3 Reasons to Use Online News Releases for Inbound Marketing

3 Reasons to Use Online News Releases for Inbound Marketing:from Business 2 Community by Sean Johnson
Inbound Marketing has changed the game when it comes to attracting prospects to your business. It’s all about creating relevant content that appeals to your target audience, attracting them to your website where you can convert them to leads and win them as customers.
The online news release is an often-overlooked tool businesses can use to reach their prospects. Unfortunately, many still think in terms of a press release that only goes to the media. They don’t think about making that press release an online news release to reach prospects.
The press release was – and still is – an important document for communicating to the media about potential stories. But the same trends that make Inbound Marketing so effective have also changed the function of the press release. Your prospects are using the Internet to find information on products and services they need. An online news release, properly optimized, can help them find you.
There’s no reason your news shouldn’t be seen by a larger audience. A properly prepared online news release can speak directly to all of your relevant targets, whether that’s the media, consumers or other businesses.
In other words, a news release is content.
When properly optimized for online search, an online press release can deliver 3 important benefits for your company:

1. Improved search results

Search engines value new content, especially content that is considered “news” related. A topical press release can improve where you rank when prospects search. The higher you are, the greater your chances of being found.

2. Added inbound links

If people find your release valuable, they’ll link to it and share it. This can be particularly beneficial when the media creates content based on your release and includes the link in their coverage. Given the perpetual nature of the Internet, this can have long-term benefits for your company.

3. Improved engagement

Online news releases can include a range of features their traditional predecessors could not, such as social media sharing and video embedding. Online news releases can be easily promoted via social media, further spreading your message.
In addition to these immediate benefits, regularly creating and posting online news releases will help with long-term brand building, creating a solid online presence beyond just your website as the content is shared via blogs and social media.
It doesn’t take a lot to get started. In the past, we’ve highlighted several simple topics you can use to create online news releases, which include ideas such as the hiring of a new employee or highlighting your staff’s involvement in an important community project.
Make sure you apply the same SEO techniques to your press releases as you would your other content, which means using relevant keywords and links, as well as promoting your releases via social media to increase their reach.
To learn more about the role of PR and Inbound Marketing to help to attract prospects to your website, check out our FREE guide “Turn Your Website Into a Sales Magnet.”