A 7-Step Guide to Selecting the Best Online Press Release Distribution Service

Table of Contents

• What Exactly is Press Release Distribution?
• The Need for an Online Press Distribution Service
• 7-Step Guide to Selecting the Best Online Press Release Distribution Service
• Results to Expect From an Online Press Distribution Service

Press releases are one of the most powerful ways to build your company’s brand. Press coverage helps your company get visibility and recognition, whether it is a small business, a startup, or a corporation.

But just getting press releases isn’t enough. After all, what good is a press release if it isn’t visible to anyone? That is where online press release distribution services come in.

Press release distribution helps distribute your press releases across multiple media channels and sources.

What Exactly is Press Release Distribution?

Press release distribution is the process of sharing your press releases across many audiences, including media outlets (both traditional & digital), social networks, influencers, and journalists.

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This is important because it helps you bring awareness to your brand and let your audience know what’s happening in your company. Press releases normally include updates on the product, partnerships, significant announcements, campaigns, etc.

A company can build its brand, manage its reputation, and stay on top of its audience’s mind through press release distribution. And the best way to ensure that your company’s press releases are being distributed to the right publications, media outlets, and influential people is by hiring a press distribution service that can do the job efficiently for you.

The Need for an Online Press Distribution Service

The steps to distribute press releases broadly involve creating content, preparing a list of publications where you can pitch your press releases, sending pitches, monitoring the approval of your pitches, and, if approved, analyzing the performance of your press releases.

Lots of work, isn’t it?

Doing all this yourself is time-consuming and not a budget-friendly option either.

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A press release distribution service helps take this workload off your shoulders and does the job efficiently. It makes sure that your press releases are distributed across various media outlets, are gaining exposure, and that everything is timely and relevant.

7-Step Guide to Selecting the Best Online Press Release Distribution Service

So, you are ready to distribute your press releases and strengthen your brand. But before you hire an online press release distribution service, there are a couple of factors to consider.

A bad press distribution service is a waste of your time and money. And a service that’s good for one company doesn’t necessarily have to be suitable for another.

So, let’s get down to the key factors to consider when selecting PR distribution services.

1. Type of press release distribution service

Online press release distribution services fall into two categories: automated and manual.
Based on your needs, you can choose either one.

Automated press distribution services are basically newswires that distribute your press releases to news and media outlets that subscribe to them. While they are a quick way to distribute press releases and offer a wider reach, they may not always be effective and are fairly expensive.

Manual press distribution services are tools that help you pitch your press releases by yourself using PR outreach. In this case, you reach out to media outlets and journalists relevant to your business using a dedicated tool. If you plan to go this route, the type of PR outreach tool that you choose matters.

Consider the pros and cons of each option before selecting one for your company. When selecting a press release distribution service, look for the following factors once you’ve figured out the type of PR distribution service you want.

2. Industry experience

PR distribution is about contacts and relationships. The longer the press release distribution service has been in business, the better they will know when and where to share your press releases. While newer press release distribution services will be easier on your pockets, they may not help you get the results you want.

3. Coverage

The primary aim of distributing your press releases is to introduce your brand to more people and generate awareness about your brand. Hence, the press release distribution service that you select should provide enough coverage so that news about your company reaches more people.

So, always ask:

• How many news and media outlets does the PR distribution service cover?
• What type of news placements will they offer?
• Are there guaranteed placements?
• Are the sites where your press releases are sent good ones?

4. Authority

Just because your press releases are being sent out to a broad range of news and media outlets doesn’t mean that the job is done. There’s no value for press releases sent out to sites that have no authority. After all, how will your stories gain visibility if they don’t appear on the first page of Google?

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So, when you’re selecting an online press release distribution service and looking at the amount of exposure your press releases will get, you should also look for the quality of those news and media sites.

5. Data-driven insights

Does the PR distribution service provide insights into the exposure gained and how many people read your release? These insights are important because they tell you what is working and what isn’t, which sites reach the intended people and which don’t.

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Data-driven insights help you customize your plan based on the insights provided and increase the efficiency of your online press release distribution services.

6. Pricing

We can’t leave out the pricing when considering a PR distribution service, right? The pricing of online press release distribution services can be vastly different based on their services. You need to know your must-have features and then gauge the pricing based on the features provided.

Don’t fall for sophisticated pricing plans; instead, look for pricing plans that you can understand. You don’t want to be paying for every additional feature request down the line, do you?

7. Support

Last but not least, you must consider the type of customer service that the press release distribution service provides.

Press releases are mostly time-bound, and if problems arise, they need to be addressed as soon as possible. A press release distribution service with good customer support is important.

Look through reviews and do some digging to get a perspective of the efficiency and reliability of the customer support of the service you’re considering before you commit to it.

Results to Expect From an Online Press Distribution Service

Before hiring an online press distribution service, you need to set your expectations straight.

And align those expectations with the kind of results you can get through PR distribution services.

Here are the results you should expect from an online press distribution service:

1. Exposure to well-established media sites

Your PR distribution service should increase your exposure across high-authority media sites. Exposure in these outlets will build credibility for your brand and enhance your brand image.

2. Increased awareness about your company

Naturally, the more exposure your company gets across various media outlets, people will start recognizing your company, and awareness about your product will improve.

3. Improvement in your brand image

Press releases are an essential aspect of building a brand. Over time, efficiently distributing your press releases across good media outlets will help build a story around your brand, and people will start associating with it. Your brand image will transform from an average company to one that is proactive and doesn’t shy away from sharing important information with its audience.

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4. Crisis management

A marketing campaign gone wrong, a statement taken out of context, or a piece of old news resurfacing across the web: crises can come from anywhere and spread like wildfire in the digital world.

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Having a press release distribution service in place can be an efficient crisis management tool that’ll help you handle the situation before it goes out of hand. You’ll be alerted about the news and promptly take action to share your point of view and bring that to the forefront of media outlets.

The Final Word

Press releases are an essential tool to help you build your brand and reach a wider audience. And distribution lies at the core of this goal.

While you can always make a list of media outlets and pitch them your press releases, it’s a time-consuming task. Moreover, there’s no guarantee your press release pitches will be accepted by the media outlets.

That’s where press release distribution services come to play. They help you distribute your press releases to relevant journalists and news outlets and save you hours of time and effort.

With so many PR distribution services in the market, selecting one can be a cumbersome task.

Nevertheless, having a clear understanding of what you wish to achieve from your PR distribution services and the features you want will help you find the best online press release distribution service for your company.

Key Takeaways

• There is no doubt that you’ll need press release distribution services for your company if you intend to make press releases a part of your branding strategy.
• You cannot expect to do it manually, from writing to making a list of publications to pitching them to analyzing the data. It is a time-consuming task.
• The right press release distribution service will help you reach your goals and beyond that. However, what works for one company may not work for another. Hence, you need to consider certain things before you settle for one.
• The press release distribution service you choose has a good customer support team that is always available to resolve any issues you’re facing.
• Look for reviews and see if a press release distribution service has multiple active communication channels.
• While press release distribution intends to guarantee visibility across reliable news and media outlets and get as much exposure as possible, it is essential to understand that this is a part of your branding.
• You need to be consistent with your releases and stand apart from others so that people remember your company and the news you’re sharing.

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