Press Releases – Powerful Free Inbound Marketing Tools

To complete my Free Traffic post published back in 2010 (link), today I want to explore the power of inbound marketing through the news media.

While internet marketing will certainly drive a good amount of targeted traffic to your web site, the credibility of your message will seldom be as powerful as that of a reporter. Regarded as an authority and held higher than most standards, media stories are key elements to your online success.

How does one get featured in a media story?
That’s the million dollar question. Here’s the million dollar answer. Before you embark on writing a press release, you will need the following:

1. Someone articulate to talk about the story to a reporter
2. Photos pertaining to the story and person interviewed by reporter
3. Statistics about items found in the story
4. Video, sound bites or other multimedia files when available
5. Customer testimonials and possible references
6. A press kit featuring information about the company
7. A web site ready to accommodate web traffic from this media exposure
8. Customer service (and sales team) informed of the forthcoming article
9. Media distribution list (typically email – contact me for help)
10. The means to send out press releases en masse (contact me for help)

Once you have these items in place, you are ready to write your press release, and more importantly, equipped with the resources you’ll need to send out your press release to multiple news outlets who will publish your press release and boost your site’s exposure accordingly.