Category Archives: Search Engines

Writing Press Releases: Online vs. Offline

I went to a Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) event this morning. The topic was writing for the web.I’ll admit that at first I wasn’t terribly excited about the topic. It seemed so basic, I was worried the subject matter would be a review of things I already knew.And while I did understand most of the information, the presentation was a good reminder of how we as professionals can effectively present information to clients.Writing Press Releases for the InternetI was most impressed this morning with Ginny Redish’s (the presenter and author of the best-selling book Letting Go of the Words – Writing Web Content that Works) explanation of how the Internet has effected writing press releases. She showed a great diagram depicting the differences between writing press releases for an online audience vs. an offline audience. I recreated the diagram below.

Online vs. Offline

As you can see from the diagram above, before the Internet, press release writers were focused on writing releases that attracted the interests of journalists. The release had to be sent directly to the journalist and followed up with a phone call. In addition, if the release wasn’t timely, journalists didn’t care.Today, when a press release is written it should be posted online and optimized for Google search engines. The release will last as long as you post it and the general public reads it when they are interested in the information you have.In the ideal world, press releases would be pitched to the media and posted to your site. If you are really interested in the next generation of press releases, check out the social media press release pictured below. Click on the image below to enlarge it. 

The Social Media Press Release

The Social Media Press Release

 Image courtesy of Shift Communications.

Top Tools for Pushing Key Messages Online

Your website should be considered the most important piece of your online marketing puzzle, but if it is the puzzle, you might be in trouble.While your messages may be strong; Are they strong enough to rank highly in Google, as well as help bring you closer to making a deal?Balancing building your pages for search engine rankings, as well as closing a deal is a tough. That is why it is important to expand your marketing efforts beyond your website. Consider the following tools for pushing your key messages online.Google Adwords: There’s no easier way to attract visitors, then to pay for them. With Google Adwords, you create a simple text ad that shows up when people search on Google use one of your keywords during a search. You’re basically advertising to an audience that’s already interested in you. In addition, ads can be placed regionally. Businesses in competitive spaces like laptops and watches, should be aware that ad placement is done through a bidding process and can get relatively expensive.Blog: A blog is a critical piece of the online marketing puzzle. Not only do they attract visitors through search engines better than a static web pages, but they also bring a real voice to a company. A blog is a great area to make announcements. In the online world, a blog posting can have easily as much impact as a traditional press release.YouTube Video Channel: YouTube channels have the potential to reach millions. A recent article on TechCrunch [http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/07/the-internet-as-a-force-in-politics-obama-would-not-have-won-without-the-internet/] reported that Barack Obama received 14.5 million hours in free exposure during the last election.If you are having doubts, YouTube videos channels can be customized to reflect your brand. And in terms of quality, you don’t have to worry about creating HD quality video, since the web is not set up to display that.Twitter: Twitter is a free microblogging service, which asks people to report on what they are doing. The service is unique in that users can microblog by texting from their cell phones. The craze hasn’t entirely taken off, but once you try it, you’ll probably get hooked.Facebook/MySpace: Social networking, blah, blah, blah. I’ll save this explanation for later, but if you haven’t explored the possibilities, social networks like Facebook and MySpace are great places for spreading your key messages.New tools for pushing your key messages come out everyday. If you think I missed one, please share by leaving a comment.

Social Media Marketing Breakdown

Social Media Marketing Application Visual

Social Media Marketing Application Visual

Marketers who explain to other marketers that they specialize in social media marketing are often times met with smirks and rolling eyes. Social media marketing by most marketers is still seen as a waste of time as in most cases the campaigns fail to reach mass audiences.It must be understood that social media marketing is focused on allowing brand evangelists to be the spokespersons for a product in hopes that their enthusiasm will influence others.In order to achieve success social media marketers need to focus on building relationships and starting authentic conversations. The question then becomes where to host these conversations.Ideally the platform would be on a social platform that is all about the brand that the marketer is trying to promote, although utilizing an existing popular social network like Facebook, MySpace or YouTube will allow for greater reach.The key to connecting on an existing social network is bringing something of value to the users and allowing them to easily share it with their friends. This can be done by building a unique and useful application. Unless you are a developer, this should be done by contracting with a digital advertising agency. When contracting out, make sure to see examples of applications they have already built.Facebook Application Information Open Social (Myspace, LinkedIn, Ning, Friendster) Application InformationThe topic of social media marketing is huge. I hoped this helped your basic understanding. Look for more posts about this subject including case studies in the future.