Business Buzz - Making You Famous

Much has been written on this blog about Press Releases, Content Marketing, SEO, Analytics, and related Public  Relations tools and tactics.  Well, here’s some more if you didn’t get it the first time. This Utah PR firm believes in the press release–still! Yes, we admit it. Twitterville, the New Rules of Marketing and PR and other new prophets of profit would have you believe that traditional PR tactics, like press releases, is old school, less effective than newer cousins.

Well, it “ain’t” dead by a long shot. Yes, public relations has evolved. Yes, social media on blogging and a dozen other market moving waves turn PR on it’s head. Yet, we maintain smart companies still us Press Releases frequently.  Here’s part of the answer why.

Savvy marketers play multiple tools in concert to drive/entice/persuade traffic to a desired result. The search engine optimized (SEO) press release posted on a great wire service places road signs all around the Internet, directing traffic to your stuff. How cool is that! And, new search rules reward real, relevant content on any subject. This includes not only website content and blogging, but also press releases.

In Ragan’s PR Daily, Brian Adams eloquently made the case for the lowly press release. Here’s an excerpt.

“But what about the press release?

I’m not even sure what people are talking about anymore when they mention “the press release.” When I started in PR we had “the release.” It was a formal document with a set structure. I was taught that it had a header, a subhead, a first paragraph that restated the header and subhead, an agency quote, some overview text, maybe a supportive quote, and a wrap up. You also can’t forget the all-important boilerplate. God I hate boilerplates. Informative? Yes. Useful? No.

Then I learned about the “media alert” and “the statement.” I loved their get-to-the-point format and ease of approval. Then there was the “teaser” to move the interested to your online pressroom for the full release. Before long the teaser led to online photo albums and video.

Throughout it all, the press release survives as if without it there would be no record of an event, product launch, or corporate opinion. Yet I love the press release. It serves a purpose—a defined existence that has outlasted the news it bestows upon its audience.

So what about its death?

It’s a tool. In the right hands and in the appropriate situation it can help your cause. Just like your other tools, the press release’s function depends on you, the writer. So can we drop this discussion once and for all? Either write press releases or don’t.”

Well, Brian, we Do write awesome press releases for our clients with strategic vision borne over a decade of raising clients to the Inc 500.  An,d we suggest others take note.