With all the buzz about content marketing and online marketing, a medium that's been missing from the discussion is press releases. I find this rather odd, since press releases are definitely an aspect of both online marketing and content marketing, and can accomplish things that blogs, white papers, and ebooks aren't really meant for.
One of the biggest things that press releases can accomplish that its provides an avenue for businesses to toot your own horn. Yes, with press releases, it's completely okay to talk about yourself and any good things you are doing, whether it's the launch of a new product, a new partnership, a new addition to the team. As long as its news, you can write about your and your business all you want. You can also easily distribute the press release across platforms such as PR.com, PRWeb, and PRLog.
If you're worried about search engine rankings and SEO, then publishing press releases on a regular basis is a good idea. Although the press releases aren't tied directly to your domain name, they do add visibility to your business if optimized appropriately. If you do weekly press releases optimizing the keyword "how to blog", for example, then those press releases are going to come up when people type in "how to blog." Hopefully, you've included contact information and a link or two in that press release, further boosting visibility.
There are lots of press releases going out each and every day. Not all of them are very newsworthy or even written very well. The point of press releases should be to increase visibility online in the search engines, not necessarily with other blogs or online publications. If you want visibility on those sites, then you need to get in touch with them directly. The people who handle the content for those sites aren't trolling press release sites for story leads, but they do appreciate it when press releases are sent to them directly. It's not guarantee, but it's more proactive then simply putting it on PR.com.
If you'd like some help in getting press releases out for your company, then contact me today for a consultation.