The press release is one of the most powerful written tools for businesses that help to gain more visibility, exposure, and target audiences from the niche market. The content or the business announcement is distributed through a network of newswire and top media platforms which can help to establish the business with a long-lasting impact in the market. The idea of a free press release website is quite tempting as everybody likes freebie services there is nothing wrong with that.
However, the harsh reality is that “you get what you pay for” and when you pay absolutely nothing, you are never going to get impactful distribution results. A lot of business owners, individuals, and brands are thinking of the same thing why should they buy a Paid PR distribution package when they can easily get a free package instead? The answer is the same; the results. While you might think that you secured a good deal on a cheap budget, the package is already designed to offer you the least amount of benefits.
What Happens When You Buy a free PR Distribution Package?
Whether you buy a very cheap or free package for distribution, it is going offer you a very generic and nominal result which might not be effective at all. With a free PR service, your press release content might appear on 20 or more websites but these platforms are also owned by free or inexpensive distribution sites where it rarely gets indexed by the search engines. Therefore, the chances of reaching out to real human users are rare to none. This free distribution campaign can offer you zero results and yet, you will have nothing to claim or even blame as you are not spending any money at all which makes them liable. So, whatever you gain should be considered a gain even if it is negligible. The free PR services can be sometimes comprised of hidden costs that can push your overall budget.
Business Model for Free PR Distribution
At first glance, the business model might appear very simple where clients submit their PR content and the platform helps to distribute it around credible platforms for free of cost. But the underlying business model in this case is very complicated and comes with a web of upsells, limitations, and many compromises that you might not have realized. Sometimes it can prove to be more expensive than hiring a paid professional agency from the beginning if considering the aspects of time and approaches.
The fundamental issues of distribution start from the freemium model offered by the websites or the agencies. A free package is never designed to fulfill the needs of the businesses but to help them figure out the expertise and reliance of the company. However, it can be greatly helpful for testing the waters as you can know more about the campaign as well as the customer services and whether you can trust them. Free tier distribution often fails to offer desired results as it restricts applying the modern and effective methods in PR such as adding multimedia or visual engagement for the readers.
Cost-effectiveness of Free PR
The price of press release distribution fairly depends on the network it is being distributed through. The free PR services are free because they never to any major media outlet, reputed newswire, or even journalists. Therefore, the content never gets to reach target audiences and it ends up in the digital backwaters. Premium press release distribution packages can cost you somewhere around $99 to $399; and in exchange for that money, you will get a high-quality distribution through reputed newswire and media platforms. The paid packages offer guaranteed placements through industry-specific publications and reach out to niche journalists in the industry.
SEO Implications and Time-consuming
Since the free PR distribution services are comprised of a lot of restrictions, there are practically no SEO benefits and it does not help to improve search engine value. In the case of the free services, there are usually no optimization benefits and the minimal options cannot even guarantee the appearance on Google News and other platforms. As a result, the free services can affect the marketing value in the long run and it create obstacles on the path of ranking higher on the search engine result pages (SERP).
Time investment can be considered one of the greatest factors that make free PR services more expensive as you have to lose more than you invest. The time expenditure in this case is actually a substantial hidden cost. The free services can also require a lot of manual effort and hours of time daily in order to create a highly successful campaign. A paid service is more likely to offer quick and efficient results as they know time is money. Showing utmost professionalism and care; the professional tries to get the over the campaign for both as it is beneficial in this case.
Using free PR can also reduce visibility as it is unable to reach target audiences. So, if you are making some important business announcements, you should definitely opt for paid services that can help to spread that news to the targeted audiences. A proper press release campaign strategy should be embarked on to get the effective results but even after creating a strategy a free PR might not follow the path according to your plan.
Paid Press Release Services: Key Benefits
When you start looking beyond just the price tag, you will realize that paid press release distribution is actually more effective and cost-effective than Free PR services due to its wide array of beneficial features. A paid press release service can offer you the following benefits,
- Get guaranteed placements on the reputed and top-tier new sites
- Find access to industry-specific media outlets
- Professional optimization and editing tools
- Find comprehensive analytical reports
- Multimedia integration capabilities
- Targeted distribution to journalists from the niche
How to Look beyond the Price Tag of a Press Release Package?
The price of the press release distribution package depends on a lot of factors and before you hire any of the professional press release agencies, you should take a better look at it.
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The Distribution Network
Make sure to take a good look at the distribution network of the agency to make sure they also cater to your niche industry. Are they providing guaranteed placements? Are there enough new media platforms that can help to reach target audiences? Do they work with potential journalists from the field? Finding answers to these questions can help you make better choices.
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SEO Optimization Benefits
The professional agencies are supposed to offer SEO benefits as it is one of the integral parts of PR distribution. They follow the modern search engine optimization techniques to make sure clients can get maximum media exposure from the market. Whether it is multimedia addition, link embeds or sharing through social media; they can follow unique strategies that makes your campaign more powerful and fruitful with effective results.
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Diversified Packages
Check out the PR distribution packages offered by the company based on each category. Starting from the beginner’s packages to the premium packages, you should check their price and the features to find a suitable one for yourself. You can also opt for custom distribution packages that cater to your unique needs based on your industry and the competitive business landscape. There should be different package benefits for the cases of single and even for bulk orders. Although all of the packages are paid in this case, they can also appear cost-effective based on the handful of benefits offered.
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Active Customer Service
No matter which company you are looking forward to hiring, active customer service is required in all cases. With 24*7 active customer service, you can contact the professionals at any hour of the day. You can easily convey your queries and ask them for quick resolutions or even show reports and screenshots of to campaign. Customer service stands for transparency and professionalism and you should not hire an agency that lacks these basic needs.
Based on the aforementioned factors, you can opt for a paid presence agency that is suitable for your business and cater to your unique PR needs. However, if you are still tight at budget; it is recommended to write a press release of your won and then pitch it to the journalists who can help you save money while fulfilling your purpose.
Should You Opt. for a Free PR Service?
Opting for a free press release service might not bring any good to your business but it can help to test waters before hiring an agency. While it helps to gauge expertise of the agency, it can be also used for pay-per-click advertisement which offers subtle exposure. Since they cost absolutely nothing, you can give it a try. But it is always recommended to purchase paid package that can provide long-lasting results.
