Few things are more important for small businesses than optimizing press release distributions and getting the best press coverage. The saying goes that any press is good press — whether or not you agree, it’s obvious that exposure is vital for finding clients.
Here at ScottHall.co, we have been using press releases to increase our reach and bring brand awareness to the company. Read more to discover why you need to start implementing a press release strategy to get more media attention for your business.
Why Do You Need Press Releases?
What better way to find the right people in the right place than turning to local newspapers, TV channels, and radio stations for help with your press? Unfortunately, many businesses are in the dark about how exactly to approach these mediums.
It’s time to get out of the confusion zone and out there attracting business. Here’s an overview of the top tools available and how to use them.
Whether you have a PR budget worth hundreds of dollars or you’re just looking for some free tools to make your life easier, one of the services below should fit the bill.
Newswire
Seeing your business’s name in the media is a dream for most owners, but getting to that point is a mystery for many. The world of the press can feel like an exclusive member’s club. How do you find the right contacts and approach publications?
If this sounds like you all over, you’ll be pleased to know there are services to take the tricky process out of your hands.
Newswire already has relationships with journalists and knows how to send them pitches effectively, so they stand a far better chance of getting you featured in the press.
It’s a press distribution service, meaning Newswire crafts a press release for you and sends it out to its network. Although placement isn’t a guarantee, the chance of a feature is much higher than if you tried to do everything independently.
DigitalMediaROI
If you’d like to go the extra mile, you could also consider DigitalMediaROI. Like Newswire, it focuses on press release distribution, but with an added touch.
DigitalMediaROI uses artificial intelligence to craft articles and other media content for your business — but don’t worry, they use real humans to handling the writing.
The service then distributes your press releases to its network, including big-name broadcasters like USAToday.
Another advantage over Newswire is that it also distributes your content to media sites such as YouTube, social media, Google News, and SlideShare.
DigitalMediaROI guarantees you Google 3-Pack rankings for your business content and distribution by establishing your process across multiple channels.
eReleases
In case you want more options to consider, eReleases is another high-quality press release distribution service.
Sign up and the team will send your press release to hand-picked journalists in relevant sectors or the right location.
As well as local media outlets, the network includes national press like Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal.
It doesn’t come cheap — the basic package is $299 — but you get what you pay for thanks to the impressive contact list of eReleases.
AnswerThePublic
To create relevant content and stories that are likely to get picked up by journalists, you need to pick the right topic. Although you can try to achieve this through trial and error, a far better strategy is to use a tool like AnswerThePublic.
Simply enter in a few keywords relevant to your business or industry, and you can see the questions people are searching for online — letting you literally answer the public.
For example, if your keyword is “law firm,” you might find that many people are searching for “how to choose a law firm.”
SEMRush
One of the drawbacks of AnswerThePublic is that it only tells you about queries on a national level; that’s where SEMRush comes in. It’s a keyword research tool that lets you analyze which keywords are searched for locally — and it’s also completely free.
Grammarly
Grammarly provides leading grammar-checking software to improve your writing skills. If you’re an educated individual and pride yourself on having a decent grasp of spelling and grammar, you might be insulted at the mere suggestion that you need help in this sphere — but listen up.
Humans aren’t perfect. No matter how well you know your grammar, there’s no guarantee you won’t miss out on a glaring error and make yourself look silly.
Why take the risk? Grammarly has a free version to spot basic grammar and spelling mistakes, plus a premium version to clean up your writing and minimize fluff.
Fiverr
Most small businesses don’t have a dedicated media team and staff trained specific tasks related to press coverage, like writing pitches for journalists. Luckily, it’s no longer necessary to have an employee — instead, you can outsource the work to a freelancing site like Fiverr.
Whatever your budget is, you can probably find a freelancer willing to offer services for that cost. Prices start at $5, after all! But beware, you get what you pay for.
Press Coverage FAQs
Even after you’ve signed up for all the right tools and services, it might not be plain sailing. Getting press coverage is no easy task! Here are a few common questions that small businesses have regarding the process.
Getting media coverage for an event works in exactly the same way as getting coverage for any other news story you might have. You can either reach out to media platforms yourself or use a press release distribution service like DigitalMediaROI to help you obtain coverage.
Although you might pay a third party to help you get press coverage, no respectable journalist would accept payment for coverage. This would erode the integrity of the press! If anyone offers to give you coverage for a fee, it should be an immediate red flag.
Time to go get that press coverage!
The importance of this local coverage really can’t be overstated. Not only can you generate leads by getting people who live in the local area to read or hear about your business, you can also begin to build up authority by growing your digital presence.
The ball is in your court now — time to start creating that pitch for your local newspaper or contacting that press release distribution service to help you.
