Business owners always tell me their biggest challenge is generating new leads. One tactic that is quite useful for lead generation is press release marketing–and very few businesses ever take advantage of the benefits this approach can offer.
Press release marketing, very simply, is using press releases to get your company noticed. Press releases are meant to provide the public with information and to bring them news-worthy stories. Isn’t that really what you’re doing when you advertise your business–delivering news-worthy information to your customer audience?
In the past, press releases were generally only used by major corporations, but the internet has changed all that and it made it much easier and more affordable to use press releases. In the past, press releases only went to traditional media outlets like television and radio, but today they can be found on a multitude of online news sites and article directories. Not only is it easier to distribute news today, it’s also much more cost effective.
Press release marketing is not only useful for getting your company noticed and distributing the latest information about your company, it’s also useful for building credible SEO backlinks. Because links can be placed inside the content of the release, the release can then be syndicated online, and that makes those links visible to thousands of people.
Like many other online practices, you want to make sure that whatever it is that you’re doing, you’re using credible sources and building quality links and relationships back to your web site. There are many, many online distribution sites out there, so be sure to research their methodologies and the sites in which they distribute to. Just like everything else, you get what you pay for.
For distribution, you can use free sites and pay anywhere up to around $500 to have your release distributed. The free sites certainly do help with building SEO backlinks, however, the chances of getting noticed for a larger story by a reporter or other news source is a lot lower. The benefits of paid-for distribution can increase the quality and credibility of the sites that pick up your release and post it. Paid-for distribution can also be the difference between on-line only distribution and distribution to real news-outlet organizations.
As with any other marketing tactic, it’s important to plan and determine what kind of results and outcomes you’re really looking for. You may simply be looking for SEO backlinks or you may be looking for a real press coverage opportunity. Depending on the type of announcement you have to make and the business results or outcome you’re looking for, these are the kinds of things you want to consider as you plan your press release marketing.
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