Press Release Distribution

McCheese

McCheese

SW: Sean, CW: Crone, GW: Wizardhawk
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The company I work for is pretty small, but we're starting to grow and win some awards and get recognized by various industry magazine/journals. I've been tasked with figuring out how to get our press releases distributed so they show up on relevant websites and publications. I've done a few and distributed them via PRLog's free service. This gets them on google results, but it doesn't really get them to the targeted sites and publications that we'd like.

I've done some research and there is an insane number of press release distribution services out there, ranging from free with ads to incredibly expensive. Does anyone have any experience with these services and, if so, any suggestions on which ones work well? I've read that sometimes it's best to directly contact individual journals/magazine/websites with your press release, but it seems futile without some kind of existing relationship with the publication and/or being a well-known company.
 
S

SaidBetterThan_sl

shitlord
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Crystallizing Public Opinion: Edward Bernays, Stuart Ewen: 9781935439264: Amazon.com: Books

You have to frame the Press Release differently than you are currently. You have to make it a press release capable of being translated into "news". Simply winning these awards does not have enough merit on its own to generate any 'fucks' whatsoever.

That being said, it would seem that you only have the task of pushing the release, not generating it.

Cold calls, they suck, no one likes to do it. A single phone call to a person that coincidently just drank a pumpkin spice latte can go a long way. If you stay diligent, connecting with people not only when you need placement, something will happen. It may not happen instantly, but if you keep trying you'll succeed.

Worst case scenario, you find the address of where the person works, have someone deliver coffee and donuts.
 
Lanx

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
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you've done a few? as in you have written them? 3rd person... factual blah blah blandish? or do you use a copywriter?

this is to just "spread the word" right? nothing to do with ranking? (because of penguin 2.1 the algo's seem to heavily discredit pr sites), just to be clear, this isn't about pr(page rank) seo or ranking? just to spread the word

then you need to get a service that will push your PR to google news.

prweb
sbwire
prnewswire
webwire

are ones i recommend, just get the package that pushes the PR to news outlets, and forget about the super extra premiums that have the stupid social share, avg cost per as you've found out is around 100 to 150ish.

what's the budget?
 
McCheese

McCheese

SW: Sean, CW: Crone, GW: Wizardhawk
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Thanks for the information, everyone.

The purpose is just to get our name out there, yes. My boss is under the impression that if we pay a lot of money to distribute press releases then they will magically appear in relevant magazines, trade journals, and websites. The problem is that we are in the same realm (government contracting) as enormous companies like Harris, SAIC, Northrup Grumman, Booz Allen Hamilton, etc., so no one gives a fuck about our unimpressive accomplishments.

We're such a small company that we don't even have a marketing department, which is why I'm stuck dealing with this shit (despite having no marketing experience whatsoever). Personally, it seems silly to pay premium prices when we stand such a small chance of getting published anyway.

are ones i recommend, just get the package that pushes the PR to news outlets, and forget about the super extra premiums that have the stupid social share, avg cost per as you've found out is around 100 to 150ish.
Click to expand...
This was my thinking as well, and is what I'm going to recommend to my boss that we do going forward, at least until we grow to a point to justify having an actual marketing department with knowledge and connections to properly handle press release distribution.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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if you're doing it for "brand recognition" "word of mouth" press releases aren't going to do shit, i mean of course they'll help by being "any marketing is good marketing" but it won't put your name at the forefront.

since you have a "niche" industry i guess? and you really want to put the brand to ppl to know, your best course of action is to have an entire social media campaign.

have a linkedin profile? (company wise) now friend request/ follow all the ppl that want your services or are in the industry, join all linkedin related groups as well.

then you're going to have to take this to facebook (company page) and twitter as well.

there's no way your company/niche can reach out to the ppl you want exposure to with press releases, your gonna basically have to get in their face, but social media provides that.

not the "shill" type of social media, like "follow us, we're awesome" or "omg, follow us to support us"

somethinig like

The Best Of Taco Bells Twitter Account

i mean it's easy for taco bell to ignore tweets but to respond to them and get "retweeted" cuz the responses were awesome, there must be a dedicated comedian just for that employed at taco bell.

of course this is all really new stuff, your boss sounds like someone who still reads trade journals ha... just show him anyone's smartphone in your company, they probably have facebook/twitter/linkedin apps on their home page. most ppl who work in an office environment do.
 
McCheese

McCheese

SW: Sean, CW: Crone, GW: Wizardhawk
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Yeah, I agree with everything you said. You're spot on about my boss. I could go through the trouble of getting involved with twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc., but honestly, I care so little about this job and company that I'm just doing what my boss wants. He wants me to distribute press releases? Ok!

Primarily, though, this marketing stuff isn't even technically part of my job. I do it only because it was shoved on me by default due to us lacking any sort of marketing department, or even an experienced marketing professional. I figure if the higher ups want some real marketing done they're going to have to hire someone with expertise in that area. Until then, I'm just going to do whatever little I have to do in order to get back to my actual job's duties.

A little bit of a rant there, but thanks again for the information. Much appreciated.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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sure, if it's just to reinforce "lulz my boss is old stupid and dumb", hopefully there's some bulletpoints for you to use if you need it.
 
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