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Marketers and public relations professionals can find plenty of advice on how to write a press release, but rarely is that advice directly from the journalists that press releases attempt to engage.
It turns out, journalists have a lot to say about press releases. It also turns out that marketers have a lot to learn.
Although I recently joined an inbound marketing agency, I'm a 25-year veteran the Chicago Sun-Times and the Contra Costa Times, among other. For decades I started my mornings weeding through the press releases in my inbox, one finger hovering over the "delete" key and ready to strike.
Wondering whether things have gotten better lately, I reached out to several journalist friends.
"Most of what I get is garbage," said Mary Pols, a longtime Portland Press-Herald/Sunday Telegram reporter who has also worked at the Los Angeles Times.
Ouch.
Follow these top 9 recommendations to stand out....
PR Newswire has advised our clients to include images and video in their press releases for a number of years, and we are now seeing a much greater usage than previously. In 2015, 42% of releases included visual elements.
This is a sharp increase from the mere 14% we saw the last time we analyzed these numbers in 2013; however, there is still room for improvement. When you look at last year’s 100 most viewed press releases, 68 included multimedia, a 42% increase compared to 2013’s top 100.
It’s clear that the use of multimedia in press releases is quickly becoming standard practice within the industry. With the continued influx of visuals across the larger communications landscape, I expect these numbers to continue to climb....
When you should—or shouldn't—send press releases over the wire is a popular topic.
We found that Monday, Tuesday and 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Eastern were the most popular times to send a press release. Our advice was to publish releases later in the day and week so your news didn't get lost in the commotion. Remember, all this is from 2013.
This year, we took our research a step further. First, we analyzed the distribution of more than 100,000 press releases published via Marketwired, PRWeb and PR Newswire in 2015. Second, we determined how many times each release was shared across nine social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn....
Google likes to keep us PR pros on our toes.
Last year the big update to search results came through the “nuclear bomb” that was Panda 4.0. The age of the keyword was essentially over, and proper storytelling blogs and press releases were in. Many claimed that SEO was on its way out completely.
Recently, Google made even more changes. Though the advent of Panda 4.0 made press releases seem borderline useless, the search engine has now revalued them. There’s one big alteration, though, that changes the way savvy PR pros should use press releases....
News coverage is a top priority for brands because its third party credibility is more trusted than ads and favored heavily in search ranking algorithms. Even though social media has become a source for breaking news, journalists still rely on press releases as a credible source for stories.
According to a 2013 survey of PR Newswire for Journalists members, press releases are one of the top three sources used for stories and half of the journalists polled checked wire services at least once a day. Given that press releases are delivered directly to journalists who are interested in those topics, knowing how to make an impression right off the bat is key to inspiring media coverage....
With Google taking away the benefit of link building through syndicated news releases last year, you can no longer rationalize news release distribution as an SEO tactic.
And if journalists aren’t going to care about the news, why fork out the money for distribution? To pacify internal stakeholders with a wrap-up report highlighting syndicated coverage in “powerhouse” media properties like “Wrestling for Working Moms.”...
Now, roughly 18 years since earmarking news releases for the public domain, it seems fair to say the commoditization of the news release is complete.
Given that journalists rarely write from news releases these days, why does the massive effort behind news releases – figure around 10 man hours per news release at $175 per hour translating into $3,078,082 of cost last year – continue?
That’s a good question....
Check out these 8 tips for writing a press release that attracts attention from journalists and consumers.
Start 2014 off with a blast of PR.Press releases used to be the powerhouses of public relations firms — a way to fax timely, relevant information out to journalists. Nowadays, online publishing platforms like social media and blogs cut down on the supremacy of the press release. It’s now just one tool in a sea of educational channels available to the online marketer.
Nevertheless, we think well-written press releases are important in targeting news audiences and leading them to sites where they can find more information about your offerings. Here are 8 tips for writing a killer press release that attracts attention — and results!.
You don’t have to be a giant company to create and publish a survey that gets noticed. For example, here at MyPRGenie, we frequently use surveys to identify trends, preferences, and opinions on PR, social media, and digital marketing, and then use them in our PR and marketing efforts.
Once you’ve decided what you hope to achieve with your survey, the second step in setting appropriate goals is to define who will be surveyed, and who will want the data gathered from survey participants. One of the challenges with online surveys is that participants self-select, so they are not as randomized as a well-done telephone survey. So it’s important to clearly identify who you want to participate in your survey, and discard survey responses that are outside your pre-determined group....
Google now calls links in press releases "unnatural" and is mandating nofollowing them. Even though Google took away the anchor text links in press releases (and guest posts and articles), there are still press release optimization opportunities.
Google's most recent update to their defintions of link schemes sent shockwaves through the SEO and online PR world; a real downer to link building strategists.
It's true: the world's largest search engine called links in press releases "unnatural" and is mandating nofollowing them. What does this mean to organizations using press releases to gain digital visibility in search and social?For brands publishing a press release or an article on your site and distributing it through a paid wire service, such as PR Newswire, Business Wire, Marketwire or through an article site, you must first make sure to nofollow the links if those links are "optimized anchor text."
Is This a Big SEO Deal? Yes. No. Maybe.
Google has been slowly squeezing the SEO life out of press releases for a while now.
"In 2006 online press releases were amazing for SEO. In 2013? Not so much," said Joe Laratro, SEO expert and PubCon lead moderator. "Online press releases have had very little value in terms of links and content over the past few years – I would say it had been steadily declining. However, I still thought it was a good part of a large organic link building strategy until the new guideline changes."...
There are few companies or organisations that can come close to rivalling the power that Google wields over the internet and search in particular....
So when the search engine updated its rules on unnatural link schemes recently, making specific reference to press releases, it triggered a rather alarmist article from ZDNet asking whether Google had killed PR agencies.
The convergence of PR and SEO is something we’ve covered previously on the blog, with articles focusing on the importance of search optimised PR and suggesting seven SEO tools to improve online PR efficiency.
However the article on ZDNet understandably (and probably intentionally) ruffled a few feathers within the PR industry as it painted them as black hat SEOs, out to flood the internet with dull, keyword loaded press releases just so they could help their clients climb a few places in search rankings....
Press releases will continue to be the workhorse of public relations, even after social media has allowed businesses to engage directly with customers. Here are 10 mistakes to avoid when pitching one.
Check out the four examples of companies reinventing how they use and present the press release. Every year, for the last ten years, someone has proclaimed that the press release is dying. While the rumors of its demise are exaggerated, they are not totally unfounded. That’s because the press release is, in fact, being eclipsed by digital alternatives that are more flexible, more interesting, and more relevant. ...This shift in medium and message represents a new era in corporate communications. News now needs to be conveyed in an empathetic tone and delivered in a user-friendly format....
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It can be difficult to get a news release approved internally—even without thinking about search engine optimization.
However, if exposure, disclosure or page views are your goals, you must heed content discoverability and make your release SEO-friendly.
A list of search engine violations and penalties shows ways your content can fail to attract attention online. This applies to all your owned media content—including your website and news releases.
What makes some releases more successful than others in terms of drawing traffic? They’re written with healthy SEO features. These successful news releases appeal to Google’s latest algorithm, which rewards high-quality, unique and non-spam content.
Follow these five simple steps to create releases that can rank high in search results....
While many find the press release to be an antiquated and now inefficient method of delivering content, the truth is that the press release is far from dead.
There are many audiences online who still rely on press releases as key sources of information.
Be it tradition or its deep roots, they continue to be used, and by more than just public relations (PR) departments. Except nowadays, many different types of press releases serve many different purposes.
But if you’re interested in creating effective and relevant press releases for distribution, you’ll have to understand the history, its evolution in a growing content universe, and all of the options you have available to you.
Consider this a crash course in all things press release...
You have exciting news to share about your company, but how do you get the word out? One of the most effective strategies is to create and distribute a press release.
With an attention-grabbing title and the right hook, your company news can be shared with the right audience at the right time.
Do you need help getting started? We’ve talked before about how to format a press release and even included a template here. We’ve also shared 28 great examples of real press releases from the pros. And, in case you need an in depth analysis of which press release distribution service is best, we’ve got you covered too....
According to Hubspot researcher Dan Zarella, the short answer is yes. Online press release are viewed an average of 275 times during the week and media views account for at least another 70 views. The more eyeballs checking out your announcement, the more likely you are to gain traction with journalists and conversions with customers.
It’s not enough, though, to simply post a few words about your company’s latest news and take the rest of the week off. Effective press releases are part art, part science. Here are 10 things you must do for maximum press release power....
...Rob Nance, director of content marketing at Inovautus Consulting in Boulder, Colorado, said that if there’s any doubt that journalists and others will care about a press release, then you shouldn’t send it. Nance recalled that when he was working at an online media company covering the accounting business, he received a press release from an accounting firm announcing that it had a new sidewalk in front of its building.
“Funny, yes, but it’s not news or timely, useful information,” Nance said. “It’s a game of quality over quantity with press releases.”
Here are 12 tips that will help ensure your releases win the battle of quality over quantity....
When Google released its most recent modification to the Panda algorithm, Panda 4.0, on May 20th, one of the sites reportedly hit hardby the update was the large press release distribution company, PR Newswire.
The company’s answer to recover from the algorithmic penalty is to “take action” against press release spammers through new internal quality guidelines for press release submissions....
Press Release Writing Tactics: 2014 Update
It’s seven years since the ground-breaking post ‘Die! Press Release! Die! Die!’ was written.Tom Foremski’s this-can’t-go-on wail reads as powerfully as a Martin Luther deconstruction of one of the central pillars of the public relations industry.
“I’ve been telling the PR industry for some time now that things cannot go along as they are,” Tom wrote, “business as usual while mainstream media goes to hell in a hand basket.”.
Search Engine Marketing - Just as press releases were about to go the way of the horse and buggy, SEO saved that workhorse of public relations. But Google again changed the rules ...
Here's the PR equivalent of your grandpa's story about walking five miles to school in three-foot snow drifts, uphill both ways... Back in the day, when distribution hinged on fax machines and tracking coverage meant cutting articles out of actual magazines and taping them into physical binders, the press release was a pretty powerful tool. It gave your intermediary audience (reporters) the breaking news and basic information it needed to spread your story to your primary audience (investors, customers, prospects, potential employees, partners, and others). The best way to reach all of those important groups was by informing the editorial gatekeepers, and one of the best ways to inform them was via the press release.
Lots of things have changed since PR pros had to walk uphill both ways to the fax machine. Companies now have many ways to reach their primary audiences: blogs, social media, email newsletters, webinars, and more. PR and marketing leaders know that their job titles today should include "publisher," since they now own multiple platforms from which they can communicate directly with key constituencies....
10 Yetis Vents - Google update has not killed press releases or PR Agencies its just killed crap content and spammy writing.
Right now the interwebs are full of "Google has killed PR Agencies/press releases" stories. These all relate to big G's latest update that talks about its crack down on keyword optimised press releases and the need to use no-follow links in stories that PRs push out.
Whether it is emails from nervous clients wanting clarification on the situation, or people on Twitter sending me DMs asking if I have seen various stories (because we set our stall out around being very SEO savvy), it is really up in my grill right now.
Not many public relations professionals have put their head above the parapet and come out with their take on this, so I thought I would give it the first shot....
New webmaster rules target core PR practices around press releases...At least, so Tom Foremski claims. Wrong Tom. You're way off base with your interpretation of new Google rules and how they will impact PR agencies.
Foremski's best known as the author of "Die press release, die", an infamous rant aimed at PR people. In his post, he misinterprets Google's directions on getting SEO slapped for black hat SEO linking practices. Then he wrongly applies his mistake, concludes somehow that it applies to press releases, and aims it squarely at his favorite target - PR people.
Sorry Tom. The worst practitioners of bad press releases are not PR agencies or legitimate PR pros. They are usually marketing departments or uninformed small business people who mistakenly think press releases are a great way to easily get "free advertising." Their news releases don't contain real news. They simply stuff releases full of marketing nonsense.
If you want proof of that, check out my blog where I've written 4 or 5 best-of-bad-press-release blog posts that have proven to be remarkably popular and entertaining.Most savvy PR people rarely use news releases. In fact, PR pros these days are usually social media leaders, skillful storytellers and adept content marketers.
Unfortunately, the same thing is happening in social media channels, annoying consumers and, instead of engaging them, pushing them away. It's time Foremski wrote the sequel to his famous anti-PR rant and called it "Die Marketing nonsense, die!"There's probably a very nice sequel for me too write as well. Its called "Die lazy journalism, die!"
Each week, Dear Gracie answers questions from ProfNet Connect readers with advice from our network of nearly 50,000 ProfNet experts. Dear Gracie, Some of my clients repeatedly ask me to pitch announcements that I don’t think qualify as “news.” I know if I do pitch the information, journalists will be annoyed and I could damage my media relationships. How do I explain this to my clients? Peeved Pitcher
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![The State of Multimedia in Press Releases [Study + Infographics] | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/nsfZonQLcnT6cFUuceChQjl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
Press releases aren't necessarily dead but they do have to be much better. Journalists offer a collection of 9 tips to get it right.