How to Develop Marketing Strategies for Press Releases

Press releases are an essential part of marketing communication, and it’s easy to see why — they are inexpensive, more credible than paid media, reach a wide and diverse audience, and win customers over with creative storytelling.

Releases have been in use for over 100 years, but recently, there has been a shift in how we distribute and measure them. PR distribution in Canada, for instance, has altered its focus from traditional mediums to digital media — making the most of social media platforms, SEO, and various multimedia elements.

Simultaneously, measuring a release’s impact has become much easier, with tools effectively tracking topline metrics and AI-powered technologies enhancing audience analysis.

In this dynamic landscape, one question remains: how do PR professionals develop and make the most of press release marketing strategies? 

Developing a Marketing Strategy

For a press release strategy to work as intended, its content must strike a balance between being informative and compelling. However, even with content aside, there are several other considerations that go into developing the perfect marketing strategy.

Identifying Target Audience and Media Outlets

Releases are meant to cast a wide net, thereby appealing to both local and international readers. However, zeroing in on a target audience for press releases is equally as crucial.

For example, a release detailing the launch of a new device is more likely to catch the interest of a, tech-savvy audience than those who don’t use social media. 

How can you similarly identify and segment your audience? Here are some considerations to take on board: 

  • Demographics: Including marital status, income, age, level of education, etc.
  • Psychographics: Including behaviours, habits, hobbies, values, and ideals.
  • Media consumption patterns: Social media, newspapers, online news, etc. 

When these segments come together, you can use them to create an audience profile and to determine which segment best represents your audience, it’s easy to rely on data-analysis tools, conduct surveys, or study competitors' marketing efforts.

Press Release Timing and Frequency

Timing is another critical factor in determining a press release’s success. 

There are several aspects to this, and the first is deciding how long before an event or product launch you should put out a release. Posting at least a week prior gives the audience/journalists enough time to process and act on the information.

Your second factor is the day of the week: while there is no set rule for which day is better to distribute a release, choosing the week’s beginning reflects the best results when targeting journalists and media professionals. 

The news cycle is another factor that impacts the timing, relevance, and visibility of a release: for example, sending out a release detailing a company’s climate initiatives as part of a news cycle dominated by the latest climate summit will increase its likelihood of being run.

Meanwhile, in terms of frequency, digital PR has a lot of wiggle room: provided you ensure all of your content is engaging and optimized for SEO, there is no limit on the frequency of your media outreach - in fact, consistency leads to increased visibility.

Integrating Press Releases With Broader Marketing Efforts

Ask yourself: What is a press release in marketing terms?

Rather than serving as a standalone PR tactic, a press release should ideally be seen as a part of integrated marketing communication, all aspects of which — print ads, promotions, press releases, etc — present a united front to an audience.

To achieve this cohesiveness, it’s essential to: 

  • Study an audience in detail, understanding their preferences and behaviors. 
  • Have a strong, overarching theme that inspires individual marketing tactics.
  • Maintain consistency in language, tone, and visual branding, while allowing room to personalize for various distribution channels.
  • Measure the impact of a marketing campaign and refine strategies accordingly.

Apple’s media outreach tactics are a great example of such integration:

  • A press release will announce the latest phone with all its most crucial information, such as its specifications and launch dates.
  • Meanwhile, the company’s social accounts will tease the launch with videos and images showcasing the new phone’s capabilities.
  • Simultaneously, existing customers are targeted with emails, offering trade-in deals or information about how this phone differs from previous models. 
  • These marketing tactics promote Apple’s core messages — superior design, simplicity, and innovation. 

These efforts ensure that every iPhone launch is a highly anticipated event.

Effective Distribution Strategies

Once a PR release strategy is finalized, it must be published in relevant spaces - and this is where distribution comes in.

By creating an effective content marketing distribution strategy, a PR professional can share their message with a larger audience. 

Leveraging Digital Distribution Platforms

A significant advantage of working with digital press release platforms, such as Canada Newswire, is that you benefit from their reach.

Leveraging newswire services for press releases opens you up to a vast network of journalists, news platforms, and websites, improving your chances of publication. At the same time, they help ensure your release is error-free, targets specific audiences, and incorporates eye-catching multimedia elements. 

These services can also assist with crafting link building press releases and measuring the impact of a release once distributed.

Alternatively, your release could also be distributed directly to a network of journalists or bloggers, hosted on a company’s website, or sent out via email. In this digital age, influencer collaboration is also widely employed for PR distribution.

Maximizing Reach and Engagement

In order to make the most of this reach, it’s essential to develop a solid understanding of your target audience and adjust each release accordingly. Crafting catchy headlines, employing effective press release writing techniques, and including data and quotes can all improve your chances of a release being picked up by relevant journalists and publications.

Ensuring audience engagement, however, is more tricky — especially when working within the confines of journalistic writing. Some tried and tested methods you could employ to make the most of this reach include: 

  • Optimizing for SEO: Include a mix of long-tail and short-tail keywords in your press release — especially in the headline, subheadings, and opening. This, combined with backlinks, makes content easier to find and increases traffic.
  • Multimedia elements: Including images, videos, graphics, and other multimedia elements not only makes a release more attractive to an audience but also makes it easier for a journalist to turn it into a story. 
  • Social media integration: Share every release on your brand’s social media handles, ensuring each post is tailored to the platform’s audience.

Press Release Success Stories

Consider Heinz’s playful “Art of the Burger” Competition: in 2021, ketchup brand Heinz announced via press release that it was looking for a “head-burger artist”, and invited its audience to post pictures of their unique burger creations. 

While the headline was catchy enough, the release also announced a $25,000 prize for the winner, generating serious excitement. 

Multiple websites, including CBS News and the Business Wire, published this release. Heinz posted the best recipes of the week on their social media before eventually announcing a winner in another widely published release.

Measuring Success

All too often, a company sends out hundreds of press releases before assessing what they can do better. To avoid making a similar mistake, consider the following tips.

Assessing Key Metrics

By tracking and analyzing the right performance indicators, such as reach, engagement, or conversions, you can gain valuable insights into your campaign.

The question here becomes: Which press release engagement metrics are most relevant?

Should you be tracking online visibility? Audience sentiment? Media coverage? Each release must be distributed with a clear objective, making measuring its success easier.

Utilizing Feedback for Strategy Refinement

While press release analytics tools do their part, this effort still amounts to nothing unless the feedback is used to refine your content strategy for press releases. This could involve adjusting your messaging, taking your audience’s pain points into account, or optimizing SEO more efficiently. 

Considering how much data you can access, there is a plethora of information available  to continuously improve your campaign. 

For instance, every press release distributed through Canada Newswire is accompanied by a complimentary Visibility Report. This allows you to evaluate the performance of your release in detail, including how it was received and engaged with by media houses, organizations, and target audiences.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, there is no set formula for understanding how press releases work.

Instead, marketing press releases the right way involves following a combination of best practices — from crafting compelling content and picking the right distribution channels to making the most of the post-analysis process.

PR professionals and companies who adopt a well-rounded approach will benefit from increased visibility and reach. For any assistance with your press release, or to stay informed about the latest trends and tools in press release marketing, don’t hesitate to contact our Canada Newswire team.