Are Press Releases More Powerful Than Trade Magazines?

Yes, according to a study by Outsell of 7,000 knowledge workers. Previous studies showed that trade magazines were the most relied upon source of business information. But this most recent study showed that press releases now reign as the preferred source of business information.

Why? Perhaps because they're easily and quickly retrievable, they're less likely to be dated, and they fit into the daily lifestyle of today's knowledge worker, who, according to the study, now average 12 hours a week online, up by 1.1 hours from just a year ago.

What does this mean to publicity seekers?

1. The rumors that press releases are dead are far from accurate. Press releases still play a major role in communicating information.

2. Press releases need to be posted to online distribution sources, in addition to being sent directly to your targeted list of key media contacts.

3. When in doubt, (some may debate this) go ahead and submit a release to the online media, even if it's not significant enough to send to your key media contacts. By doing this, you at least put yet another piece of information on the web, containing facts about your company, and links into your website.

That said - make sure that these releases contain news content. There's nothing worse than receiving news releases which contain no news at all!

4. Consider sending out full articles through the online press release distribution sources, in addition to standard releases. While these articles may never actually get run in ink on paper, they will become part of the search engine archives. Tip sheets, quizzes, survey results, how-to's and reviews all have significant value to knowledge workers searching for more information.

5. Make sure you include your website URL in every release you send. While you're at it, you need to clearly understand how to make your website address into a clickable hyperlink for your favorite online press release distribution source. (They all seem to have their own little rules, so do some exploration on their site or give them a call to understand exactly how to do it on their specific service so you don't get it wrong!)

6. Create a goal to send out at least one release or article per month throughout the rest of the year. Ideally, send out one per week, each full to the brim with valuable information. That alone should help to get more traffic to your site, get you found by more reporters researching stories (because you're higher in the search engines), and land some stories in some major publications.

For more information on how to create a press release, check out our Creating Powerful Press Releases

Plus, watch this blog, as we will soon be making a special announcement!

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Tags: pressrelease press magazines trade media