Archive for the ‘Press Releases’ Category

The Internet has changed the role of the release.  With sites like ThomasNet News as well as others, the press release can now reach customers and prospects directly bypassing the journalists.  The Internet has provided a channel that circumvents the media who were the gatekeepers of the past that determined what constituted the news and what they would publish to their readers. Now your prospects and customers choose what they are interested and what they will read. And you can deliver to them what they want.

News releases are also an important part of your online strategy.  Releases need to be carefully written. They need to be rich with keywords and phrases that are used by your customers and prospects. These keywords and phrases must be highly relevant to the content. Do not add keywords for the sake of having a lot of keywords. You want these releases not only to rank highly in searches on Google, Yahoo or Bing but you also want the release to read well. Remember, the news release represent you and your credibility to your market.  When placed on trusted news sites such as ThomasNet News, these releases can also appear on news portals such as Google News and Yahoo News.  This allows your release to reach prospects wherever they are and however they access news that interests them. Always add a URL back to your site on these releases. Preferably to a page that is directly related to the content of the release. Make it easy on your prospect. Lead them right to the page that provides the information they want.  You can use both your home page as well as a link to the internal page on your site, often called a ‘deep link’.  These links will allow the reader to easily navigate to the pages they want as well as provide you with search engine value.

These news releases should also be posted on your site.  For many companies it is often the only new content that is added from month to month.  These keyword rich documents will help your site be found on search engines.

As I travel the country (sounds exciting until you here where I go and how I spend my time when on the road) the one common theme I hear from industrial companies is “I do not have time to write press release.” Or, “I have nothing to write about.”

Hearing these laments, the voice in my head wants to scream “YOU CAN’T AFFORD NOT TO!” But as a person who understand the pressures of time and prioritization I listen and discuss with them the challenges and issues they are facing in their business. Inevitably, the question comes up, how are you talking to the market, especially during the time before they need to buy your solution? How are you telling your story? At this point I get the answers of search strategies and web sites. While I say that is important and a critical component of their marketing efforts, by the time a buyer or specifier starts the search process they already have a company in mind. How are you reaching them before that search, before they visit your site? And the answer is many industrial marketers do not have a strategy for talking to the marketplace before the prospect realizes they have a need. This often leads to a discussion of the many ways to create an effective messaging campaign that places you in the group of suppliers a buyer is familiar with even if they have not bought from you yet. In this specific post, I am going to address one of the potential opportunities and start to answer the question “Why write a press release?”

Press releases, also called news releases, have been an important part of the marketing/communications mix for successful companies.  The one thing I have learned in my over twenty years of working in the B2B space is that successful companies are usually great marketing companies. One of the important tools they use is the news release. News releases communicate the latest news about your company and its products or services to the marketplace. Journalists rely on well-written press releases for story ideas and information. Due to the Internet, releases are also reaching your target audience directly.

In this post I want to focus on new and improved product and service releases. Press releases on new product developments are important to journalists for a variety of reasons, the major one being that their readers are interested in the latest product developments in their industry. If you have a new or improved product or service you need to write a release. Hiding your product or service advancements under a bushel does your company or your prospects and customers no good. You need to stand on the mountain and shout about it to let the marketplace know how you can solve their problems.

One big objection I hear from companies is that they do not want to let their competition know what they are doing. My response is most likely your competitor s already know the problem your potential market does not.

Done properly, press releases compliment any marketing efforts you have. From SEO to display advertising campaigns, releases are part of completing the marketing puzzle. It helps keep your name in front of your market every time you have something good to announce. It tells a story that can help brand your company. Press releases are also good search engine optimization tools.  A press release adds content to your site as well as provides rich keywords and phrases used by search engines.

Over the next several weeks I will break down the steps to write an effective release as well as share some great resources. I hope you stay tuned.