When are press releases worth the money? Paid press releases with the PR newswires can be an element of a larger media strategy, but if you are thinking of spending the few hundred dollars for the placement, make sure you ask yourself a few questions first to ensure you are pursuing the right strategy.
Here’s a list of questions to ask yourself before you invest the money.
Questions to ask yourself
Am I trying to get publicity with journalists?
If you are, you will be better pitching them the story individually. If they don’t hear of your idea, they won’t know about it, and chances are they aren’t going to the PR newswires looking for ideas.
Do I want to get something on the record?
If your company has achieved a major milestone, signed a major client, hit an impressive sales number, etc – a press release on the PR newswires can be extremely helpful in disseminating that message.
Do I need exposure for my new website?
A paid press release is extremely helpful in these situations because the backlinks will help you instantly with search engine ranking.
Finally, if you decide to take the paid PR newswire route, make sure you identify the strongest narrative for your press release and write that headline so it is geared towards the search engines. And if writing is not your strength, hire a professional PR agency to help you with the release.
Marketing peers named MACIAS PR the 2017 and 2018 Strategic PR Firm of the Year. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Finance Monthly named MACIAS PR the Financial PR Firm of the Year. The founder – Mark Macias – is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. He’s also a frequent contributor with CNBC and author of the books, Beat the Press: Your Guide to Managing the Media and the Tao of PR.