How to Create a Public Relations Strategy

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Why is PR not part of your marketing strategy?

The answer is most likely either:

  1. It doesn’t work as well as other marketing techniques
  2. It takes a PR firm and we can’t afford one
  3. I don’t know how

None of those answers work for me. A good PR strategy is simple and relatively cheap to implement internally, and has tremendous upside potential on your marketing efforts.

What’s better - paying to serve a thousand ads or paying to send out one press release that gets picked up 100 times?

The elements of a good PR strategy take some time to develop:

  1. You’ll want to either sign a deal with a company like Meltwater Press or Vocus to track and analyze each release, or use a service like PRWeb to send releases on a one-off basis.
  2. You’ll want to spend some time crafting stories around your company, your services, and your customers. Stories that are most likely to get published include David vs. Goliath themes, Outrageous or Unusual, Controversy, a spin on how you relate to something Hot in the Media, and Celebrities (thanks to Buzzmarketing).
  3. Develop a keyword strategy that you will use within your press releases you submit online and link back to your website.
  4. Create a frequency plan and stick to it so that you continue to develop new press content.
  5. Keep a press section on your site, showcase all your releases, and give plenty of contact information so that people can reach out and follow up.

Press is good. As a marketer, press should be your friend.


Press Releases in the Digital World

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I won’t begin to insinuate that PR agencies have lost their purpose. What I will say is that press relations in the digital world have become as much a function of the marketing team as anything else. And the “private” world only open to agencies and their employees is now filled with DIY solutions for the average Joe.

One thing your company should be taking advantage of is the modern day press release. Companies like PRWeb allow you to send out a press release online and track its readership and spread. They’ve automated the concept of a press release, allowing you to push your “news” to thousands of online publications with a few clicks.

How can a press release help you?

  1. SEO – the modern day solution to press releases offered by companies like PRWeb allow you to incorporate links into your release. Therefore, for every website that the release is posted, you will get inbound links to your own site, giving Google more reason to move you up in their rankings.
  2. Professionalism – a press release just looks better than a blog post, or a memo. It’s an announcement from your company, in press release style, with headlines, subheads, captions, quotes, and press contacts. If your website has a press section, including a formal press release in there looks a lot better than just an article you write yourself.
  3. Buzz – if your release is newsworthy enough, take the completed press release and send it individually to major blogs or print publications in the field who might be interested. Just like a more traditional press release, this will give them a story worth bringing to their audience, and can create even more buzz for your company.

I’ve used PRWeb with multiple companies and have been pleased with the results I see every time. If you sign up through this link, you can get 10% off your first release.

PRWeb Press Release Newswire - Sign Up Now