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Just wanted to pick your brain on something.
I've been contemplating the possibility of using the above to advertise new site launches (for my customers). I therefore thought of teaming up with a local marketing/pr company and use them to write the PR and I will submit it to the most relevant / visited / syndicated site... only one question needs answering ...
WHICH ONES? :)
I know of prweb and prnewswire, but which one do you guys use?
My customer's market is mainly UK based (France based coming soon) and their budget is usually small. So which ones would you recommend using?
Thanks for your feedback.
Leo
By niche, I mean that you should target the specific sector at whom the site is aimed. Find the magazines and websites that cater to the market in question; send them your press releases.
Be warned though; I work as an editor in the trade press (when I'm not lurking around this site) and I can tell you that 99.9% of all press releases announcing the launch of yet another web site go straight in to the bin (unless you happen to be the editor of "New Website Weekly" or somesuch).
The usual press release, "Fred Smith & Co, are pleased to announce the launch of their exciting new website. Offering easy accessibility to Fred Smith & Co's unique range of widgets, the site is sure to build on the company's growing reputation for blah, blah, blah...", is just so bland and provides nothing of merit; it just isn't newsworthy so why would I want to share it with my readers?
These type of releases cause us no end of amusement. "Hold the front page! Fred Smith's got a new web site!" We hold these in much the same contempt as we do the "Fred Smith & Co, are pleased to announce that John Doe has been appointed as Senior VP, Marketing, in charge of toilet paper procurement," type of announcements.
However (there is hope), you show me a press release announcing the launch of a web site that has something unique about it - perhaps access to information previously not available online - and I'll be interested.
Give me news about a new online resource that really is a resource and I'll be only too happy to break your news for you. What's in it for my readers? Why should they visit this new site; what's in it for them? What will they get out of it by taking the time to visit?
Only you know the answers to these questions...
Most of the time press releases (any press releases) seem to be written with self interest in mind. Companies aim these things at themselves and not at the minds of their target audience.
If you don't fall into this narcissistic trap you'll stand a reasonable chance of an editor deeming your efforts worthy of publishing.
First things first though, you need to target the right editor's and this is where doing your proverbial homework and taking the niche market approach will likely see much greater dividends for you, and your clients.
Stick with the 'scatter-gun' approach too, if you like. There's no harm in it, but you'll be less likely to get the coverage you seek - IMHO.
Syzygy
