Press Releases Deliver Return on Investment

Often considered an add on to other marketing efforts, the press release is often misunderstood and mis-used. However, as a study on Marketing Experiments revealed there are clear benefits to adding press release writing and distribution to your marketing mix. The study itself is a couple of years old according to it's dateline, but it's the first I've come across it.

I've experienced press releases through my work, but never went through the process of testing and tracking with the detail that this study provides.

The study showed some great PR Practices.

Repetition was utilized. They did not just send out one press release and stop. This is a common mistake that many businesses make. They start a PR campaign and then become sidetracked or complacent and stop submitting.

Each release was newsworthy. Some releases highlighted had wider appeal than the others, but none of them were sales hype. It's really important that press releases provide something of value to the media outlet and their end consumer.

Charity work was integrated to boost results. Everyone loves a good cause and by integrating charity work into the last two releases increased interest in this experiment.

I love that this study shows a clear connection between press release distribution and results. If you have a chance, do click the link to check it out for yourself. There are some great hints there on what you can do to make your press release successful.