Recently, a client e-mailed us with a question regarding the new world of PR.  He wanted to know since his company primarily markets to a very small niche sector in the manufacturing sector (metal finishing), should he be worried whether any of his industry’s niche market magazines or periodicals would pick up a press release through large aggregators.  He asked us if his concern was unfounded and if there is a way to be sure his industry’s normal news outlets would get the PR as well. 

Here is our reply:

If your small niche sector in manufacturing is signed up for RSS feeds, any time there is a posting to the web or your website on the subject of metal finishing, they would receive an automatic RSS feed.  The point of an optimized press release is not necessarily to notify the journalists in your niche marketing  of a new product or up to the minute news but to bump your website up in the rankings when a potential customer is searching the web for “metal finishing”.  Nine times out of ten, if you have submitted a news release to any of the national distribution sites, Google will have caught it (or Yahoo or other search engines) and it will add to your web site’s relevancy. 

Press releases about new products or services target potential customers or readers through various news channels. The world of PR has changed. Your news releases should be written for your customer, not the press.  In the past, companies would shoot out press releases and snail mail or e-mail directly to the journalists who covered their particular niche market.  Now, journalists are going online to seek out information for articles and are finding your press release through search engines. News posted on a distribution site can reach print media outlets, online media channels, blogs, Yahoo, Google News or other online aggregators and search engines.  An optimized press release will also assist you by gaining online credibility for your company and authenticity among search engines which will eventually result in better page rank, move you up in the rankings, and add search traffic to your website. An optimized press release generates traffic by directly promoting your website among journalists, bloggers, direct online customers, search marketing, news distribution partnerships, news aggregators and search engines.