Regardless of whether you’re running a startup or an established corporation, one of the most effective marketing strategies is content distribution. However, figuring out your brand’s objectives, analyzing vendors, and measuring success can be complex and sometimes even intimidating. It is for this reason that press release and content distribution services exist. In fact, there are so many marketplace options to choose from to achieve your distribution goals.
Press release distribution services help you to circulate your brand’s content to journalists, social media influencers, traditional or digital media outlets, and top-tier news networks either automatically or manually. The primary purpose of these services is to provide media coverage for a company’s brand story and position it in front of an audience that is interested in the brand.
Creating a press release and other newsworthy content is useless if audiences do not see it. When your brand has adequate media coverage, it can boost your visibility, business, sales, and profits. However, with so many distribution services out there, you need to be careful while selecting one. By choosing the best service, you will get the attention you crave for your brand. This media coverage will only be possible if you are working with an appropriate distribution service.
Tips for Choosing an Automated Press Release Distribution Service (Newswire Agency)
1) Pricing
Pricing is generally one of the most important factors when trying to pick a distribution service. Depending on the provider, fees can range between $0 to thousands of dollars. You need to consider your budget so that you do not go excessively over it. While a higher price point may mean better service, it is advisable to go for services within your company’s estimated budget, compare all the features, and then make a selection that gives you everything you need at an affordable cost.
It is also worth noting that there is rarely one set price because the cost of distributing a press release can vary depending on the geographical reach of the distribution, add-ons, and extra features. Most providers will charge extra for add-ons, so it is essential to understand how much you are expected to pay at the end of the process.
Other than the actual price, it is crucial to choose a provider with an easy-to-understand pricing plan and a high level of transparency. Pressfarm is a PR agency that is cost-effective and has clear pricing plans for your company to choose from depending on your media coverage needs. With both startups to established businesses in mind, they have designed packages that will suit your needs. They focus on creating awareness for your company’s brand, building its credibility, and increasing its reach.
Their PR professionals and expert writers also help create newsworthy content, from email pitches and press releases to press kits and guest posts. In addition, their account executive will create a personalized action plan and a tailor-made PR media list to help you distribute your content to the appropriate media professionals. Pressfarm will also submit your company to directories and review websites to improve your SEO and put you in front of your target audience.
2) List of outlets
You need to think about how many media outlets the service covers. Choose quality over quantity when considering a distribution service. While it may be great to have a large number of media professionals to choose from, sometimes they may not fit your niche. If this is the case, you will eventually not get the results you envisioned. You should not get overwhelmed if you find a service that distributes more press releases or newsworthy content at a reasonable price. When you circulate press releases, you need to focus on its quality and where it’s going. If you fail to distribute an engaging press release, your goals for using PR services will not be achieved.
Media outlets can include news websites, aggregators, and news content systems. The available outlets will also depend on the pricing plan that your company selects.
3) Intended audience
When your company creates any newsworthy content, you need first to ask who you are creating this content for. For example, you can segment your audience by; local, regional, and national markets; multicultural markets; specific industries, and international.
Depending on the audience that your company is trying to reach, you need to figure out the targeting options for the distribution service that you are signing up for.
4) Extra features
It’s true that additional features other than press release distribution are usually charged at an extra fee. Be that as it may, it is still worth looking into these features if they will benefit your company’s media coverage. Features and additional services can include customizable, interactive content, the option to add multimedia to your press release, and other services.
Some distribution services will also help create guest posts and feature stories that can help your brand to feature in relevant search results across major search engines. In this way, you can increase your online visibility.
5) Support
Support can mean anything from offering 24/7 customer support to offering proofreading and editorial support for your company’s content. One way to see whether the provider has strong customer support is to look through reviews or ask people that have previously used the service. Looking at testimonials can clear any doubts that a company might have. After all, when previous clients are happy with a distribution service, they will leave a review expressing satisfaction. Reviews can help companies make better decisions and select the best press release distribution service.
6) Analyze the success
The role of PR services is not only limited to the creation and distribution of newsworthy content over a more comprehensive network. It also encompasses the ability to analyze and measure the success of distribution. Effective distribution services should give companies better insight into their distribution efforts; only then will you be able to track the level of engagement that your content is getting.
Ideally, a distribution service should allow you to measure your analytics produced both quantitatively and qualitatively. The data you receive through the service should help you to see how effective your PR efforts were in raising awareness and influencing a brand’s conversation and behaviour.
Note: It is imperative to check the reputation of the distribution service. Good services are highly visible. The service that you choose should be professional and reputable in addition to helping you use authentic PR tactics and tools that will prove beneficial for you. Additionally, you need to look at the traffic that the service is receiving because the more traffic it is getting, the more likely it is to provide the best results.
7) Search visibility
The events of 2020 resulted in technological advances and unprecedented changes in customer behaviour. As a result, the PR environment is very different from what we were used to before 2020. Although traditional public relations still exists, circulation numbers are shrinking as people increasingly turn to the internet and social media sites for news. Since online media outlets and influencers wield more leverage than ever before, the public relations industry has grown dramatically over the last decade. Using a combination of traditional and digital PR strategies is what makes a business more competitive in the long run. You can use a combination of traditional and modern PR strategies to establish a digital footprint by using press releases, email pitches, and other materials. Through professional networks and social proof, digital PR will help you to reach out to your target audience. A well-planned digital PR strategy will also boost your SEO ranking.
For these reasons, you should aim to raise brand awareness, generate and distribute high-quality content, launch viral campaigns, use social media marketing, and collaborate with traditional media.
In order to boost your SEO score, you should look for a service with high domain authority. This will help improve your chances of appearing on relevant search engines and in front of your target audience.
8) User experience
It does not matter how good a service is if you cannot use it efficiently because of its complex design or features. In the decision-making process, you should consider user interface of each service. You should avoid overly complicated programs. During the selection process, it is often advisable to watch a demo or read feedback. Once you’ve done this, you can make a decision after gaining a better understanding of the features.
Ultimately, you should choose a secure and accessible tool, especially if you plan to distribute content regularly. If possible, you should try the platform yourself and pay attention to what other reviewers are saying.
Tips for Choosing a Manual Press Release Distribution Service
Manual distribution services give you the tools to effectively pitch your story to the media on your own. While both automated and manual are great ways to distribute content, distributing manually takes a bit more time and effort. You generally have to create content, find media contacts, build a media list, pitch the people on that list, follow up, and build media relations with media professionals – all on your own.
The benefit of manual press release services is that they will make your media outreach easier while still offering you a DIY option. Everything from managing contacts to actual distribution is made easier with a CRM for PR and manual distribution services. In this way, a manual distribution service makes the overall process much easier. For example, you can send your press releases to many interested journalists at once thanks to personalization functionality, high deliverability, and effective follow-ups. The downside of this method, compared to newswires, is that the process can still take longer, and the reach is smaller.
Things should consider when choosing the best PR outreach tools
As with automated distribution services, there are some things you should consider when choosing the best PR outreach tools for your needs. These include:
- Does the pricing fit your budget?
- Is there a media database?
- Does it offer contact management?
- Are there features for personalization?
- Is there an email creator (visual editor)
- What is the deliverability rate?
- Does it offer tools for follow-up?
- Is there a press release builder?
- Does it offer integration with other tools?
You need to make sure that the service you choose has a media database. The reason for this is because you should be pitching your story to relevant media contacts. It is perfectly all right if you already have your own media contacts or are using a different provider. Even so, it’s much easier if everything is integrated in one location.
With Pressfarm, you have access to a media database of over one million media professionals. Beyond that, you receive a customized media list created by their account executives. This way, you can pitch relevant journalists who are likely to be interested in your stories.
Pricing-wise, you need to look into how much you need to pay and what features are included when purchasing a plan or contract. You should also look for a service that lets you easily manage and store your media contacts. After all, one of the reasons PR outreach works so well is because the process is personalized. For this reason, manual distribution services should allow you to do targeted pitching while saving a lot of time and effort.
Conclusion
Press releases have become an effective way for brands to get media coverage. For this reason, it is worth putting in the time and effort to figure out which press release distribution service is best for your business. You need to start by listing the essential features, then narrow down your search to a few options. Give these options a try, then see which one works best for you.