Today, savvy marketing professionals understand that the primary audience for press releases is no longer just a handful of journalists. Your audience is millions of people with Internet connections and access to search engines and RSS readers.

Let the world know about your expertise

Every organization possesses individual expertise that has value in the new e-marketplace of ideas. The web has made it easy for organizations to publish that expertise in various forms, including press releases, which allows companies, institutions, and non-profits to function much like traditional publishers.

The new rules of press releases

• Don’t send press releases only when you have “big news”.
• Don’t think of your target as a handful of journalists; create press releases that appeal directly to your buyers.

• Fill your press releases with keyword-rich copy.

• Links releases to relevant landing pages on your website.
• Optimize press release delivery for searching and browsing.

Reach your buyers directly

In the past, the only way to get “published” was to have your press release “picked up” by the media. But that’s changing. Self-published press releases have moved into the mainstream and organizations large and small are reaping the rewards. As you make this fundamental shift, think about what press releases you could write. Big news is great, but you can’t always afford to wait for a new product release. Instead, simply write about anything your organization is doing, including:

• CEO speaking at a conference
• Winning an award
• Adding a product feature
• Winning a new customer
• Publishing a valuable white paper.

Bypass the media

To implement a successful press release strategy, you should start with a content strategy, carefully identifying and defining target audiences. Ask yourself: Who are my readers? How do I reach them? What are their motivations? What are the problems I can help them solve? How can I entertain them and inform them at the same time? What content will compel them to purchase what I have to offer?

Publish your press releases through a distribution service

The best way to publish press releases is to simultaneously post a release to your own website and send it to one of the press release wires. There are a number of options for wire distribution of press releases. The benefit of using a press release distribution service is that your release will be sent to the online news services such as Yahoo!, Google, Lycos, and many others. Many press release distribution services reach trade and industry websites as well, enabling you to reach hundreds of websites with a single press release. 

Use RSS feeds from online news sites to display content in near real-time

Many press release distribution services also offer RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds of their press releases, which they make available to other sites, blogs and individuals. As a result, each time you publish a press release, the press release can be seen by thousands of people who have subscribed to their RSS content feeds. Online news services such as Google News also have RSS feed capability, so each time your release includes a word or phrase of importance, people will receive your press releases directly and in near real-time.

Publish your press releases to your website

Post your press releases to an appropriate and readily findable section of your website, such as a media room, or newsroom section of your website. The press release should live for as long as the content is appropriate, perhaps for years. For many organizations, the press release section of the website is one of the most frequently visited parts of the site. You can check out your own website statistics to verify this.

Optimize your press releases

People use content to answer questions (through search engines), so organizations must optimize content to be found by searchers. This will attract people who are looking for what your organization has to offer. But people also browse press releases as they research topics. so you might consider organizing your press release section to allow multiple ways to browse. Links to releases based on buyer profile, by product, and by geography might prove useful. Researchers may also need to print them out to present research to others in their organization, so consider providing PDF formats in addition to HTML.

Pepper your press releases with links

Obviously, creating links from your press releases to content on your website is very important. These links, which might point to a specific offer or to a landing page with more information, enable your buyers to connect to specific website content on your site. Additionally, each time your press release is posted on another site, such as an online news site, the inbound link from the online news site to your website helps to increase the ranking of your site.

Focus on keywords and phrases

Too often, press release content simply describes what an organization or a product does. While simple information about your organization and products might be valuable to a subset of your buyers, what many really want from your site is content that first describes the issues and problems they face and then provides details on how to solve the problems. Particularly when your buyers search, they use the words and phrases important to them. Start by identifying the situations in which each target audience may find themselves. What are their problems? What keeps them awake at night? What do they want to know? What words and phrases do they use to describe these problems? Then let your press release provide the answers.

Avoid words like flexible, scalable, groundbreaking, industry standard, or cutting-edge, and other forms of jargon. Your buyers want to know which specific problems your product solves and proof that it works as promoted – in plain language.

Drive actions with quality content

An effective press release strategy, artfully executed, drives action. Companies that understand the new rules of press releases have a clearly defined goal – to sell products, generate leads, secure contributions, or get people to join – and deliver content that directly contributes to reaching that goal.

For many companies, web content also has a powerful, less tangible effect. On the best sites, content does more than just sell product – it directly contributes to an organization’s positive reputation by showing thought-leadership in the marketplace of ideas.

Many people view a well-executed series of press releases as highly influential. Press releases mean your company is “busy” and a lack of press releases can indicate that you are not moving forward. In the new world of marketing, consistently high quality press release content brands a company or a non-profit as an expert and as a trusted resource to turn to again and again.