The press release is ready for distribution and it’s precisely at this part that you’re stumped!
While there is no shortage of mediums and methods for publishing your press release online, it’s a challenge to promote it among the sea of other PR materials.
How To Promote Your Press Release Online
So how do you do it? What are the best solutions to ensure you get your online press release to as many eyes as possible?
This guide will show you how to promote your press release online and increase your readership.
Here’s what you need to know about press release distribution:
1. Reach Out to Media Outlets
Your first step should be to reach out to online media outlets that specialize in publishing press releases. This can also include digital versions of popular newspapers such as The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal.
It’s at this time that you or your company should start working on building your media list. In this list, you’ll include the following information:
- Name of the Publication
- Direct Contact Name
- Usually a PR Manager
- Email Address or Press Release Submission Link
- Submission Rules
- Audience Information
- Size, demographics, industry, etc.
As you build your media list you’ll know which media outlets to contact for future press releases. In the beginning, send your press release to as many relevant publications as possible.
Later, you can fine-tune your distribution method to only working with media outlets that have published your press releases before. You can also be more selective with the type/quality of media outlet to work with.
2. Self-Publish Your Press Release
While this wasn’t always standard practice in the “older” days of Public Relations, you can now publish your press release on your website. This can be done in addition to or instead of publishing via media outlets.
You want to either publish it directly on your website or via a publishing platform. If you choose the former, ensure that you have a great web development team who can make your press release look neat and readable online.
If you publish it via a publishing platform, then you can choose whichever platform(s) that you find easy to use and ideal for presentation.
A few publishing platforms that you might wish to consider are:
- Medium
- Substack
- Teletype
- Telegraph
- Ghost
- WordPress
This is the fastest way to publish your press release and share it with your audience. These platforms have been used primarily for blogging but they can work just as well for publishing press releases.
3. Distribute It Using a Press Release Distribution Service
Yes, you can distribute your press release yourself, but by doing so you will probably miss a large number of media outlets that would have run your story, if only they received it. Press release distribution services solve that!
Using a press release distribution service is a powerful way to amplify the reach of your news and gain exposure to a wider audience. Among the various options available, eReleases stands out as the recommended service for its comprehensive distribution network and industry-specific targeting capabilities.
Once your press release is ready, eReleases offers a range of distribution options to tailor your outreach. You can select specific geographic areas, from local to national, and choose industry categories that align with your news. eReleases also provides additional features like multimedia inclusion and social media distribution, which can enhance the visibility and engagement of your release.
After submitting your press release to eReleases, take advantage of their editorial review process to ensure the quality of your content. Once distributed, eReleases provides real-time reports on where your release has been picked up, allowing you to monitor its initial spread. These reports are invaluable for tracking the performance of your release and identifying which outlets are giving you the most valuable coverage. eReleases also offers analytics tools to help you measure views, engagement, and other key metrics, providing insights that can inform your future PR strategies.
Complement your eReleases distribution with the other strategies discussed here. By effectively leveraging eReleases in conjunction with other promotion strategies, you can maximize the impact of your press release, increase the likelihood of media coverage, and ultimately achieve your public relations objectives.
4. Sharing Via Social Media
Of course, social media marketing is the best way to promote your press release once you’ve published it online.
But rather than just mindlessly tweeting a link to your press release or sharing an image of the press release on Instagram, you must have a cohesive marketing strategy.
Let’s look at a few quick strategies for promoting your press release via a few social media platforms:
You should first publish your press release in its entirety on LinkedIn. If the press release represents you, then you can publish it on your personal profile. Otherwise, publish it as part of your company’s profile page.
Once you’ve published your press release via LinkedIn, then you want to share it with your network. The publication will get shared by default, however, you want to reach out via direct message as well.
Reach out to the key players in your industry who might have an interest in reading the press release.
For example, let’s presume you’ve written about a new product for your brand. You want to reach out to your LinkedIn connections who might have an interest in buying said product.
With Twitter, consider writing a short teaser tweet describing your press release. At the bottom of the tweet, add a short link to direct to your press release.
Following up with the previous example, you can tweet something along the lines of:
We’ve launched a new product.
The new Ultra Earpods
Comfier. Better Quality.
Read about our launch:
Link to your press release
You should also consider “pinning” this tweet until the press release is no longer relevant or becomes outdated. Make sure you allow replies on the press release. This lets you engage with any followers who might have questions or comments after they read your press release.
Make sure you respond promptly to any replies. This increases your chances of having your press release read.
The major advantage of Facebook is that you can publish your press release in full. You can choose to share a short excerpt and then link to your press release or simply copy-paste the text to a Facebook post.
Post your press release on your brand’s official fan page. Make sure you pin this post until the press release gets outdated. As with Twitter, make sure you keep the comments on so others can respond.
There are, of course, many other social media platforms to use for promoting your press release. These 3 examples should serve as a template on how you can work with any platform.
5. Create Video and Audio Versions and Other Graphics to Support Your Release
This is an unusual approach as press releases have always been in written form. However, as so many internet users prefer video and audio this opens more opportunities to promote your online press release.
For example, on some publishing platforms, you can publish an audio version of your press release. Substack, for instance, has an in-built audio player so your readers can listen to the press release while reading it.
You can also create short 30-45 second videos with a narration of the press release. Within the video, you can include links for your audience to engage with your brand.
This can include adding annotations on a video publishing platform such as YouTube or Rumble. You can also add QR codes within the video to link to the press release or another link on your website.
This will likely become standard practice in the future but for now, this will help your brand stand out amongst your competition.
In addition, you may want to create an infographic that visualizes important data or timelines related to your announcement.
You should consider designing shareable quote graphics featuring key statements from your press release. These should be published along with your press release, and added to your social media feed so others can pick them up.
And, of course, you should ensure all multimedia content is branded and includes your company logo and URL
6. Timing Is Key
Often, the major reason why no one read your fantastic press release is because you released it at the wrong time.
Take a moment to pause and reflect on the last time you published a press release that didn’t get many views.
You might have released it on a day when there was another major news event. Whether this news event was relevant to your industry or not, it distracted readers from coming across your press release.
Another aspect is to consider when your audience would be interested in learning more about your brand. For example, during the summer holidays, it’s not ideal to publish a press release related to the education industry.
But as the school year starts, you can publish your press release and expect your colleagues to take notice.
At times you might need to delay a press release if there’s been a crisis. If there’s been a devastating natural disaster, the news about your new headphones must wait!
However, there are also cases when a press release should be published as soon as a crisis gets declared. This is often the case in matters of reputation management.
For example, if your company has been embroiled in a controversy you must publish a press release no later than 24 hours after the news becomes public.
If you were to take much longer then your defense wouldn’t get taken seriously. No one would be interested in reading your press release to hear your side of the story if you delay its distribution.
7. Look At Your Analytics
After you distribute your press release you want to study analytics to track performance.
This gives you an idea of which social media platforms worked best for your distribution. You can also compare the views on different press releases to compare the quality of the release.
eReleases offers a package of reporting for every press release distributed through their service to help you track and easily see that your release is receiving coverage.
8. Let a Professional Write It
Our final great tip to promote your press release online is to actually make sure it meets professional standards.
Even if you run a small startup you’ll have to fight against major corporations for attention. The best solution for this is to have a professional writing service write your press release for you.
You’ll discuss your brief with the writing service and they’ll take over. The press release will meet industry standards and will be immediately ready for publication once it gets delivered to you.
This is a service that all entrepreneurs should invest in and is the best way to ensure you succeed with online press release marketing and distribution.
Advantages of Promoting Your Press Release Online
Promoting your press release online offers several key advantages:
- Increased reach: Online promotion allows your press release to potentially reach a global audience, far beyond the limitations of traditional media outlets. This expanded reach can significantly increase the visibility of your news.
- Cost-effectiveness: Compared to traditional PR methods, online promotion is often more affordable, offering a higher return on investment. Many online promotion tactics, such as social media sharing, can be implemented at little to no cost.
- Speed and immediacy: Online channels allow for instant distribution of your press release. This immediacy is crucial for time-sensitive news or when you need to respond quickly to market developments.
- Targeting capabilities: Online promotion tools often provide advanced targeting options, allowing you to reach specific demographics, industries, or geographic locations more precisely than traditional methods.
- Measurability: Digital promotion provides detailed analytics and metrics, enabling you to track the performance of your press release in real-time. This data can help you refine your PR strategies for future releases.
- Multimedia integration: Online platforms allow for the seamless integration of various media types, such as videos, images, and infographics, making your press release more engaging and shareable.
- Long-term accessibility: Unlike print media, online press releases remain accessible indefinitely, continuing to attract attention and potentially generating leads long after the initial distribution.
- Increased engagement: Online promotion allows for direct interaction with your audience through comments, shares, and discussions, fostering greater engagement with your news.
- Cross-platform promotion: You can easily share your press release across multiple online channels, from social media to industry forums, maximizing its exposure.
Promote Your Press Release
Now you know how to promote your press release online and get your word out to a larger audience.
You want to start by reaching out to media outlets. Make sure you build your media list as you reach out to them.
You can also self-publish your press release as well as distribute it via social media. Make sure you create a video and audio version and that you release your press release at the appropriate time.
You also want to study analytics to track performance. If you need help writing your press release, we’d be glad to help!