Press release marketing is quickly revolutionizing the marketing sector. A press release is a marketing statement which is dispersed to the media outlets with the aim of covering specific news. A press release provides a perfect opportunity to gain visibility from the best media houses coverage.
Unlike news articles, press release statements are not prepared by journalists; instead, the organizations present their statements to the media houses. This is where Press Release Distributors, often truncated to PR Distributors, come in. PR Distributors agencies cut the hassle by handling the preparation of Press Statements on behalf of organizations and companies.
These distributors have mastered the art of creating press release statements. A good press release statement prevents unwanted edition by the media editors.
Why should you hire a Press Release Distributor?
Hiring a PR distributor will be one of the best decision you will ever make concerning your company’s marketing. Most companies prefer having an in-house PR team than hiring a firm.
However, hiring a PR distributor agency comes with some advantages. From recent surveys by media specialist, the public considers news to be more persuasive and trustworthy than advertisements. You should also bear in mind that a press release firm has extensive connections with bloggers, vloggers, reporters, and editors. Therefore, press release scores high in marketing than advertising.
Here are some of the key reasons as to why you should hire a PR firm.
1. Objective Evaluation
Not all news is newsworthy. It is crucial for businesses to have an independent firm to evaluate their newsworthy events before presenting them to the public.
Newsrooms use the following criteria in determining the Newsworthiness of events;
- Human Interest; A good news story targets the needs of the target group. It is designed to appeal to the desired clients
- Magnitude; The higher the targeted audience, the better the newsworthiness
- Timing, worthy news should be up-to-date. It should be new events which have not caught the public eye yet.
- Locality, News that occurs near the homes of targeted audience are more worthy.
- Prominence; who is the news featuring? Famous personalities attract audiences.
Press Release firms have the experience of working with newsrooms hence know the criteria used in selecting newsworthy events.
Press release firms are capable of reading and researching about your business, product or service from a different point of view this making your brand stand out of the rest.
2. Attract Investors
Investors also watch a great deal of news. Marketing through press release will deliver your business right to their sitting rooms. You can also achieve this by setting up an online newsroom on your website for your visitors to browse through. Press Release might be the missing puzzle in your business.
3. It is Affordable
Press Release might sound complicated and money draining, in the real sense it can be very cheap. The most exciting thing with Press Release is that it can work with every budget, tight or loose. All you need is a great strategy.
4. Press Release works with all Classes of Business
Are you worried that your business is too small to accommodate press release as a marketing strategy? Then worry no more. A company can benefit from press release regardless of its size. All you need is a story that will catch the attention of your targeted audience.
Remember that you need a story to be featured in publications such as journals, magazines, blogs, and newspapers. Choose your story wisely.
5. Boost your Company’s Visibility
Small businesses face a big challenge when it comes to beating the competition for visibility from big money companies. The race for consumer mindshare requires an upbeat strategy. Press release lets you present your services and products to the consumers and prospective investors.
A press release also attracts the attention of journalists which paves a way to extra media coverage. Nothing markets better than extensive media coverage.
In today’s world, 80 million people get news for online outlets every single day. Therefore, do not turn your press release into an advert, instead, give your buyers and clients news.
Now that we have seen the reason as to why hiring a press release distributor is an excellent idea let us look at the qualities of a great PR firm.
Top 8 Qualities of a great PR Firm
As earlier stated, it is crucial to look into the PR distributor whose service you are going to hire. Here are the key elements you should consider in the PR team before setting on hiring one. A great PR distributor;
1. Offers a Wide Range of Services
In recent years, the PR industry has received an overflow of distributors seeking to provide PR services. This has led to specialization where some companies have decided to offer PR distribution services on specific niches in the market. Today we have Music PR, business PR, football PR, the manufacturing sector, the agricultural sectors PR firms.
Therefore it is essential to look for a PR company that specializes in the services your company offers. Having a company that deals with your niche services gives you an upper hand as they possess the experience of creating PR for companies such as yours.
2. Has experienced Account Managers
As expected, your PR firm will assign you an account manager to operate your PR account. In normal situations, this is decided on the first meeting with the firm’s heads, hence the perfect opportunity for you to hand-pick your account manager.
Even though the firm presents a manager to you, it is your responsibility to check the manager’s portfolio and determine if he is worth the salt. A great account manager should display a long experience in the industry. They should also have done similar successful projects in the market before.
You do not want an inexperienced junior manager as that might cost you your business. This challenge is usually experienced in emerging brands.
Some companies will only assign their pro managers to fully fledged big money companies and leave you with the wingless business school graduates. You have the opportunity to change things before penning down that deal. Remember, junior managers have a hard time getting the audience of their managers and the firm’s principals.
3. Has Connections to Other Like-Minded Companies
Another essential element of a great PR company is that it has connection and access to other like-minded companies that provide different niche of marketing services.
A PR firm can link with marketing agencies that specialize in search engine optimization, Google advertisement, social media marketing, and branding.
Hiring a firm with such connections will come with many useful links. Apart from getting your PR needs sorted, you will also enjoy a wide range of marketing services. Of course, you will be required to pay extra, but it is better to have one agency handle all of your marketing needs instead of 10 different agencies for each requirement. Reduce hassle.
4. Has an Inclusive and Dynamic Marketing Strategy
Marketing strategies vary from firm to firm. As different brands of the same product seek to gain traction and attention of potential buyers; marketing agencies employ different modes to make their product stand out.
Since PR distribution is all about marketing, a good PR company tackles your needs in line with your preference; their strategy should match your ethics and personal brands.
5. Handles a Wide Range of Budgets
Strategies vary depending on the money injected into it. Of course, big money advertisements are pocket draining. A good PR firm can come up with a workable strategy for clients of all works of life. They should be able to sort your marketing needs according to your budget. Of course, some big boys’ clubs only deals with PR management for big companies avoid those if you can and save your wallet.
However, as the old saying goes, ‘spend money to make money,’ you should not limit your PR Company to a fixed budget as that would impact the output negatively. Most agencies prefer an ongoing monthly retainer fee while others work better with one-time project fees. In both instances, the agency’s retainer is more than what you paid.
As a company, you should be ready to go the extra mile and perform some tasks for your PR agency to reduce cost. For example, instead of doing an expensive video and photo-shoots, host a media face event, or a consumer face-up event and interact with journalists and buyers on a one-on-one basis.
6. Great Portfolio
If you get accustomed to the corridors of business, the question; ‘How do you measure the results?’ would not escape your ears. The reason why most companies opt to use PR agencies in marketing is that it can get a million impressions in seconds if done impeccably.
However, the number of impressions made by a press release should correlate with the sales or clients attractions. This is an almost impossible task for most PR companies; the result never reflects the tractions on the websites or media platforms.
PR is not easily quantifiable; therefore, getting a product featured on a top magazine counts as a success but, it is not the result. If the product gets featured in a magazine, people love it and buy it, then that would count as success.
Some big-time PR agencies might have great connections in the media circles, just a phone call and your product are on the cover page of a weekly magazine, that’s great, however, if that publication fails to drive sales, then it was useless.
A rare quality of a great PR agency is that it cares beyond the products on the papers and screens. It will follow through and check if their effort in driving a thousand more visitors to your websites increased the sale. 90% of PR Agencies don’t make follow-throughs.
7. Good Firm-Client Relationship
An excellent PR team can break the barriers between their clients and themselves. In short, they become part of your family and business. It might seem awkward having a group of outsiders operating in-house in your companies, but it is the best way to achieve more together.
Furthermore, you want a manager who will be available on most occasions, someone who will attend as many peripherals meetings as possible.
Having a PR team working in-house some advantages. Firstly, your PR manager can collect first-hand information from which they can create proactive news rather than assembling a bunch of reports.
Secondly, having a PR manager in the company increases their rate of productivity as they feel like part of the company. They can socialize with your employees over tea break, a factor which makes them feel welcomed and part of your business family. It makes them have the right attitude and bring their A-game to work.
8. Good Rating from Previous Clients
When selecting PR distributor, it is important to go through their customer reviews and feedback. A good firm will provide an open channel where customers can leave feedback on their platform. The feedback mechanism should be free of bias and open to all.
Going through these comments on the company’s platform will help you get the feeling from clients perspective. Some companies might manipulate the customer reviews, therefore, you should distinguish fake from real reviews.
From the qualities above, you can measure if your company is seasoned enough. It is inadvisable to approach the hiring process blindly. Carry out your extensive research and certify that the hired company will meet the required standards in providing services you need. You should get the value of your money back.
Finally, it is also essential to establish a long working relationship with one PR distributor; this will reduce the hassle of hiring a new firm now and then. At PR distributor, we handle your press release needs professionally and affordably. Having a trusted PR distributor at your service will exceptionally boost your marketing strategy. It is up to you take action for your business to stand out of the crowd.
References
Relations, A. P. (n.d.). Expert Media Relations firm for earning news media coverage, NewsBureau. Retrieved from https://www.axiapr.com/what-we-do/media-relations.
By Patrick Cheboi
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