of an eye, so we take particular care to make the subject and headline short, intriguing, and compelling.
Remember, distributing news online doesn’t relieve you of the obligation of targeting how you write and where you send a release. We develop a targeted list of key media outlets for each client and send news to them directly, even if we also release it on BusinessWire or one of the other online press release distribution services. Targeting is especially important when sending news to bloggers — if it’s not relevant to their blog topic, you’ll make a decidedly negative impression.
One of the advantages to online distribution with an outlet like BusinessWire is that your release is automatically uploaded to hundreds of sites all over the Web, including major news services, where it may be available for weeks or longer. Additionally, online distribution services provide you with a detailed report containing information about which media outlets picked it up and when, which can help in planning future releases. Lastly, to maximize the value of a news release, we post it to friends on Twitter and Facebook — vital marketing tools now that didn’t even exist just a few years ago.
On the Web, the lines between public relations and marketing have blurred; PR today is for far more than just a mainstream media audience. Success will come to those who learn that lesson well.
About SCORR Marketing
SCORR collaborates with energetic companies to develop “next-phase growth strategies” and a disciplined approach to marketing plans that ensure solid incremental growth year after year, creating tangible results. SCORR’s team includes dedicated talent with worldwide experience in market development, public relations and communications, customer retention and development, corporate identity/branding, broadcast and print advertising, and interactive/Web design and development, as well as tradeshow/event planning and promotion. Connect with SCORR Marketing on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, or call us at 308.237.5567.