Do Press Releases work in Digital?

In the article, we’re going to set out why and how digital press releases can still play an influential role in securing publicity for your brand.

What’s the argument against using press releases in digital campaigns?

A principal argument against using press releases for digital publicity is that in most cases, they don’t secure enough coverage to justify the cost of their production.

The American PR firm SHIFT Communications did some research into the efficacy of digital press releases last year. In a study of 1,092 digital press releases, they found the following average metrics:

• Median clicks: 0
• Median social media shares: 2
• Median number of inbound links to releases: 1
• Median MozTrust score (how trusted a URL is, 0-10 scale): 0
• Median MozRank score (how well ranked a URL is, 0-10 scale): 0

You can read more about SHIFT Communications’ study here.

SHIFT’s findings are damning, particularly when considered against the costs of press release production and distribution. Not only did the press releases studied tend not to drive engagement; they also seem unlikely to have provided an SEO benefit, given their low MozTrust and MozRank scores.

The poor performance of the average digital press release makes sense when you consider the fact that PR professionals are starting to outnumber journalists. This point is illustrated by employment figures from the UK, where there were 83,000 registered PR workers in 2016, vs 64,000 who described themselves as journalists or editors in 2015. Of course, the average press release doesn’t attract coverage – there are simply too many of them and not enough journalists.

There is, however, another side to the story…

The case for digital press releases

SHIFT Communications presented their findings as proof that digital press releases don’t work. We would argue that what their research really shows is that digital press releases of average quality don’t work.

This distinction is important because the quality of the average digital press release is relatively low. Every day, hundreds of ineffective press releases are sent out to digital editors, bringing the median performance of digital press releases down to the low figures discovered by SHIFT.

We would argue that the fact digital press releases are still widely distributed is sufficient proof they still add value to their more effective exponents.

Here’s an example of a successful digital press release from General Electric:

You can view a PDF of the full press release here.

Read the full press release case study here.

This multimedia-rich press release generated a traditional reach of 17.5 million, with 3,500 mentions on social media.

And giants like General Electric aren’t the only ones finding success through digital press releases. Here’s an example of a press release that racked up over 10,000 media mentions for a social marketing startup called WordStream in 2012:

Read the full press release here.

Read the full press release case study here.

These examples show how digital press release can reap dividends for organisations great and small.

General Electric got results by presenting their complex quarterly financials in an attractive, accessible format.

With far less brand recognition to rely upon, WordStream had to play it a little smarter, by newsjacking Facebook’s IPO. They released accessible, incisive information on a breaking story, just at the point when journalists would have been seeking new angles to enrich their coverage. Other SMEs would do well to follow their example.

Whatever the nature of your organisation, digital press releases have the potential to get eyes on your brand. We’re now going to move on to discuss some the core techniques and best practices that will help you achieve better results if you decide to go ahead with a digital press release campaign of your own.

The importance of rich media in digital press releases

The most effective digital press releases tend not to be ready-written articles intended for direct republication. Like the case studies discussed previously, they include multiple media types.

Rich media can improve a press release on multiple levels. It can make the content more digestible for your media contacts; and for those who decide to run the story, it provides easy options to produce engaging multimedia coverage for readers.

Depending on the content/subject matter of your campaign and the media production resources at your disposal, your digital press release might include:

• Header and sub-header
• Press release copy (full version)
• Press release copy (short version)
• Image thumbnails with download links
• Social Buttons
• Links to further reading and supplementary media
• Video/audio
• Infographics

You don’t need to include all these elements in every press release – but you should consider all the options you can to decide on a suitable mix for whichever publications you would like to get covered by. For example, if most of the publications you are targeting have a heavy focus on video content, it would make sense to build your press release around a video.

Clear, compelling copy, carefully ordered to give precedence to the most important details, should always be at the heart of your press releases. Supplementing that copy with production quality rich media is also vital.

Tracking press release performance

One of the great advantages of digital marketing is the possibility of tracking and measuring almost every process, with a view to iteratively improving how it is done. This is certainly true of digital press releases.

The easiest way to track press release performance is...

...Read the full article at TargetInternet.com