Are online press releases really effective for lead generation?
I was reading Michael Stelzner’s New B2B Study Shows White Paper Importance, where press releases ranked 2nd in online content effectiveness for lead generation, according to findings from MarketingProfs.
Looking at the comments he got (apart from the big question mark about newsletters being the 1st), another question remains: How do press release generate leads?
My neurons instantly reacted… “Ask David Meerman Scott!”
According to his book titled The New Rules of Marketing & PR, press releases in a web world suggest that Marketers can reach buyers directly, and the primary audience is no longer a handful of journalists. Online press releases are now a direct-to-consumer medium.
He suggests tips to optimise press releases for search and quotes WebEx’s press release at the top of Google search results.
Some tips that David gave for the new rules of press releases:
- Create news releases that appeal directly to your buyers
- Write keyword-rich press releases
- Add social media tags
- Place landing pages links in releases
- Include offers for people to respond in some way
- Optimise news release delivery for searching and browsing
David has a complimentary e-book if you wish to know more: The new rules of PR: How to create a press release strategy for reaching buyers directly
Other resources I found useful: Rocky Fu on tips to boost your online press release efforts, social media press release template from SHIFT Communications, and Press Release Grader from HubSpot.
So while media relations is still important to overall communications strategy, it is no longer a deal breaker if your press releases are not “picked up” by the mainstream media. The Web enables us Marketers and PR professionals to reach buyers directly through direct-to-consumer news releases, and even generate leads for sales with optimisation techniques.
Finally, my seemingly feeble (not!) attempt to sum everything up in startling simplicity:
SEO Friendly Press Releases = Lead Generation.
As my organisation starts to embrace the whole Web 2.0 shebang in its overall marketing strategy, I can only taste the sweet fruits of hard labour in the next few months (it’s work in progress right now). I am putting my hopes high on this one.
Unrelated side note: Wondering who’s Pocoyo? This cute little blue boy is full of antics and making both kids and adults fall head over heels in love with him.
Tags: marketing, pocoyo, press releases, web 2.0
October 27th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Pocoyo is just awesome!
All. sorts. of. Win.
October 27th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Thank you for mentioning my work in this post.
These days, anyone with an internet connection has direct access to your press releases. We no longer have to rely on the media as a mouthpiece.
While mainstream media is still an important component in an overall plan, there are many ways to reach buyers today.
October 27th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
1. Write keyword-rich content that isn’t spam.
2. Submit to established sites like PRweb and PRleap.
3. Get a premium package to get listed on Google/Yahoo News.
You’ll also get a better chance of ranking on Google’s organic results, especially for longtail keywords. Proper use of anchortext links in your PR also contributes positively to the landing page’s SEO.
October 27th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Hi David, you always make the effort to comment on other blogs. It is very encouraging and motivating for new bloggers like myself, so thank you very much for that.
Yes I agree with you. Press releases have a lot more potential than we think. We spend thousands of dollars writing and distributing a single press release, and keeping our fingers crossed for media coverage. It does appear to be the sole purpose of press releases, i.e to get picked up by the media.
But thanks to the Web, press releases are no longer exclusive to just journalists. They have become a part of SEO and lead generation strategy! Marketers just need to get creative to realise the full potential of press releases.
October 27th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Very informative article you got here Jas
“SEO Friendly Press Releases = Lead Generation” is so totally true
October 28th, 2008 at 12:01 am
Hi Larry, thanks for the extra pointers! Thank goodness I don’t need to pay your for good advice this time! Haha. Like they say, you’ll find treasures in blogs’ comments.
How does point no. 3 works?
Talk about killing 2 birds with one stone, good point about the relationship between anchor text links in PR and landing page’s SEO.
October 28th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Hey Nic, how was your public holiday? Hope you got most of your work done. Corporate blogging is the next “big” thing on my list. I’m really looking forward to meeting you soon and exchanging ideas.
October 28th, 2008 at 5:00 am
I’m glad you’ve found Press Release Grader useful!
Today, it’s so important to take advantage of the Web to directly reach consumers, and a strategically drafted Press Release definitely helps do just that.
October 30th, 2008 at 10:38 am
One addition when you have your press release ready don’t forget to tweet it.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Hi Pamela, thanks for your comment, and keep those great HubSpot tools coming!
Hi Jamshed, we all love Twitter, don’t we. Pretty much anything online has the potential to go social. Nice work on your new blog.
November 10th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Hi Jasmine,
I’m Desmond a fellow internet marketer, i have an upcoming internet marketing project, and i was wondering if you’re interested. If you have the time do drop me an email. =)
Cheers,
Desmond