What Is A Press Release?
Traditionally, a press release is used to share your business with the world through publications such as newspapers, magazines, newsletters and other forms of print.
However, with the recent introduction to digital press releases, the popularity has altered for media coverage on platforms such as news sites, blogs, or other high DA websites. Studies have shown that as of 2020, more than two thirds of individuals in the UK were either reading or downloading online news outlet material.
What Are The Different Forms Of Press Releases?
There are many different types of press releases you could be looking to focus on, whether that be to promote an event, advertise a new product or service, announce an award or simply to give your new business exposure to potential clients.
In all circumstances, a press release will be a genuinely newsworthy form of content that will interest the reader and pull them into the story, rather than a sales pitch that looks obviously placed.
What Are The Benefits Of A Digital Press Release?
Distributing your press release across digital platforms is key to increasing your inbound leads. People are constantly scrolling through the web and various sites, and if you target the right platforms for your content, there is a high chance that your target audience will find your story.
Four Ways Digital Press Releases Increase Inbound Leads
1. Exposure To New Audiences
When your press release is released to one or multiple websites that are relevant to what you are offering, you are going to start generating more qualifying leads. Through this exposure, people can find out about your business, click through to your site and start to build a relationship with your business. People who are interested can also then easily share your story with others, where positive word-of-mouth can circulate.
2. Backlinks To Boost SEO
Google measures the number of high quality backlinks you have to your website when ranking pages in search engines. This means that when your blog or news story is posted on other websites, you will often have the ability to include a backlink within the text back to your chosen website page. Backlinks will then help to increase your domain authority, therefore making you more visible to relevant search queries looking for your business.
3. Building Trust With Your Audience
When people see stories about your business shared on other websites, individuals will often gain a feeling of credibility towards your services. Once these feelings of trust are built, people are much more likely to make purchasing decisions towards your business. It also presents a sense of professionalism when you have the ability to promote your business on other websites, getting the edge over competitors.
4. Increasing Your Brand Awareness
As audiences hear about your business more, you are much more likely to become recognisable and memorable. This can be from the language you use in your press release, imagery, and the addition of links to social media if available. People can then easily navigate to social platforms and your website, where they can get a real feel for who you are and what makes your business unique. This will then increase your followings and leads through relevant CTAs.
How To Prepare Your Press Release
What Makes You Unique?
You firstly need to find your story that creates a form of excitement for the person receiving it. These digital platforms will receive a dozen emails every day regarding people’s press releases, so you don’t want to be sharing a run of the mill piece of content.
Depending on whether you are using a press release distribution service or manually sharing your story, you may also need to write different versions for specific media outlets. This is because the target audience may vary for certain distribution channels.
How To Structure Your Story
Start your press release off with a headline that jumps out at the reader. That first line is critical to whether your story even gets acknowledged, and needs to be engaging, bold and most importantly different.
When writing the main piece, make sure to focus on a newsworthy angle. Is your press release for local impact? Sharing Drama? Discussing Conflict? There are many different approaches you can take, but making sure to focus on one will increase your chances of pulling in the journalists’ interest to the story.
You want to start your content with the most critical content, and if relevant include any statistics or facts that help to back your piece. It is also handy to add quotes from your business and images to the first email, as this means less work for the journalist and a quicker chance of getting your story released.
Including Contact Details
It can be easy for you to get lost in the story, but always remember to include contact information at the end of your email. This should include the appropriate email address, phone number, name and job title, and any website links for further references.
This is vital in case your story gets accepted by journalists and publications, yet a few extra details such as specific imagery or quotes are needed to complete the press release.
3X Your Inbound Leads With Audeo
Are you ready to 3X your inbound leads? At Audeo, we specialise in writing engaging copy and blog posts which are key to generating more leads. With an in-house design team, we also create eye-catching content marketing, website designs, and videos to grow your business online.
At the moment, we are offering free customised reports for businesses on how their website is performing online. If you are interested in finding out areas where you can improve your marketing strategy and overall brand, get in touch with our team today at hello@weareaudeo.com.
