The main aim of a press release is to get your company noticed in the media, but how else can you use it to your advantage?
Here are PR Fire’s 10 tips to make your press release go further.
1. Repurpose into a blog post
An easy way to get more out of your press releases is to post it on your company’s website blog. However, do not copy and paste your press release word-for-word onto your blog, as this means that your website will fall foul of ‘duplicate content’, which will affect your site’s domain authority and ranking on Google.
A simple way to avoid duplicating the content is to change the press release into the first person. For example ‘the company has recruited’ can be changed to ‘we have recruited’ or ‘[company name] MD said’ can be amended to ‘Our MD said’.
If you have a company newsletter, the content from your press releases is ideally suited to make up some of your newsletter content. If the story is a big deal for your business, you could even send out an email to your audience about the press release itself.
If you’ve got a great story to tell, your social media platforms are the perfect place to share it. You could even turn the content into several posts – perhaps one announcing the story, a second one incorporating a quote from your spokesperson and a third post sharing some of the coverage you have received from the press release.
4. Use the content for video
Although it is time-consuming to produce, video content is very engaging and will pique the interest of your audience. It could be as simple as a sit-down chat with your CEO talking about the subject of your press release. For example, if you have launched a new product, the video could be about your CEO introducing it, explaining more about it and why your customers should care about it.
5. Write a follow-up blog
Depending on the subject of your press release, there may be an opportunity to write a follow-up blog about the story. For example, if your company has opened a new premises, you could do a ‘one month since launch’ blog which explains the success since the grand opening. This prolongs the content and gives the story an added boost after the initial noise has died down.
6. Turn the story into an ad
If you have the budget to do it, consider turning your press release into content for a native ad or sponsored content. Native ads match the look of the websites they appear on to avoid disrupting the user experience.
If you have agreements for ad placements, use your allowance to place an ad at the same time as you plan to distribute the press release to create maximum exposure.
7. Use it for sponsored/paid-for content
If you have a paid-for editorial space in an industry publication, you might sometimes struggle to think of the content you want to write about when it gets close to the deadline.
A recent press release is an ideal base to work with – as with blog writing, duplicating the content is not a good idea but, depending on the word count you are working with, you can use it as an opportunity to expand on the content from the press release.
If the deadline for the publication is around the same time as the press release is going to be issued, pre-empt this by preparing some copy beforehand so that the latest issue of the publication featuring the story comes out at the same time as the coverage of your press release.
8. Send it to your clients
You can use your press release as a sales tool – it’s showing what a great business you are so why not shout about it to your existing clients?
You can distribute the release to your team via an internal email and encourage them to share the release with their clients or prospective clients. If a potential client is close to agreeing to work with you, reading a great story about your business might be what persuades them to say yes.
9. Add internal links on your website
If your website has an About Us section, add some content which includes a link to the press release highlighting the great work you’re doing. Not only will this boost your own SEO, it will also provide a great example to people reading about your business of why they should work with you.
Every company can write an About Us section which claims they are growing, successful or good to work with, but press releases demonstrating that are worth much more.
Posting on your personal LinkedIn page is often something that people never get around to, or say they want to do but never know what they want to say.
Drawing attention to a great story relating to your business is the ideal type of content for LinkedIn – it not only showcases your business in a positive light, but also boosts your individual reputation as someone who is working within a company that is doing exciting things.
Need help with writing a press release? Get your press release written for you by our skilled team by choosing our Write & Distribute option on our online ordering system.
