The Importance of press releases for online marketing

The importance of Press releases

Press releases are one of the best forms of promotion for several reasons.

1. Press releases are extremely cost effective as compared to print advertising. Definitely more bang for the buck. You can have releases forwarded to hundreds of newspapers (weekly and daily) for $30.00 and up.
   
   
2. Press releases have a high credibility (believability) factor as compared to advertising. Most people interpret a press release as a current news event.
   
   
3. An effective press release can generate tons of free publicity for your business,      product, or service. But it can also increase your search engine visibility, the fact of being visible in the search engines for keywords related to your brand.
   
   

4.    News releases that include links to your product offering or web site can potentially increase your search engine visibility. And the higher your message appears in the search results for related search queries—the more referral business you will generate from the internet.

5.    All the major search engines - including Google, Yahoo Search, MSN , Ask Jeeves and more,  typically pickup newsworthy press releases in their search results.

Why would a newspaper print my press release?

Answer: Newspapers and editors/writers are always looking for good content. If your press release is newsworthy-it stands a very good chance of getting printed.

Is there a specific format for press releases?  Answer: Yes there is.

Basic Guidelines

1. When writing your press release use the inverted pyramid format, placing less important information further down in the release.
   
   
2. Structure your press release in block format by not indenting your paragraphs.
   
   
3. Review your press release and make sure it does not sound like an essay or an advertisement; it should be informative but appealing.
    
4. Keep your press release within 500 words; this should be enough to cover your news event and prompt people to take action.
   
   
5. Proofread your press release more than once. Step away after you are done writing and come back with a fresh set of eyes.

Sample Press Release Format

Headline
Create an active and descriptive headline that will capture the reader's attention. The headline should appeal to journalists as newsworthy.

Summary
Write a summary of your press release that helps clarify the headline, and describes what the press release is about.

* While not all press releases have a summary, if you are distributing your press release to PR Leap it must include a summary.

Press release Body (Answer the Where, When, Who, and What)

Lead Paragraph
City, State - Month Day, Year - Organization Name - Answer the "what" in the rest of this paragraph.

Include Quotes
After the first paragraph of the body it is a good idea to include at least one quote from an executive that discusses why this is an important news event. Add credibility to your press release; identify the people you quote using their title, and company name in addition to their name.

Answer the Why and the How
The second paragraph of the body should connect the first paragraph to more detailed information about the "why" and the "how" of the news event.

Additional paragraphs should contain supporting information, industry statistics, and quotes.

Call to Action
The last paragraph is where you can make a call to action. This is your opportunity to prompt your target audience to do something. It can be as simple as "To contact the author please go http://www.yoursite.com/

At the very bottom on the left use this ### (three number signs) to denote where the press release ends.

Corporate Summary
Include a short summary about your organization.

Contact Information
Include the contact information of a person the media can follow up with. (Name, Company Name, Phone Number, E-mail Address, Company URL)