Image by Prasong Takham

“It’s PR that needs to be creative. It’s PR that needs to be new and different. It’s PR that needs to be original. The best way to establish a brand is to create a new category, and creating a new category requires creative thinking of the highest order.”

-Al & Laura Ries

 

So you have a new strategic partner to increase sales opportunities with the same prospects in your respective channels and networks?

Assuming it’s a great fit, congratulations! The two of you will solve unique business challenges of your target  customers — if you create a bond of trust with your audience.

How? Credibile, authoritative impressions are created with the right Internet buzz.

Start with the right approach — a joint press release to boost the online presence for each of you. Create messages that the two of you control in terms of content, format and tone.

Why? A study shows PR is nearly 90 percent more valuable than content marketing.

How to create joint Web press releases for maximum buzz:

  1. Identify the search keywords and key phrases that will serve as magnets for attention. Insert the keywords in your headline and copy. Determine a maximum of 10 keywords so they don’t confuse the search-engine crawlers.
  2. Be careful not to dilute the impact of your headline by inserting too many keywords. That goes for the body of your press release. Search-engine crawlers, especially Google, will react negatively.
  3. Develop a concise summary for insertion beneath your headline – as a subtitle – with an effective meta description. Accomplish this with an economy of words to summarize the content of your press release.
  4. In your release, insert subheadings for the different topical paragraphs in boldface to improve readability.
  5. To keep readers interested, write short sentences and paragraphs.
  6. Include links as calls-to-action to visit specific pages on your companies’ sites.
  7. Insert high-resolution pictures and videos to complement your editorial copy. Good videos, in particular, increase your PR return on investment by 50 percent or higher. But make sure you create professional business videos.
  8. Double-check your release for SEO – search engine optimization — and use it on your companies’ sites. Be current on the best strategies for top organic search-engine ranking.
  9. Include a social-media toolbar so readers can share your release. (Insert social-sharing buttons/widgets for either ShareThis or AddToAny. For WordPress sites, use SassySocialShare.)
  10. Insert the press release on your companies’ sites. If you don’t have one, create a “press room” page.
  11. One benefit of a joint press release is that you can now afford to hire an expensive distribution firm that delivers press releases directly to editors and reporters in the news media. Otherwise, you can do it yourselves if you have the right skills. Even on a limited budget, you can leverage the news media.
  12. If you use a distribution service, be sure to use a service that gets published on Google. You can check by merely Googling to see if the service is successful in inserting press releases on the search engine.
  13. Don’t forget to cross-promote your joint venture on both companies’ channels and networks – social media, blogs and in any online advertising.

Good luck!

From the Coach’s Corner, Don’t overlook anything. Be sure to read these related tips:

For a Bounce in Revenue, Try Strategic Press Releases — Ever wonder why some companies are always in the news or how they succeed on the Internet? It’s a good bet they have a good PR consultant or have mastered the art of writing press releases. You can level the playing field with effective press releases. They should be part of your marketing mix.

Inspiration from Raymond Loewy for the Best Business PR — Iconic Raymond Loewy taught us public relations — how to get noticed.

​Are You Using Lead Nurturing to Grow Your Business? — ​How lead nurturing tools including artificial intelligence help to maximize profit.

Marketing ​Success — ​Stay Abreast of Continual Change — Up-to-date approaches for an interconnected marketing strategy for maximum results.

Marketing Strategies that Will Hit a Bullseye for Gold — Because of heavy competition, marketing has become more difficult. Consumers are suffering from consumer overload; they’re inundated with marketing messages. So use these precautions to connect with your target customers.

“If you don’t tell your story, someone else will.”

-Unknown

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Author Terry Corbell has written innumerable online business-enhancement articles, and is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services. For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule him as a speaker, consultant or author, please contact Terry.