When it comes to content, sometimes old school can be a good thing (namely, when it comes to old school rap or Throwback Thursday on Instagram). But when it comes to your company’s public relations strategy, being old school isn’t advantageous for your business or your brand.

Ten years ago, people still relied on morning papers for news. Today, the vast majority of your company’s customers and prospects scan headlines on Twitter or see what’s trending in their Facebook feed.

Download our free press release template here to learn how to write a top-notch press release.

People now have control over where, when, and how they consume information. As a result, public relations is no longer about feeding into a traditional news cycle; it’s about providing relevant content when, where, and how your prospects, influencers, and customers will consume it.

Sounds pretty hopeless, right? Wrong. While relationship-building still helps you get into popular publications, we now have the opportunity to quit playing the waiting game and generate our own buzz. By turning your PR strategy into an inbound one, you create opportunities that weren’t there before and carve out a place for your company, building meaningful mindshare with your target audiences in the process.

One of the most crucial updates to make to your PR strategy is to think of press releases as an opportunity to connect to the audiences you care about — including, but not limited to, reporters.

What Is a Press Release / News Release?

Whether we call it a “press release,” a “press statement,” a “news release,” or a “media release,” we’re always talking about the same basic thing: an official announcement (written or recorded) that an organization issues to the news media and beyond.press release writing services represent the key to efficient and affordable self-promotion.

Press releases deliver exceptional results for virtually any business, regardless of its size, profit margins, profile and industry; which means that this type of content could also work like magic for you. This brings us to the next question: what exactly should you expect from world-class press release writing services?

Here are the 10 Main Benefits of Press Releases:

1. Instant Exposure

As a small or medium business owner with limited resources, you could spread the word about your company and products or services in the most effective manner, without breaking the bank to reach your target.

The old adage that content is king and distribution is queen, is still true, so you’ll want stellar copy that will sweep your potential buyers off their feet and make them daydream about your merchandise and talk about it in their sleep. In this moment, the question that you should ask yourself is this: how do you choose the right type of content and distribution services to achieve this specific goal?

While landing pages help you introduce your brands and goods to the world and convert leads into customers, blog posts allow you to establish a more personal connection with your readers, by answering some of their most burning questions, offering advice, expressing your expert opinion and sharing your insight with your audience.

Conversely, press releases let you build trust and authority on different fronts, by stimulating journalists and media outlets to cover your story, and also by giving your prospects a new reason to visit your store, land on your website, find out more about your most recent accomplishments and try, buy and spread the word about your new product or service.

2. Increased Sales Potential

A well-drafted press release brings credibility to your company and allows you to stay in the public eye, while boosting your profit margins, by highlighting the most remarkable key benefits and features of your products or services that position your company on top of any other alternatives currently available on the market.

Topics of press releases can be widely varied; from different occasions, to announce a series of achievements, such as new technological developments, a product or service launch, a new partnership with a prominent company, a milestone that you have just reached or new acquisitions.

Each event that we’ve mentioned is newsworthy enough to command attention and put you and your business into the spotlight.

3. The Chance to Boost the Effectiveness of Your Marketing Plan

Press Release campaigns should be a part of your company’s content marketing toolbox to enhance your online visibility, become more popular and make more money. Press releases represent an exceptional, incredibly affordable marketing addition that you should add to your campaign. You simply cannot go wrong with these tools because they are designed to be controlled by their creators in terms of targeted audience and message.

4. The Opportunity to Brand Yourself as an Industry Expert

Press releases are a great way to build trust and credibility in your field or niche. An excellent PR campaign will offer you the chance to brand yourself as a high-authority artist/business owner and underline the unique attributes of your products and services.

5. Increased Traffic to Your Website

According to the data shared by ereleases.com, 80 million people worldwide go online daily, looking for unique insight and exclusive stories. This impressive number reveals just how important it really is to use every available tool in your marketing arsenal to push your feature to the top of your prospects’ news feed and boost your exposure. How are you different from your competition?

Using press releases, you can explain that, while also including one or two links to your blog or website, to guide your reader towards other platforms where you promote and sell your goods.

Without trying to game the system, you could still boost website traffic via press releases (and any other type of quality digital content for that matter), by simply optimizing the key elements of your copy, including keywords, headlines, videos, photos, podcasts, hashtags and description. Density of real value content over quantity will be the successful trend of 2017 press releases.

6. Important SEO Benefits

Press releases published by several media outlets will offer you valuable backlinks to your website or landing pages. Moreover, by optimizing your content, with targeted keywords, you could increase its visibility online and make your articles searchable on the Internet. Tags pointing to your topic and a set of relevant, industry and company-specific keywords are extremely important elements that you should add to your copy to optimize your press releases and unleash instant SEO benefits.

7. A New Opportunity to Reach Your Targeted Audience

Press release distribution services are industry-specific and ensure location targeting, a prominent advantage that increases your odds of promoting your message in front of an already interested audience that is more likely to respond to your Calls To Action (CTAs). This type of services based on geographical location can maximize your reach and help you get in touch with prospective customers, clients and patients who share your vision, mission and interests and would be more inclined to test, buy and recommend your products or services.

8. The Perfect Occasion to Distribute Your Content Across Different Channels

When you’re striving to make a name for yourself in an overcrowded market, it is vital to explore all available mediums to express yourself, build and maintain a connection and engagement with your public, receive financial support for your upcoming project and lure customers. Press releases ensure media coverage and can help ensure that targeted audiences see your story in popular newspapers and magazines or hear about most recent accomplishments on the radio. All these channels can support your marketing efforts, turning you into a much more powerful player in your industry.

9. A Solid Relationship with Journalists

Press releases enable you to create stronger ties with journalists who are looking for a good story to share with their readers. A well-written press release will enable you to capture the attention of several media outlets and create win-win situations with influencers in your industry who need to cover interesting facts to stay relevant and competitive in their niche.

10. A Cost-Effective Method to Attract Deep-Pocketed Investors

Press releases offer you one of the simplest and most affordable methods to build your online reputation and increase your visibility on your market. Aside from making your goods seem more desirable in the eyes of your prospects and attracting more customers, press releases can help you capture the attention of investors who could become your future sponsors, lift your startup off the ground and fuel your rise to the top in your niche.

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