When was the last time you sent out a press release about your business or products? Do you even have a Media page on your website? Do you think there’s any value to sending out press releases about your business?
While I don’t know about your opinion concerning marketing to the media, I can tell you from my own experience that sending out press releases on a regular basis has helped launch my business and played a vital role in growing it into a multi-million dollar success.
Regularly writing and sending out press releases gave my products millions of dollars worth of advertising for free, provided outstanding third-party endorsements, squashed the competition, created a ton of sales leads… and positioned my products in the eyes of my prospects. I’ve used the power of publicity to successfully promote all kinds of products and services in more industries than I can count.
Now if you’re thinking that planning and carrying out a publicity campaign to the media has to be time-consuming and difficult, think again. It’s actually easier than most people think. After all, there are hundreds of consumer and trade magazines, newspapers, TV and radio stations, and websites out there starving for content. If you can provide content that’s worth reading, you won’t have any trouble getting your releases published.
Before you start sending out your releases, take some time to research the TV or radio stations, websites, newspapers and magazines on your target list. Make sure your release will be of interest to their audiences.
And before I go any further, I want to make a subtle but important distinction here. For the purposes of this article, when I refer to a press release or media release, I’m referring to basically the same thing. If you want to get nit-picky, a “press release” is sent to print publications (magazines and newspapers), whereas a media release is sent to TV, radio, and Internet sites. For the purposes of this article, though, they’re pretty much interchangeable.
More Options Than Ever
Not too long ago, if you wanted to benefit from sending out press releases you had to identify media outlets, and then attempt to get an overworked and underpaid reporter or editor to pick up your story. It was a long and arduous process.
Even if you hired a PR firm, you still were left trying to target journalists and media outlets to run with your releases. Fortunately, today you can benefit from online media sources that post and distribute your releases to millions instantly.
It’s important to note that not all of the rules have changed for getting free publicity.The benefits remain virtually the same. You’re leveraging the resources of other media sources to reach prospects for much less money than advertising.
The main difference between “the good old days” and now is that back then you had little to no control over which releases were selected and how much of the release actually got published. Now, thanks to online PR services, your press release automatically becomes web content, which means it has a much better chance at automatically becoming news, and more importantly, helping prospects find you or your website.
Before you start writing your releases, create a publicity plan. Develop a clear understanding of your target audience. Who are they? Are they consumers or trade professionals? What do they need? What magazines or newspapers or websites do they read? Try to define their demographics and lifestyle using your current customer database.
Next, make a list of your core messages and ideas. For example the problems, solutions, and topics related to your products and services. What problems can you help customers solve? Why should they care? How can you entertain and inform them at the same time?
As an example, recently my company launched a new membership site called ProfitRichMarketing.com membership site. It’s a website that’s focused on all things related to marketing to help our clients grow their businesses. We wanted to drive traffic, generate leads, gain subscribers and get higher rankings in the search engines so that our prospects could find us when they are searching for specific keyword terms.
We started the process by creating a publicity plan and answering the same questions I posed a little earlier. Our goal was to reach business owners, marketing directors, entrepreneurs, sales people and anyone else who wanted to learn how to promote and use marketing methods effectively.
We knew that our prospects weren’t searching to join a content membership site, but that they would be searching for solutions, for tips, tactics, strategies and techniques related to understanding marketing, sales, promotion and publicity.
So we created press releases and articles that were newsworthy (not self-promoting “commercials”), and filled them with keyword-rich search terms. We included hyperlinks back to us, and even a tagline about our company.
We published our media releases on our own websites and we sent them to various press release distribution services. I’m sure you understand the concept of posting it to your site… just get your webmaster to create a section on your site with clear navigation and links with the keywords, titles and topics of your press releases.
There are basically two types of press release distribution services available to you. The first type is distribution services that specialize in getting your press releases out to lots of different Internet sites. This helps you reach thousands of people almost instantly because listings get automatically sent to Google News, Yahoo News and others.
Your search engine rankings improve too when you include hyperlinks back to your site from your releases because in-bound links are a weighted component of the search-engine rankings algorithms.
The other type of distribution service focuses on getting your release into the hands of media decision-makers. While some distribution services claim to do both, usually you’ll have to use more than one service and track the results. I don’t endorse any particular service, but you can find several on Google or Yahoo just by searching for “News Release Services.”
Remember, editors aren’t interested in helping you make money or driving traffic to your site. They’re looking for a story that will sell issues or boost subscriptions. Maintain a media database of your contacts as you go along.
The real benefit isn’t just when your stories or articles get published, but when you get copies of all media features and use them to beef up your other marketing efforts.
To find out how much this kind of free publicity is worth, ask your contact what the comparable cost in paid advertising would have been in air time, column inches, etc., and multiply that amount by three (because of credibility) to reach an estimated value of your publicity. When you do this, you’ll see how that “free publicity” can suddenly be worth millions!
These days effective marketing that delivers prospects needs to include Internet Marketing and traditional marketing aspects. Separaretly, a website, social media campaign or direct mail program may not be sufficient to get you the traffic you desire, but used together in a planned attack these marketing tools are unbeatable.
The Online Aspect
Second only to the actual copy you write for your website, having an easy-to-navigate layout and attractive design is critically important. I always recommend that clients take enough time to think about how they want their website to function and “look.” Only with an easy-to-navigate design and solid marketing copy will your prospects “see” your entire marketing message.
I also recommend to my clients that they start out with a thumbnail sketch of their ideal website. The benefits of this approach are that it is fast and that captures the “feel” they want for their site. Even if you’re a skilled graphic designer and love using your computer, you’ll still get more benefit from creating a rough sketch first. If you’re the person in charge of the project, but not the person who will actually create the design, a thumbnail will also help make sure that your designer understands your overall vision.
After you have a rough sketch of your entire site, it’s time to start creating mock pages. As you progress, keep in mind the “visual syntax”—that’s a fancy term that simply means the visual order of the elements on each page. Just like words and language have an accepted order, so does design. Scientific studies have shown that if you hand out a flyer to a group of people, most of those people will read it in roughly in a “Z” pattern that goes from the top left to right, then down to the bottom of the page, again reading it from left to right.
The way your designer arranges the elements on a page (photos, the size of the text, the font styles, graphics, illustrations, colors, boxes, lines, etc.) determines its visual syntax. If they don’t follow the “Z” pattern of most readers, you could easily end up with a confusing design with misplaced elements that leave readers confused and your message completely lost.
Confused visual syntax is the biggest issue I see with typical ad agencies and especially with in-house desktop publishers. Remember, pictures attract attention, but prospects still have to be able to read and follow the flow of your copy to do what you want them to do!
Once your visual syntax is in place, you need to focus on the message itself. The content of your website—and all of your marketing materials—needs to evoke a feeling of strong emotion in your prospects. When done right, prospects should finish reading your words thinking “I want that product!” “I need that product!” and “I need it right now!”
After visual syntax and emotion-driven content, there are a few other “musts” to keep in mind. Even if you’ve already got a website up and running, why not take a couple minutes to review this list and then see how your site compares?
Include a tracking element . A tracking element is a unique code that tells you where prospects are coming from. It can be a special telephone extension, a person’s name, etc.—anything that helps you measure the response to your marketing pieces and tells you where the traffic is coming from. Tracking is essential if you want to test your piece’s success.
Check your work. Just like when you were in school, spelling and grammar counts. In fact, since an embarrassing typo or poor grammar on your website can actually turn customers away, it’s even more important because it’s costing you money! Save yourself the agony and embarrassment and double (or even triple!) check everything for completeness and accuracy. A website with a six-digit phone number or the address of a previous location won’t generate sales, but it might cost you some.
Don’t forget the basics. Customers don’t buy products, they buy solutions. They have needs, and are willing to pay you to have those needs fulfilled. The most-successful marketers know that solution-based content is king; it helps your visitors—and the all-important search engines!—find you. Make sure to have redundant and clear navigation throughout your site. Use titles, keywords, alt tags and meta tags on every single page.
Be sure to include sections that cater to specific audiences, such as retail, wholesale, etc. Interactivity is a great way to get prospects involved in your site, so include something for your visitors to do–fill in a form, take a survey, watch a product demo, etc. And make sure every page on your site includes a clear and specific action step that tells prospects exactly what it is you want them to do—buy a bedliner, sign up for your ezine, or ‘click here’ for special online savings.
Don’t Stop With Your Website
Even the best, most incredible website in the world can’t reach its full potential without the consistent and coordinated support of your other marketing methods (sales letters, brochures, direct-mail pieces, and p.o.p displays, advertisements, etc.). These have been around a long time because they work, and when well thought out and designed to support your website efforts, traditional marketing methods will help you connect with more customers, more effectively. Following are some tips for your traditional marketing tools.
Sales letters. Write the letter straight through, in a “conversational” style, then go back and edit it later. Alternate short and long paragraphs to satisfy both kinds of prospects—those who take the time to actually read your entire piece, and those who just scan it. Letters should be as long as necessary to get your prospect to take the desired action. Include a post script (P.S.) restating the main benefits or specific call to action.
Brochures. Use color! In most cases it improves response. Be sure that your message draws the reader in, and flows like a fireman’s “bucket brigade,” logically transitioning from one paragraph to the next. When designing a brochure, don’t forget its visual syntax. Write meaningful, informative captions that call for action—don’t just label them with people’s names or product names. Put your complete contact info and action steps on the inside and the outside (front/back).
Direct-mail pieces. Direct-mail marketing campaigns are only as good as your mailing list. After a current and accurate mailing list, the next most important element is the envelope you’re going to send it out in. If your direct-mail piece doesn’t get opened or delivered to the proper person, it doesn’t matter how wonderful the offer is… it’s still going in the trash. Test various envelope sizes and colors to see which get the best response (stay away from red envelopes, as post office scanners and sorters often have trouble with them). Make it clear why prospects should respond and use action steps to tell them exactly how to do it.
For maximum effectiveness, make sure your marketing campaigns are coordinated and multi-layered. Yes, a website is critical, but just having a site isn’t enough these days. Yours must have a visitor-friendly design, easy-to-use navigation and interesting copy. Once you’ve got the look and function you want, continue to support your online marketing efforts with tried-and-true traditional marketing methods such as sales letters, direct mailings, and brochures to make sure you’ve got all the bases covered.
Are you taking full advantage of the free publicity available to you? When was the last time YOU sent out a press release? What’s YOUR opinion of media releases? Do you have a media section (or page) on your website?
I’ve harnessed the power of publicity to promote all kinds of products and services in more industries than I can count. I still use publicity efforts to promote my Direct and Internet Marketing services, along with campaigns to promote my clients’ products (and that has lead to millions in sales each year).
Putting free publicity to work as part of your marketing campaign is much easier than most people think. Why? Because there are thousands of print and online magazines out there starving for content. There are millions of Internet sites craving for new content too.
Always keep an eye on your Keyword Placement and Keyword Density on the body of your web pages. Try to think of specific “keyword phrases” and not just “keywords.” Why? Due to the extreme amount of competition for general terms in the search engines, if your keyword phrases are too general it’s very unlikely you (or your site) will rank high in the search engines.
You stand a far better chance to rank well with specific keyword phrases where there’s much less competition. The resulting traffic–because it is more highly targeted–should also be a much higher quality too.
Think about your last big purchase. Did you use the Internet, either for researching a product or to buy something? What was the last thing you purchased from a website?
What are your favorite websites—and why? Make a list of the top five that you visit and once you’re finished reading this blog, go visit them again and evaluate them through the mind of an “Internet Marketer.”
As a marketer, being able to get inside the mind of your prospects is critical. You need to understand the behaviors and habits of your prospects (what do they buy, how do they buy, what factors influence their buying decision, etc.).
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Are you taking full advantage of the free publicity available to you? When was the last time YOU sent out a press release? What’s YOUR opinion of media releases? Do you have a media section (or page) on your website?
Always keep an eye on your Keyword Placement and Keyword Density on the body of your web pages. Try to think of specific “keyword phrases” and not just “keywords.” Why? Due to the extreme amount of competition for general terms in the search engines, if your keyword phrases are too general it’s very unlikely you (or your site) will rank high in the search engines.
Think about your last big purchase. Did you use the Internet, either for researching a product or to buy something? What was the last thing you purchased from a website?