The success of a business is determined by its brand image in the market and before the target audience. Press releases are used to establish a good image of a brand in the industry. The first press releases were used to restore the brand image of a certain organization. In 1906, more than 50 people died in a train accident. The PR expert of the company that builds the railroad convinced the organization to issue a statement explaining their side of the story to the world. The statement was distributed to the journalists and the company was able to restore its lost brand image with the help of the content. This is considered the first form of the press release.
What is A Press Release?
Press releases are official statements that present factual details about your products or services to the consumers and investors helping you earn credibility and trust. You can either select a paid PR site or submit free PR to the sites that do not charge any money to distribute your press release to various media outlets.
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They are written in a formal tone.
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They are more like news and not promotional at all.
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They are used to inform the target audience and media about the latest happenings within your company.
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Modern press releases are published online so they contribute to the boost in website traffic as well.
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The qualities of a perfect press release
The quality of your press release matters a lot in establishing a positive brand image in the eyes of the niche audience. A poorly-written PR will make a bad impression on your company in the market. Most business owners do not possess the knowledge to write a perfect PR that follows all the international standards. So, it is best to appoint a professional PR writer or agency to get a well-crafted and journalistic press release. Here are some tips to write a flawless PR for your brand:
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The press release must have a brief yet meaningful headline that conveys the primary message of the press release.
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The content must not be longer than a single page and have 4 to 5 paragraphs.
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You need to embed trendy keywords and links in the content to make it more SEO-friendly.
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There should be a separate paragraph for the relevant quotes from the important personnel within the company.
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You can add images, gifs, or infographics to make the PR more compelling to the audience.
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Last but not least, add a boilerplate copy at the end of the PR that includes all your contact details, website address, and social media links.
PR Distribution
After the PR writing, comes PR distribution, which is equally important. Finding multiple media outlets that are perfect for your press release is simple but getting them to publish your story is not. Journalists receive hundreds of press releases every day. They do not have the time to go through all of them. So they just read the headlines and choose the ones that interest them most. For guaranteed publication, you need to hire a professional PR distribution agency that promises publication on hundreds of major news and media outlets across the globe. There are two types of PR distribution: free and paid. Let’s talk about the advantages and disadvantages of both types to help you determine which one is perfect for you.
Advantages of Free PR Sites
There are many press release agencies out there that offer free PR services out there. Here are the benefits of a free PR service:
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No-cost benefit- Running a press release campaign can be expensive. And if you are a small business or a new startup, money is always tight. You cannot afford to spend a fortune on a PR campaign. You can save a great amount of money by hiring a reliable free press release service.
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Immense visibility- When you employ a free PR service, you may not get PR distribution to hundreds of media outlets but your PR will get published in a limited number of major media outlets. You can get massive online visibility and audience engagement in just a few days and achieve your marketing goals with ease.
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Sales- One of the objectives of press release distribution is to increase sales. It does not matter if the PR distribution service is free, it can easily get you the desired amount of online visibility and engagement resulting in massive traffic to your business website. The conversion rate is very high with press releases. You will be able to see an improvement in your overall sales after you release your PR.
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Reputation- Building a good reputation in the market is extremely essential to staying ahead of the competition. With journalistic PRs, you can easily become a reliable source of products or services to your consumers.
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Google News- They offer Google News inclusion, which can bring you a massive amount of online exposure from the right group of audience.
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A free trial- If you are new to the press release game and want to understand the power of PR without spending any money, you must go for a free PR service and see how much it can help your company.
Disadvantages of Free PR Sites
Free press release services do not always offer only benefits. There are several setbacks while using a free PR service. You need to know about them thoroughly to avoid failure.
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There are various free PR sites available in the market. But not all of them are ideal for you. You need to find the one that offers the services you require.
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Some free PR sites are filled with advertisements and spam. You must avoid them like plague.
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So sites offer attractive services but fail to provide what they promise most of the time. So, it is better to not fall for the ones that offer too-good-to-be-true deals.
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Most free PR services just publish your press release on their own site and not distribute them. So, make sure to check whether they offer distribution.
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Many free PR companies do not provide full reports or analytics on the PR campaign.
If you really want to employ a free PR service make sure to check their credibility before hiring them. Go through their reviews to know the experience of their previous clients. It is better to go for those sites that offer both paid and free services and have lots of positive reviews.
Advantages of Paid PR Sites
If you seriously want to make press releases a part of your marketing campaign, you also need to try paid press release distribution for the growth of your brand. Here are the top advantages of a paid PR service:
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Maximum ROI- Though you have to spend money on paid PR service, you will always get satisfying results in returns. The effect of the distribution will have a long-lasting impact earning you more profit in the future.
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Better distribution- Unlike free sites paid press release sites to submit their clients’ content to more than a hundred media outlets from all over the world. They not only submit but guarantee that they will get published on those said platforms and websites within a very short time.
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Offers reports- Getting analytics on your PR campaign is extremely valuable for your company’s future growth. Paid PR agencies offer a full report on the campaign as soon as it is finished to all their clients.
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SEO benefits- You need proper SEO backup to make your content rank higher in the SERPs. Paid PR companies make sure your SEO is on point and powerful enough to appear higher in the search results.
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Customer support- While most free PR services do not provide any support to the users, paid PR agencies always have 24x7 customer support that is always ready to help the clients with their issues and queries.
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Guaranteed results- With a paid press release you are bound to see improvement in your online visibility and audience engagement within days. They always complete the orders within the deadlines.
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Creates a better relationship with the media- Journalists always go through reputed PR agencies to find relevant news for their audience. So, a paid press release service can help your company to build a stronger relationship with journalists and media outlets.
Disadvantages of Paid PR Sites
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Most paid PR agencies are known for their efficiency. Still, some people have complaints against them:
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Some agencies charge too much and it is not affordable for most small to medium scale businesses.
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Some of them do not distribute to the right group of media outlets, which can be useless for the clients.
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Some paid services do not offer customization of the packages.
Free PR service will always have its limitations. You cannot expect to receive the same results as the paid ones without spending a single dollar. Whether paid or free, just make sure to hire a reputed agency to reach your marketing goals.
