Optimising press releases

Once-upon-a-time, press releases were called news releases and were exclusively used to announce milestones and newsworthy events. That tactic is so outdated. In today’s media-saturated climate, press releases are used for everything from new products, new hires, and general information of no particular importance. Press releases have become a tool used by marketers to drive readers to a website and social media channels.

From a media standpoint, press releases are one of the most overused web marketing tactics in the aesthetic industry. The Internet is flooded daily with a barrage of worthless press releases that are, frankly, not newsworthy. One of the common mistakes seen online is a failed attempt to craft a message around the interests of the reader rather than one’s personal agenda. Does your audience really care all that much about your clinic launching a new website? Are they truly interested in the fact that you have added a new machine/product/staff member? Probably not. They really only care about how your ‘news’ will affect them. For example, does the new product solve a problem or answer an unmet need? Does it improve the user’s quality of life? Is it better, faster, cheaper, easier, safer, or otherwise superior to previous versions? If it does any of these things, you should lead with that angle instead of one that is more overtly self-serving.

Use the most important tidbit of information in the headline of the release and lead paragraph. Try to appeal to a specific audience and keep your key messages on point. Every paragraph and every quote should support the key message you want to get across. It will help get your content in front of a larger audience and to live on other sites with hyperlinks in the content pointing back to the originating site.

Once you understand the keyword phrases that are both searched on and relevant, carefully include those phrases in the headline, sub-head and the body of the press release. Hyperlink the main keyword phrases you incorporate to a relevant page on your website. The link will be helpful for your search engine optimisation (SEO) goals, and will drive readers from the press release to your website, creating additional traffic. Press releases now have the ability to incorporate images, video and audio content to keep viewers engaged.

Although there are many free news release sites to be found online, the best press release distribution services will ensure that your release reaches the most relevant channels for maximum results. These services, such as PRNewswire and PRWeb, and others, also make it easy to tap into other tools and social media platforms. When drafted properly, SEO friendly press releases can position your site to have higher search engine visibility.

Conclusions

Investing the time and effort to optimise all of the content you create for your clinic’s marketing materials and social platforms will benefit from an increase in the number of people who actually read your content and hopefully share it.