In an ever-evolving digital marketing landscape, the humble press release has remained relevant. First used as far back as the early 1900s, the PR release, as it is sometimes called, is a valuable tool companies use to promote goods or services, build credibility, and be discovered by a wider audience.

One of the most significant benefits of the press release is that it’s possibly one of the only cost-effective solutions that offers both local and global reach. 

However, some crucial questions must be considered to truly see success with a release and have it featured on the most prominent content distribution platforms. 

In this blog, we’ll focus on one such aspect — crafting a press release that caters to local vs. global audiences. We’ll also look at the main differences between local and global content and the pros and cons of each strategy.

Targeting Local Audiences With a Press Release

Local targeting is a press release strategy companies use to attract the attention of communities within a specified geographic location. 

It’s a tool most commonly employed by small business owners to generate positive sentiment about their brand, service, or product in the local media. It also allows companies to reach out to relevant audiences that directly impact their sales numbers.

At the same time, such campaigns also allow global conglomerates to capitalize from hyperlocal markets — CocaCola’s personalized bottles are a prominent example. 

The same principle holds true for local press releases. When crafting a release to target a specific group, organizations must analyze the region's demographics and offer them the most relevant content through local distribution channels. 

Some examples of local distribution channels include: 

  • Local newspapers

  • Radio stations

  • Community blogs 

Benefits of Local Press Release Targeting

Some of the benefits you get with local press release targeting and are simply not possible with global targeting include:  

  • Increased audience relevance: When targeting a specific audience, companies are more likely to reach customers who are likely to resonate with their message.

  • Solid community relationships: Local press releases can help your company boost its reputation among the most relevant audiences. 

  • Comprehensive feedback: It's easier and quicker to analyze the impact of the release by collating feedback and tracking engagement rate metrics.  

Challenges of Targeting Local Audiences

While marketing localization has several advantages, it is also extremely tricky. When crafting and distributing local content, companies may run into several hurdles. These include: 

  • Limited reach: The most obvious setback with writing a press release targeting only local media outlets is that it reaches a smaller audience. A company must, therefore, ensure that its release has a high conversion rate.

  • Potential for oversaturation: Local press releases may often find themselves in direct competition with other organizations vying for the same small pool of buyers. This leads to oversaturated local markets.

  • Scalability issues: While a local press release strategy may be exceptionally efficient at targeting a particular community, there is minimal scope for scaling. Essentially, a company that opts for such marketing must decide whether it is worth putting all its eggs in one basket.

 

Targeting Global Audiences With Press Releases

Global audience targeting and national targeting are press releases through which your company can spread its message and generate goodwill across diverse communities and borders. 

Not only does this allow organizations to reach a wider customer base, but global media channels also offer prestige that can boost a company’s credibility.

Some examples of distribution channels with global outreach include: 

  • The internet/social media 

  • Newswires

  • Company websites

 

Advantages of Global Press Release Distribution

An organization that crafts a press release to target international audiences is more likely to see benefits in these three areas: 

  • Wider reach: Global targeting allows a company to reach a large potential customer base. This audience could span several geographic regions.

  • Opportunities for growth: Along with building a wider customer base, a press release can allow a company to expand across borders.

  • Diverse customer base: Another vital byproduct of global targeting is that it allows companies to target a broad range of customers with varying backgrounds, tastes, and preferences. 

Challenges With Global Audience Targeting

Crafting a press release that successfully appeals to such a large customer base while maintaining consistency also comes with a fair share of challenges. 

  • Language barriers:  A press release written and distributed in English is essentially useless in a purely Spanish-speaking country. As a result, marketing and PR teams looking to target global media channels will have to invest in translators.

  • Increased competition: Small companies may consider themselves big fish when it comes to regional PR. But expanding this messaging across borders leads to heightened competition, often with more successful global conglomerates. 

  • Maintaining brand consistency: Tailoring press releases based on local markets is a commonly adopted tactic. The issue, however, comes in maintaining consistent messaging across vastly diverse markets in the process.

 

Tailoring Content for Specific Regions

As we have seen, geographic targeting has its fair share of advantages and drawbacks. 

But at the end of the day, whether intended to capture a local or a global market, a press release must be adaptable to suit the audience's preferences. 

Some global audiences, for example, will require more detailed press releases when the news concerns a local community. At the same time, international PR must consider various local preferences before distributing a release for the world to read. 

Here are some points to keep in mind when creating content for specific regions: 

  • Language considerations: When appealing to a specific group of individuals, make extra effort to speak to appeal to them in a language of their choice. 

  • Cultural considerations: One of the biggest mistakes a company can make is not respecting the culture of a region before distributing a press release. 

  • Localized messaging: You should include points in your press release that are most relevant to the market you are attempting to break into.

To achieve consistency in your content, start with properly studying your target audience and defining your brand voice.

Once that is clear, you can move on to the next stage, which involves hiring translation teams and local experts to communicate your message without any misunderstandings. 

Above all, however, remember the importance of being authentic and respectful. 

 

The Role of Cultural Sensitivity

A press release is usually picked up for publishing by a media house. 

This means that your press release must adhere to the ethics of journalism and should be written with a certain amount of cultural sensitivity. 

Simply translating a release from English to Arabic isn’t enough for it to be considered a global campaign. It’s also essential to: 

  • Research cultural norms and values 

  • Consult with local experts and translators  

  • Adopt more inclusive communication practices

Once a press release has been distributed, a company can further track the audience’s receptiveness by monitoring a few metrics. These include website activity, click-through rate, and social media engagement, among others. 

Additionally, Canada Newswire offers complimentary visibility reports with each release. This tool allows a company to track and measure such crucial metrics while ensuring its campaigns haven’t generated any negative sentiment. 

 

Conclusion

To summarize, targeting both local and global markets has its own PR impact; the choice between the two depends largely on the objectives of the company crafting the press release.

While global content distribution offers a much wider customer base, local targeting can offer a higher conversion rate and build more solid community relationships. 

Striking the right balance between the two is key — and one of the main objectives of any cross-functional marketing team.

Hopefully, these strategies and insights have inspired you to improve future press release campaigns. If you have any more questions related to comparing local vs. global PR strategies or the impact of geographic targeting in PR, we recommend reaching out to the Canada Newswire team today.