In the digital age, far from being a decrepit practice, press releases are more valid than ever before. It would be easy to assume otherwise when the various social media devices available at your fingertips can see you spread your information worldwide in five minutes.
After all, what did you used to do with the obligatory press releases in the bad old days? Most editors sighed and spiked them. If you don’t know what that means, ask your friendly retired editor. Most PR companies used to churn them out and most editors never gave them a second glance. A lot of those PR companies went under when their clients saw a nil-return on their investment.
Press Releases: A Great lead
If the PR companies then did their homework and took the time to do the job properly and the editors and sub-editors saw press releases as a great lead, many would take the first few paragraphs and can the rest. Others, even better, would use it as a lead and write their own story. That meant the
client still got featured. The point here was that no-one wanted to use the same story that could appear as is in several publications. Makes sense.
Today, in the brave new world, with a myriad of communication methods at your disposal, press releases have gained new momentum. In promoting a company, there’s still a great deal to be said for the press release.
You can perhaps do a heading and blurb in a tweet, but that’s it, unless you follow Trump’s dot-dot-dot style over five tweets. Annoying!
The client’s website
You could do a lot more on a client’s online website, and that’s where the PR company still plays a huge role. In the news section, which the PR professionals update regularly, you can promote the company to your heart’s content. And the client will be delighted.
Press releases have now become an integral part of the client’s marketing campaign. They have become SEO tools that can push the agenda for investors, customers, potential customers, and employees and other target groups ignite their passion for what they are looking out for.
So, the point is that PR companies have become specific-focus entities that target the online invasion.
A print resurgence? I don’t think so.
Let’s face it, there are not busloads of print magazines or newspapers still around as most people read them online, so that’s not the focus anymore. As a side here: the print pundits swear blind that print is experiencing a resurgence. Really? I have yet to see much evidence of this.
Obviously, if there was a still market, ad revenue would have to support it. But that revenue has gone far away into the digital media sphere.
Using the online power-packed premise, the press release today announces news for a company, and this can be found immediately on all major search engines and social media networks using a press release distribution service. Companies can use as many releases as they want and now can include video and other multimedia as part of the service.
People need content more than ever before, and that’s exactly what’s being provided.
