Okay, so you published and distributed your very own press release. That's awesome news… because press releases are among the hottest marketing tools available in an online marketer's toolbox. Press releases work well for small companies, large companies, and organizations of pretty much any size.
When you use press releases to market, they carry more weight than ads or blog posts on your company's site. Regardless if it's right or wrong, people tend to think that what they see in the news is important and authoritative. And, press releases feed right in to that belief pattern.
Obviously, if you write a press release and nobody cares about whatever it is you're sharing, you've got a problem. So, as we move forward, let's talk about how to engage your readers – your ideal audience – and the best ways to, hopefully, make them want to follow up on your press release by calling your phone, visiting your website, or in general, taking whatever action you want them to take.
Who Is Your Target Audience?
Just as in marketing, when you answer this question by saying “everybody,” you've failed already. We do not market to everybody! We market to what we perceive to be the target market for our product or service. Take diapers for example. How many diapers ads do you see in the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) regular monthly publication?
Hmmm … most likely none. There's a reason for that. Who wants to spend tens of thousands of dollars, or more, marketing to individuals who've already past that phase in life? (BTW, I'm not talking about adult diapers… those, of course, would be ideal for the AARP crowd.)
Whose Attention Are You Trying To Get?
Naturally, press releases aren't traditionally considered advertisements… but, in fact, they actually are ads! So, you might be publishing a press release not to obtain more clients or customers, but to connect with potential business partners.
Let's say you're trying to find the next, or perhaps initial, round of funding for your service? A series of press releases will go a long way to developing you as a serious business owner with a product or service people need to know about. That said, nothing's truly different from what I said above, you simply have a much smaller audience of target readers.
Start with the End in Mind
The fundamental part of all this is as follows: press releases are extremely effective marketing tools. However, they really have to be targeted at something in order to be effective. You must be publishing press releases on a regular basis. Before you do, of course, it's important that you determined what you you want to get out of them.
GET HELP WITH YOUR PRESS RELEASE STRATEGY HERE