A highly effective marketing activity you're probably ignoring

The content marketing game seems fairly straightforward. When you educate and nurture with relevant content, your company will acquire more leads and close more business.

Your plan and system is in place. Frequent LinkedIn posts -- check. Twitter posts every day -- check. A meaty blog is written and posted once a week -- check. Your newsletter goes out twice a month -- check. And you’ve written an eBook that gets website visitors to signup for your newsletter – check and check. On the horizon you’ve got several videos and a podcast series planned.

All the bases are covered and nothing is missing from the marketing mix. Right?

Well, not exactly. There’s one key marketing activity that many companies don’t do regularly or ignore altogether. It’s considered old school, even outdated and ineffective by some.

What is it? Publicity. Or more precisely, news releases that will get the attention of the press and media and ultimately your audience.

Yes, the news release -- also known as a press release. To those who say that news releases are obsolete, I say nonsense! Of course, you’ll have to overhaul your news release strategy to make work -- assuming you have one.

News releases may be a traditional form of marketing and yet it’s a great way to reach potential customers and the press. The modern news release is content marketing at its best and needs to be part of your marketing initiative.

A targeted release to the media will showcase your company’s expertise and get calls from them when they are looking for experts to comment on a hot story. And, the search engine marketing value is tremendous. Plus, it’s on the web forever.

Structure for maximum visibility. Yes, people still read the news and it’s usually the press and bloggers that provide it. Much of the source material comes from Internet searches and news releases. So, like any marketing content you create, a news release must be optimized in several ways to be found and picked up. Think about who you are targeting and what crucial words and phrases will catch their attention. If your goal is to reach prospects in your industry then it’s fine to use terminology they know. But, for the local press you’ll need to use “layman” terms. Integrating a call-to-action into your release with direct links to a specially created landing page on your website will increase visibility even further. Include links to relevant resources for background information along with photos, images such as your logo, and links to videos with a brief explanation. Add contact information with a telephone number and email address as well as links to your LinkedIn or Facebook or profiles.

Short and concise is best. Let’s face it; we have short attention spans and so do reporters! Think in terms of Twitter-like, share-worthy headlines. Instead of using the 140 characters that Twitter limits you to, use 120 to allow for forwarding and retweets. Include at lease one of your key words or phrases in the headline. Add a sub headline with another of your important terms. Then, lead with the most significant information in the first paragraph. Also, sprinkle your key words throughout the body of the release, about two or three times each for a three to four hundred word release. You’ve now made it easier for Google and other engines to find you and post key information in the search results. Doing this will boost your rankings and generate a considerable amount of traffic to your website. Don’t be surprised when your release generates hundreds of links back to your company -- if you have a compelling story!

Help reporters and bloggers retell your story. If you want a release to result in press coverage, there are several critical things to keep in mind. First, answer the “who, what, where, when, and how” in a clear, concise, and compelling way. Let people know what’s truly different, even unique, about the your news. Then script it in a way that allows a member of the media to literally use much of what you’ve written -- only if you write like reporter. On one hand it can’t be dull or fluffy, yet you’ll need to get rid of exaggerated claims and overused sayings. You don’t speak to buyers in the formal and convoluted way, so don’t do it in a news release. Always try to include two quotes -- one from a leader in your company and another from an outside independent source or a partner. Think in terms of a story as you write it to capture your reader’s interest and you’ll dramatically improve the chances that you news release will get picked up.

News release distribution is key. Use a newswire service designed to get your news release to your specific audience. For inexpensive distribution consider a company such as PRBuzz that will place your news release in search engines, news sites, blogs, and social networks. To get help in targeting the media and geography, optimizing your release, and fixing any formatting issues look at distribution through a channel that has relationships with editors and key websites. For national and international news PRWeb is a good choice. Use a local firm when you’re focused on a region; for instance, to get a news release noticed in central and the west coast of Florida, use Tampa Bay News Wire who has a free and paid service. And, of course post the release in the news section of your website and talk about it in social media.

News releases are one of the most cost effective and easiest content marketing strategies to implement. It will raise awareness of your products and services and helps to position you as an authority in your field.

Write quality content that’s timely and relevant. Embrace brevity and use targeted phrases for your targeted audience. Start sending out newsworthy releases consistently and the media and search engines will take notice!

When was the last time your company had exciting news that deserved a release, but never took action?

Ron Stein is President of FastPath Marketing (www.marketing-strategies-guide.com) and the author of the Rapid Impact Marketing & Selling Playbook. As a speaker, coach, and consultant he works with small business owners helping them to accelerate the path between their vision and the actions needed to reach, win, and keep customers. Ron is the creator of the FastPath to More Customers Now! 7-step marketing system based on more than twenty years as a successful business owner, corporate CEO, business development executive, and salesman. He is also a mentor at two nationally recognized business accelerators. Ron offers one-on-one and small group mentoring, conducts seminars, and consults. He can be reached at 727-398-1855 or Ron@FastPathMarketing.com.