Over 90% of businesses use content marketing to reach their customers. A few blog posts and videos aren’t enough, though. Instead, consider developing a press release strategy, too.
With press releases, you can establish your credibility, improve your search ranking, and boost sales. That’s only the start.
You don’t have to do it yourself, though. In fact, the DIY route might lead you to make costly mistakes. Instead, consider hiring a press release company.
Working with a professional press release company will ensure your success.
In fact, 32% of businesses with a content marketing strategy achieve 27% higher win rates than those without. About 80% of consumers learn from a company through custom content, too. Working with a press release agency could give your business the boost it needs.
On the fence? Keep reading to discover the 11 benefits of working with an agency over the DIY approach today! Once you are quite convinced, you can take help from the professionals at Press kit to create the most professional press releases for start-ups.
1. Pinpoint Your Target Audience
Over 70% of marketers claim content marketing increases their customer engagement. Meanwhile, over 60% outsource their content writing. You can also outsource your press release writing to engage your customers.
Before you start writing your own press release, however, it’s important to consider the publications you’re writing for. Otherwise, you might not write with the correct audience in mind.
If your writing doesn’t appeal to their readers, journalists won’t pick up your story.
One of the benefits of hiring a press release company over the DIY option is writing with your audience in mind.
Your press release writing agency already has connections with journalists and different publications. They’ll know which publications suit your business. Then, they’ll make sure to write for each audience.
Each publication will have its own requirements and guidelines you’ll need to follow, too.
If you’re not experienced with the process, consider press release services instead. Working with an agency will ensure you write for each audience and publication. You can increase your chances of getting a release published as a result.
If your writing doesn’t appeal to the audience, however, journalists might toss your press release out. You could waste valuable time. Meanwhile, your release will fail to provide readers with any real value.
You’ll struggle to generate leads from your press release, which could hurt your ROI.
2. Use the Right Formatting
When developing your press release strategy, it’s important to consider your formatting. If you don’t follow the right press release format, journalists will ignore your release. They’ll send your pitch straight to the trash bin.
Don’t let that happen! Instead, hire a press release writing and distribution company.
They’ll ensure your press release is formatted properly and includes all the necessary information.
Make sure to hire an experienced team. An experienced press release writer will know how to tell a compelling, attention-grabbing story. If they grab the journalist’s attention, your chances of getting published will increase.
It’s important for the writer to draft your press release like a journalist. Journalists use the inverted pyramid style. They put the most important information at the top.
If they need to trim out content, they start at the bottom at work their way up.
Your press release writer will ensure your story has a single focal point. Keeping the writing focused will keep readers focused on your message. Otherwise, they’ll get confused.
Your press release needs to include who, what, when, where, how, and why. Otherwise, readers won’t get the information they’re looking for.
When formatting your press release, you need to include:
- Your contact information
- The date, city, and state
- “For Immediate Release” or the release date
- An attention-grabbing lead
- Supporting details
- A quote from a credible resource or statistics
- The boilerplate
- The press contact’s information
Then, you need to end the press release with “#” to indicate readers reached the ending.
Your journalist will proofread the press release to ensure there aren’t any grammatical or spelling errors.
Otherwise, you could fail to meet the publication’s requirements and expectations. They’ll toss your press release out, impacting your ability to reach customers.
3. Improve Your Pitch
Creating a compelling, informative press release is only one step in the entire process. You’ll also need to draft a strong pitch email. You’ll send this pitch email to journalists who work for industry publications.
Your pitch will summarize your content and potentially compel journalists to keep reading. If your pitch falls flat, they won’t look at the actual press release.
Look for a press release company that has experience writing and pitching press releases. They can save you valuable time and effort with this process.
Otherwise, you might find that no one’s picking up your press releases. You might not realize there’s a problem with the pitch until it’s too late.
For example, your pitch will need to start with a compelling email subject line. After all, that’s the first thing journalists will see.
Journalists receive hundreds of press releases every day. If your email subject line doesn’t grab their attention, they’ll skim right by.
Once you perfect your subject line, you’ll need to consider the press release’s headline. A strong headline will convey the press release’s purpose. It can also spark the reader’s interest and compel them to keep reading.
If your headline fails to get a journalist’s attention, it won’t interest consumers, either.
A press release agency can improve every step of your press release strategy. They’ll ensure your pitch is strong, engaging, and gets journalists reading.
4. Edit Without Worry
As part of your press release strategy, you’ll need to consider the editing process, too.
Remember, journalists receive hundreds of press releases every day. They don’t want to see typos. If they find spelling or grammatical errors, they might not feel the need to keep reading.
They might toss your press release in the trash bin instead.
If you’re struggling to write your press releases, work with an agency. They’ll ensure you meet the editor’s expectations. That includes:
- Journalistic/AP-style writing
- Tone
- Voice
- Grammar
- Spelling
- Formatting
If you take the DIY route, you might feel the need to rush through the process. Unfortunately, that could lead you to make costly mistakes.
If you don’t have a lot of writing experience, you might not even realize the mistakes you’re making.
It helps to have someone else look at your writing. Look for an experienced PR writing company. They’ll ensure your press release submission is ready for publishing.
With their help, you can avoid disappointing rejections. Instead, you can get your piece published and start reaching customers.
5. Use the Best Distribution Channels
Remember, there’s more than one step in the press release submission process. Once you write and edit your press release, it’s time to distribute it.
With the DIY approach, you might not know which distribution channels to choose. Choosing the right publications is essential. Otherwise, you won’t reach your target audience.
If you don’t know any journalists, consider working with a press release company.
They already have a network of distribution channels you can use to your advantage.
With their help, you can choose the best distribution channels with your target audience and industry in mind. Then, you can start reaching ideal customers and boosting your business.
Remember, journalists want to publish press releases that will appeal to their customers. If your press release doesn’t suit their audience, they’ll toss it out. You could waste time as a result.
Instead, choose professional press release services. You can cross-promote and publish your press release across multiple platforms. As you boost your brand visibility and reach, you’ll strengthen your marketing strategy, too!
6. Improve Your SEO Strategy
Nearly 70% of online experiences begin with a search engine like Google. In fact, over 50% of all web traffic comes from an organic search. With search engine optimization (SEO), you can rank higher on search engines.
Then, you can generate brand awareness, website traffic, and leads.
In fact, SEO drives 1,000% more traffic than organic social media marketing. SEO leads have a 15% close rate, too.
With an effective SEO strategy, you can:
- Increase your online visibility
- Build brand recognition
- Generate more traffic to your website
- Establish yourself as a thought leader in the industry
- Increase your credibility
- Generate high-quality leads and conversions
- Boost sales
- Build brand trust and loyalty
- Improve your ROI
As part of your SEO strategy, you’ll need to generate backlinks. Backlinks are links within a press release that send readers to your website. As your press release appears in more online publications, you’ll generate more backlinks.
Posting your press release on social media and generating social shares can benefit your SEO strategy, too.
With press release services, you can increase the chance a well-known publication will share your press release. You’ll receive a backlink from a high-authority domain. Google will notice you’re gaining attention from authoritative websites.
Then, Google can boost your authority. As your domain authority improves, your SEO ranking will, too.
Then, you can gain more awareness, traffic, and leads. Boosting your SEO ranking could set your business up for growth and success.
As an added bonus, it’s a cost-effective marketing strategy. Your ROI could improve as well!
7. Build Brand Credibility
Consumers won’t trust your brand if they’ve never heard of your business before. Developing your press release strategy can help you gain visibility. Your brand’s credibility could improve, too.
You can publish your press release on publications consumers already know and trust. These publications are already credible resources. You can leverage that brand credibility to boost your own.
You can also work with a press release company to connect with influencers within your industry. Influencers can share your press release, too. Then, you can leverage their existing audience and credibility.
More people will learn about your business and start trusting your brand.
As brand trust grows, you might develop brand loyalty, too. Loyalty will allow you to retain long-term customers. They’ll make repetitive purchases, which could improve your ROI.
Remember, SEO can boost your online ranking, too. If you rank ahead of competitors, you could gain even more credibility in the industry.
8. Save Time
You’re busy enough trying to run your business. You shouldn’t have to take time away from your customers to write a press release. The DIY approach could cost you valuable time and energy.
That’s time better spent improving your business!
Instead, consider professional press release services. A professional agency already has access to the tools and resources you need. They can leverage their experience and expertise to work to your advantage.
With their help, you won’t have to waste time on creating a press release strategy. They’ll handle it all for you!
9. Establish Connections
Remember, a professional press release agency already has access to journalists, publications, and influencers. Those connections can benefit your press release strategy.
Developing those connections alone can take a lot of time. Instead, work with a professional agency. They can introduce you to journalists and influencers.
Building those relationships can help the next time you want to publish a press release!
Comparison shopping before choosing press release services? Consider how eReleases stacks up against newswire today.
10. Boost Brand Awareness
Nearly 90% of marketers say generating brand awareness is their main goal when creating content. Over 70% say branded content is more effective than traditional advertising. In fact, 60% of customers choose to buy from a brand they know.
Meanwhile, 78% of marketers plan to incorporate press releases into their content marketing strategy.
Choosing press release services can help you boost your brand awareness. You can appear in multiple publications, expanding your reach.
As more people see your brand, they’ll start to remember you. Brand recognition will grow. When consumers need your product or service, they’ll recall seeing your brand.
Then, you can boost leads and sales.
11. Lasting Longevity
Most publications archive their press releases. The announcement will remain online, even after decades pass. You can use that longevity to show consumers how much your business has grown.
Consumers will see how much you’ve accomplished over the years, which could benefit your brand’s reputation.
Avoid DIY: 11 Benefits of Hiring a Press Release Company ASAP
Taking the DIY route with your press release strategy could waste time and energy. Don’t make costly mistakes with your press releases. Instead, consider hiring a press release company.
Working with a professional team can boost your brand, help you generate traffic, and ensure you gather leads.
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