How Keyword Research can Improve your Press Release

Search Engines and the Internet run on keywords, content and images and, yet, most PR Specialists don't know the first thing about how powerful researching keywords can be or how to integrate it into their press releases.

A keyword or keyword phrase is a word or phrase that a web user (such as a reporter) enters into a search engine. Keyword research refers to the process of choosing a few highly searched keyword phrases to use in search engine optimization efforts for your press release. And yes, you can optimize a press release.

For example, if you're building a campaign for a client who's opening a new women's clothing store (we'll say in Chicago) and want to find potential customers to find it, you might research the phrase: "Women's Clothing stores in Chicago". Google takes this text and compares it against the billions of web pages in its index, using its complex algorithms to determine which sites represent the best matches.

Here's a look at what you need to know about keyword research for your press release, why you should care and how to get started:

What makes a good keyword?
Getting a high rank in search engine results pages is important, but it's the specific keywords you're ranked for that can determine how successful your website will be. Not all keywords are made equal; you must do the research to determine which keywords or keyword phrases are being most searched for.

Two important concepts help to determine which keywords are best to target: search volume and competition. Search volume refers to the number of people who enter a chosen keywords into the search engines. Greater search volume is usually better, enabling your site to draw more natural traffic. However, if the keyword or phrase you've chosen has extremely high competition, it's going to take longer to get your press release or blog post to the top of the search engines. If possible, choose a phrase that has low or medium competition with high search volume.

How do I integrate keyword research into my press releases?
Once you've identified a few potential keyword targets, start integrating them into your verbiage. To increase your chances of getting ranked for your chosen terms, you'll want to follow standard search engine optimization practices, including any of the following:

• Integrate your keywords into the title of your Press Release or Blog
• Incorporate your target keywords into the body of your press release, in particular, near the top. 
• Make use of the press release submission formatting tools by making your keywords bold. Google pays particular attention to words that have been called out, and gives that page a higher ranking.

Need more tips? Give us a call for more information on Press Release Optimization. 

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Building a Brand with Exceptional PR

When building brand, public relations (PR) is usually not the marketing discipline that jumps first to people's minds.  But it should fall off the tongue for marketers wanting to create word of mouth and generate that elusive thing called trust.

Like traditional marketing, the early days of PR saw messages disseminated one-way from an organization to the people they wanted to attract.  Much of the time, this was achieved through media relations and customers had no way to respond.

Flash forward almost a hundred years and the power is all with the people.  Never before has a society had so many outlets to make their voice heard and elevate or relegate a brand. Online petitions, Social Media, even companies like moveon.org allow the public to make companies take notice. Just think about all the public outrage when during the BP oil spill and how the company was forced to respond to millions of people. Would they have responded in the same way if there was nobody to call them out?

So how does Public Relations fit in the brand building mix? Well, good PR is, in its simplest form, about relationships.  It's about knowing the customer and – with their buy in - reaching them in their own space the way they want to be reached, whether this is via the media, newsletters, events, social media platforms, personal correspondence or another medium. It's about listening to the person's wants and needs and ensuring that the product or service on offer fulfills these. Where organizations have a clear message and target this effectively, an individual knows what they are buying into and has faith in the brand, which makes marketing easier and cheaper in the long run.

Businesses that use PR to listen well, respond accordingly, deliver on promises, and create brands that have a real emotional relevance for the audience.  Companies live or die by their reputation and those with integrity not only generate repeat sales, but can rely on their customers to help them do so.

Branding & Public Relations

A PR agency plays a very crucial role in enhancing the brand image of the company. To put it in simple words, the concepts of branding and public relations are closely intertwined. The job of public relations is to encourage the public to have positive image about a particular company, product, service, brand or individual. Branding is basically a set of attributes that will encourage the public to have positive thoughts about a particular company, product, service, or individual. A PR agency brings out the best attribute of the company to the forefront.

As a matter of fact, marketing strategists believe that public relations are a vital part-if not the most essential part-of the Branding process. Public Relations Agency practitioners understand the Branding concept, since they are well versed in the techniques and strategies that create a public identity very close to the key idea of a brand.

In other words, public relations is intended to generate news coverage. It is conducted through planned events and through news stories. The concept is such, when a newspaper runs an article about the unusual new promotion being done by a local business that is called public relations. A PR agency involves third parties to deliver the message. The third parties are news organizations, print journalists, and television and radio news programs and talk shows, which have more credibility for the general public.

A PR agency not only aims to create a positive image; the intention is vastly more complex than that - in fact, public relations seeks to create and maintain a consistent feeling of familiarity, trust, consistency, and confidence with the targeted audience. If advertising is about getting the public's attention, public relations is about delivering the message once the attention has been commanded. That is exactly what a PR agency does.

The Staying Power of the Press Release in 2012 and Beyond

When reading an article on 'Why Press Releases are Effective Communication Tools', I was struck by the message because in this age of fast knowledge and short attention spans, the guest blogger was saying some of the honest truth.

It is a fact that reporters, bloggers, and producers in the media use press releases to craft their story pieces. When written effectively, and properly, press releases will have the who, what, when, where and how of a story - no matter what. It should be written in a way that conveys timeliness and employs a news hook that will reinforce an emotional appeal to the audience and the reporter in order to enable the publishing of the story.

Press releases are an extremely important part in the publicity process here at our Chicago PR Firm. They support our strategies, instead of being the primary tool of publicity. Simply sending out the release will not get you the results you want.

The best publicity results will come from pitching the press with persistence and giving the media something to actually write about; something that will appeal to their audience and that will benefit the company the press release is about. But that's not the point of this post.

Social Media has shortened the attention span of our society to write and even read press releases or any written material in general. Reporters aren't spared from this epidemic. It is a rare day that a reporter reads a press release that is sent without some sort of lead-in or nurturing. They simply don't have the time.

However, if you convince them to work with you, the press release and all the information enclosed in it will be a crucial portion of their information gathering, so accuracy is key. Also, be prepared for your words to not change all that much - so try reading your release out loud to see if it sounds nice.

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The Big Difference between Public Relations & Marketing

According to the American Marketing Association, the main focus of public relations is upon a flow of information between a company and people. It is relationship oriented, whereas marketing is results (through activities) oriented. That's not to say PR isn't, but it isn't the focus. Marketing attempts to connect products and/or services to certain groups of people. This is done by using many vehicles, including public relations. These two areas of advertising are frequently lumped into the same bowl, as fuel to increase sales. In reality, marketing would be the bowl itself, and public relations would be part of the contents of the bowl. The marketing department is expected to develop measureable methods for increasing sales. 

Marketing efforts are aimed at informing the public about new company products or services, upgrades in current offerings, and all activities that promote either the company or the products or services that the company produces. Public relations departments function to assist the marketing department in creating and maintaining a positive relationship for the company in the eyes of the public and its stakeholders. This department is uniquely important for overcoming bad publicity or disastrous occurrences like product recalls. The public relations (PR) department works within the company also, smoothing communications and bonding of internal management and employees.

Public relations departments support marketing efforts by helping to identify strategies that will work to reach certain demographics. It looks more to the broad picture of the company and its reputation, rather than to individual products, services or problems. There are many differences between these two areas of advertising. Marketing deals with product or service awareness, promotions and sales results. It creates campaigns, literature, advertising, videos, support materials, training materials and other items that will help increase sales. This department will take information and statistics from the public relations division and use it in the formation of marketing promotions. 

Marketers work with pricing and cost effectiveness, profitability and measureable results. Marketing efforts are generally short term activities. Public relations is an area within marketing that deals with how the public perceives the company/brand and its products or services. It focuses on promoting the company as a whole, rather than individual products. The PR department is always watching and becoming aware of how the public reacts to the company, or to news about the company and its products or services. It calculates previous results and tries to apply that knowledge to new strategies. Public relations efforts are generally long term projects.

These two areas of advertising are definitely related, but different. The public relations department supports the marketingdepartment. Don't confuse public relations and marketing; each is important to the overall success of a company.

Facebook Contests & Public Relations: A Marriage

Working in public relations, we’ve all faced this challenge. You stare at your Facebook fan page and ask yourself, “How do we get more fans?”. Sometimes quantity is okay depending on the industry and the reach you are trying to accomplish but it should always be backed with quality and fan engagement.

Your company has seen organic growth, engaged its audience and seen a steady incline in its fan base over the years, but you’ve finally secured that budget and you’re ready to inject that into your social campaigns.

• Sitting back and expecting people to discover you via a contest is just like sitting back and expecting people to discover you without the contest, so let’s ask a few questions.
• Have you reached out to partnerships or charities? Cross-promoting a contest is a great way to get the word out there, and partnering with an organization that closely aligns to your brand or audience is even better. This is making the people you are trying to reach want to come over and check out your business.
• Will users have to like your page to enter your contest? This is a no-brainer. This is your contest, and you obviously want to retain those users that enter your contest on Facebook.
• Not only can users like the page, but they can opt-in to communications. The ability to have entrants opt-in to your company newsletter is social gold. It’s another way to market to your consumers since, many times, they aren’t tethered to Facebook during the day.
• What is the barrier to entry? Let’s face it, more people will enter your contest if you make it easy. Don’t expect too many entries if users have to create a video, format it a certain way, jump through fiery rings, tame lions and upload it to Facebook. If you’re looking for content to promote your brand, just make it easy for your fans. Simplicity is the key word here.
• Have you announced your contests across your marketing platforms? Maybe you have 528 Facebook fans, but 100,528 people in your email database? Sending an email to those already opting in to your communications channels is an incredible way to increase awareness.

You’ve done your research, found the contest that’s right for you, researched 3rd party vendors to build your designs, secured partnerships, set your timeline and covered all of your bases. You’ve finalized your prizes, creatives have been…well, created and launch day is here.

Now what? Be prepared.

• Keep a close eye on your fan page. Things can spiral out of control very quickly, so make sure you or someone on your team is there to monitor activity. Respond to users who are having difficulty with the promotion and guide them through the necessary steps. Remember, you’re dealing with a WIDE audience here – including Facebook novices.
• Know your contest well. How can people enter? Can they enter on a mobile phone? Likely not. Facebook doesn’t allow many apps on their mobile site, so be sure to test this out in the beginning.
• Read the fine print. Where can users enter? Due to trade and commerce laws, there are many locations (including overseas) from which people cannot enter. How are entrant and sponsor defined? What’s the estimated value of all of your prizes? These should all be included in your rules, published in your contest and kept handy.

People will come from left field to enter your contest. It’s highly likely that many people entering your contest will not be entering for you. They are entering for a prize. This is common; you’ll have to deal with them and likely deal with the fact that they may unlike you after the contest. Remember, it’s no love lost since this isn’t your target market.

Coming out of your contest, ensure that you integrate your opt-ins into your email database and send off those prizes (with the necessary forms) quickly. You’ve been looking at the numbers the entire time. Would you do it again? How would you do it differently?

Now back to quality engagement. That’s what social media is all about.