How To Use Press Releases In 2020

Press releases are a useful means of communicating with journalists and growing your business’s reach, but they are often undervalued and underused by many organisations.

There is even some debate as to whether, in today’s digital and social-media-driven age, press releases are actually still relevant.

The answer is, unequivocally, yes. They are useful for a wide variety of reasons, as I’m going to outline in this article.

To Build Brand Recognition

One of the main reasons any website shares regular content is to grow its brand authority and get internet users to recognise its name.

Press releases achieve the same result, as they will allow you to reach out to a wide range of readers, not just followers of your site and people who search for keywords related to your chosen topic.

You’ll also get noticed by the readers of publications across the internet, as journalists will use your press release to create their articles.

As a result, you’ll be able to grow your brand and boost its authority if you regularly share press releases.

To Release Stories Into The Media

Media outlets are always exploring new companies and including details of the latest developments in their stories, but if they don’t have full details, then journalists will often not seek them out and will just use another company that has provided press releases and full story details instead.

That’s because they’re incredibly busy and often have tight deadlines. By sending out press releases using popular press release platforms, you’ll be able to get your content sent directly to the inboxes of many of the most respected journalists out there right now.

With your content ready in an email folder, these busy journalists can quickly and easily access it and add details of your new developments to their articles. The information you give them will add extra insight to their articles and justify any claims they may be making about the condition of your market, so press releases benefit both businesses and journalists alike.

Some blogs and media outlets like radio stations often share complete press releases on their websites, meaning that you’ll be able to get the entire story out there in the way you want it presented.

They will usually include a link to the press release hosting site and your website, which will give you extra backlinks and should indicate to search engine algorithms that the content was from a release, and not just plagiarised.

To Build Relationships With Journalists

As well as using press releases to quickly find extra information for articles, journalists often seek out bespoke quotes to make their content unique and respected.

Press releases include contact details at the bottom, so journalists can easily reach out for more information or a custom quote for their article.

If they don’t know how to get in touch with an expert from your firm, or that your firm even has a relevant expert who could help them, then they will use a quote from another company, probably one of your competitors.

As a result, press releases can help you to bridge the communication gap between your company and journalists.

If you’re sending out regular press releases, then journalists may also start to use your information regularly, meaning that you can build a relationship with their readers as well.

To Create A Dialogue Between Your Company And Its Customers

It’s not just journalists and readers of online magazines or blogs that are going to read your press release; if you host it in the news section of your website, then your customers will also see it.

By sharing your press release on your website, you’ll be able to keep your customers up to date with the latest developments in your organisation.

Additionally, you’ll be able to show them that your company is more than just a corporate entity: it’s also an organisation peopled by staff who are constantly evolving and adapting to new developments and changing situations.

In trying times, such as the ones we’re in now, you’ll be able to offer your customers the reassurance that your company is still able to offer them the support they want.

Press releases can also form the basis of your blog posts, as you will already have all of the details written down and ready to convert into an engaging and informative post. Make sure that you change the wording so that you do not post too much duplicate content, which search engines do not appreciate and may penalise your site for.

For Link Building

Link building is a vital part of any website’s SEO strategy, as it shows search engines like Google that your website is trustworthy and relevant.

It can take a lot of hard work and commitment to build high-quality links to relevant websites organically, which is why press releases are an ideal time-saving solution.

Press releases usually contain links to various parts of the issuing company’s website, which journalists will link to so that they can show the relevance of the information they’re providing to their readers.

Each press release might be used dozens of times by a wide range of online publications, blogs and other outlets, meaning that you could potentially get many backlinks from a single release.

All of these backlinks will be seen by search engine algorithms when they trawl the internet searching for relevant websites to provide to people who are doing searches about your chosen topic.

The more links from relevant, high-quality websites that your site has, the more trustworthy these algorithms will think it is, and as such you can boost your rankings and grow your online presence easily when you include regular press releases in your SEO strategy.

Conclusion

When done well, press releases can be a valuable tool for your business and its online presence. By creating a template, you can save yourself time and effort. You can also find a variety of pre-made press release templates online if you don’t want to make one yourself.

By sharing regular press releases, your business can achieve all of the above benefits and more.

About Author: Hannah Stevenson is the Content Marketing Manager at UK Linkology. As former journalist, blogger and experienced copywriter, she has sent and received many press releases over the years and understands how companies can make the most of this often-underrated solution.