By Carla Harrington
In an age of social media, multimedia, and 24/7 news cycles, who needs news releases?
You do, if you represent an organization or business.
Blogs and social media sites like Twitter and LinkedIn can spread the word, but you will also need a news release if it is an important announcement. Here’s why.
News releases boost the effectiveness of social media.
News releases provide room for details and explain the “who, what, when, where, why and how” in a format that people can quickly understand. News releases also are an opportunity to present information from your organization’s point of view to your customers, investors, and business partners, as well as reporters.
Post the news release on your Web site, and have your social media posts link to it. That way, people can click the link if they want more information, and you can measure the level of interest in your announcement.
News releases improve search engine rankings.
By distributing your news release on a reputable wire service, it is embedded in news sites across the Internet. Updating your Web site with news releases creates additional ways for search engines to find your organization, helping boost your rankings.
News releases help you connect with reporters – to a point.
Journalists love to grumble about news releases, and they have some valid complaints. That said, news releases are still useful when connecting with the media if you know what you are doing. We’ll talk about that another day.
