Why Are Press Releases Important & How to Use Them

Have you heard or noticed that many businesses are using press releases to grow? Are you wondering why are press releases important? Is this is a strategy that you can use to your benefit?

With so much information available on the web, you need to find as many ways as possible to get your business and product information in front of customers.

Press releases are a way to do that. If you don’t incorporate press releases into your marketing strategy, you are missing out on a lot of opportunities to make sales.

The goal with this post is to give you some insight into why press releases are so important.

We will dive into its benefits, as well as give you tips on what to incorporate so that readers want to read what you have to say.

Here’s an overview of what we will cover:

• What are Press Releases
• Why are press releases important
• Why should you consider creating them
• How to use them

So let’s start with some basics…

What Are Press Releases?

In essence, a press release is a short, compelling news story that is written about your company or the products you have to offer. More often than not, it’s written by a public relations professional, not by your marketing team.

After it has been created, it is then sent out to various media outlets that might find the story intriguing. You also have the option of posting it to your own site, blog or social media pages.

When creating a press release for your business, you need to make sure it incorporates the most essential information, this includes:

• Who
• What
• Where
• When
• How
• Why

A press release should also be written in the third person, cite important sources and it should have interesting quotes from pertinent people.

Why Are Press Releases Important?

Many businesses, both large and small, are using social media as a way to promote their brand and create conversations with current and potential customers.

Social media has altered the traditional ways of creating marketing campaigns, and it can now be used to create general marketing campaigns and be involved in public relations.

Creating press releases and posting them on your blog or social media site may get you the attention you’re looking for.

However, having it picked up by an online news site can send your credibility soaring.

Not only will this media site help get your information in front of a new audience, which could potentially help you find new customers, but it will also make your business appear trustworthy and credible.

The Power of Referral Marketing

You can tell people all day every day how amazing you are, and some of them will listen.

However, when friends, family members or other trusted sources say you are great, people may be more willing to believe this claim.

People trust other people when it comes to finding products and businesses to buy from — which is why online reviews are so important and have an impact on your sales.

Press releases are often written from a non-biased viewpoint, and depending on where they get published, this can impact on how buyers view what you have to offer.

In addition, the hope when writing a press release for your company is that a reporter will see something intriguing in either your business or products.

Should they decide to do their own news story, this is another way to create good buzz and be seen by a larger audience.

Why Should You Create a Press Release?

The idea of creating a press release for your business should be incredibly enticing.

Here’s some of the benefits:

Press releases can build trust and credibility

If you are looking for a way to build trust and credibility in your industry, then creating press releases can help with that endeavor.

Your ultimate goal might be to get people interested in your products and company, but a press release allows you to do so much more.

If you are passionate about certain topics and know a lot about them or your business has developed an innovative way to protect the planet or make people’s lives easier, then you need to share that with others.

By talking about the various aspects of your business and sharing your knowledge, you can gain the respect of others in your industry and have customers look up to you.

Once they know what you stand for and that you are trustworthy and credible, they may be more willing to give your business and products a chance.

Your business can gain instant exposure

Press releases are usually created to share news and/or information that is specific and timely. Thus, the release will be created so that news and media outlets can share it as soon as you make it public.

This is especially beneficial if you have an event coming up or you are announcing a product release.

Since there’s a time limit and many news outlets want to be the first to announce breaking news, you have the opportunity to get instant exposure for your business.

A press release can increase your website traffic

Millions of people go online every day to find information and look for interesting stories. If you aren’t using a press release to your advantage, you are missing out on a lot of exposure.

Press releases are structured to give the audience the most basic of information. However, somewhere in the text, you have the ability to place a link to your site.

If audiences think that your press release is interesting and want to learn more about your company and/or products, they can quickly and easily follow the link to your site.

Not only can this increase your website traffic, but it might also convert leads to sales.

Press releases can also improve SEO

At this point in time, you should know how invaluable SEO is for your online presence. By creating press releases, you can improve your SEO and make it possible for search engines and people to find your business.

Press releases help with SEO in a variety of ways, including:

• They create backlinks
• They increase your keyword usage
• And help you create industry-specific tags

The more you use SEO to your advantage, the more often you’ll be found online by people who want to buy what you have to offer.

They are cost-effective

Creating marketing campaigns for your business can be a costly endeavor. If you’re like most companies, you have a budget that you have to adhere to.

As a small or medium-sized business, your marketing budget is probably going to be fairly small, and you have to spend it wisely to ensure you get a return on your investment.

This can make it tough for you to compete with bigger businesses — unless you use press releases to your advantage.

One of the great things about press releases is that they usually cost little to nothing to create. You then upload them to various sites and hope that a news or media outlet finds it interesting and picks it up.

Should that occur, then the chances of reaching new buyers and making more sales increase. This can make writing press releases an incredibly lucrative endeavor.

Not only will a well-crafted press release help you attract customers, but it may also help you find investors.

As a small or medium-sized business owner, having financial backing from others might be just what you need to grow and succeed.

The more people you can get your information in front of, the more chances you have of making money.

Go Beyond the Free Sites to Get Noticed

If you’re hoping to take your press release to the next level and be picked up by more media outlets, you might consider working with professionals who focus on marketing and public relations strategies.

You’ll be able to use their contacts with media and news outlets to your advantage.

Instead of posting your press release onto a site and hoping someone will notice it and write a story, a professional can target specific outlets and create a press release that people will want to read.

You will have to pay for this service, but since you’ll be able to reach a targeted audience and this could increase your sales, the investment may be more than worth it.

How to Use Press Releases to Your Advantage

With so many advantages to creating press releases, it seems like businesses would be engaging in this practice more often.

However, to make your press release as effective as possible, there are some tips and tricks you’ll need to follow.

The internet makes it possible to share news as it happens, and there is a lot of information in the world.

To ensure that your message doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, here are some ways to use press releases to your advantage:

• Create a Catchy Headline
• Share Interesting Information
• Target Your Press Release to a Specific Audience
• Create a Sense of Urgency and Encourage Readers to Act

1. Create a Catchy Headline

The first thing that is going to draw media outlets and readers to your press release is your headline. Take the time to create something that is catchy and riveting.

Be careful not to fall into the trap of clickbait. You want people to find your press release interesting, but you don’t want to flat out lie about what the article is about.

This will create distrust.

Since you’re trying to build a reputation as being trustworthy and credible, this is the last thing you want to happen.

2. Share Interesting Information

Once you have attracted readers through your headline, you want to keep them reading the rest of your article. You can achieve this by making your press release interesting.

To achieve that goal, you might consider linking your event or product release to a current trend or something that is happening in the news.

The more timely your information is, the more people may consider reading it.

Try to avoid simply stating facts. Make the information interesting by including quotes from people who are significant within the company.

This might include the CEO, CFO, owner or anyone else with influence.

Make sure the quotes are exciting and place the business or product in a positive light. Quotes add credibility to your press release, as well as make it interesting for the reader.

Again, you don’t want to lie, but you want to show how excited the influential person is about what you have to offer. If they aren’t excited, it’s going to be really hard to get others excited.

3. Target Your Press Release to a Specific Audience

By targeting your press release to a specific audience, you increase your chances of it being read by people who are interested in your business. This could also lead to more sales.

While it may be tempting to create a press release for a general audience, you may find that you don’t get the results you were hoping for.

When you narrow your sights down to your ideal audience, you’ll be able to incorporate the most important information that will get them interested and excited about your business.

4. Create a Sense of Urgency and Encourage Readers to Act

The most effective press releases are those that are timely and encourage readers to act.

You might want to consider using them to announce an event or new product release. Since these are things that only occur for a limited time, they create a sense of urgency in the readers.

Giving customers too much time to make a decision means they’ll put it off for as long as possible. By creating the right amount of excitement and instilling a fear that they’ll be missing out if they don’t act, this could encourage them to attend your event or pre-order your product.

At the end of the press release, it’s also important that you encourage the readers to act. Creating a call to action to get readers to visit your site or landing page for more information could increase your leads and help you make more sales.

Take Your Business to the Next Level

The internet has already impacted how customers find your business, and social media is changing the rules once again.

If you find yourself asking, why are press releases important, the answer is that they can help you establish your brand and make more sales.

Of course, press releases aren’t the only public relations and marketing strategy you should be using. There are many different avenues and ideas to explore.

At Search Click Grow, we are always creating content and resources to help you put together a marketing plan that will work for your business.