Writing Your Press Release

One of the most important things that you can do to ensure that your potential customers can find your press release is to optimize it using SEO keywords. It does take a little research to find the appropriate keywords for your press release, as well as a talented writer to make the phrases fit into the article naturally. You may want to hire an SEO expert with experience writing press releases to write your news articles for you.

With the right keywords, interested readers will have instant access to your online press release. You will find that more and more people are now reading their news online, and are interested in purchasing goods and services after researching their options online. A good press release can put you at the top of the search engine results, and within your targeted audience’s attention easily.

Excellence First

When you publish a well written online press release, you are spreading the word about your business. Research shows that the more people are exposed to a brand name, the more they trust that name. Online news articles not only make your brand name more credible by exposure, they also provide information that your customers can use to make a decision about purchasing goods and services from your business.

Since online press releases are news, it is important to leave the sales pitch for other areas and to stick strictly to the facts. You will be given the opportunity to tell customers more about your business at the end of the press release.

Include Your Links

A well written press release will have links to your website, as well as the location, phone number, and contact information for customers. Even though you can add the information to your blog, an online press release is much more credible for customers than a simple blog entry.

Step One: Choose the Name

Although it may seem like just a small detail, a complicated web address for your company blog usually won’t bring in as many visitors as a simple, easy-to-remember name. You may want to consider setting up a new page on the company website, and giving the blog a name such as company.com/blog. This will allow customers to find your blog easily.

Step Two: Design Your Blog

To maintain a professional appearance, you will want to make sure that the design of your blog is similar to your company website. You at least want to ensure that you are using your company logo and colors on the blog. It is usually not recommended that you use a pre-made design for your blog, since these are not going to reflect the style you have already established on your company website. A look that somewhat mirrors your website will help increase brand awareness.

Step Three: Choose the Content

Your company blog can be used to announce promotions, provide information on the services provided by the company, or just to provide general information about the company or industry related topics. It is generally a good idea to think about the style of the content you’ll be adding before actually doing so. For example, do you want the blog to be presented in a more casual manner, or do you prefer content that is professionally written? A casual blog is often a good idea for communicating with the client, while a professional blog is best for conveying specific information about goods and services offered.

Step Four: Add Features

Your company blog should offer RSS (a means by which readers will receive a regular feed of your blog posts automatically) and newsletter options. These features are particularly helpful if you are using your blog to announce promotions, sales, or new goods and services for sale. Potential customers will be notified of the updates instantly, and a newsletter can expand upon your blog.

Step Five: Stay Current

It is very easy to begin a company blog, but many companies make the mistake of forgetting about their blog after a time, leaving it void of new entries. Updating your blog content at least once a week is key to maintaining a consistent and growing customer base. If you are unable to find the time to create content yourself, then you can find freelancers or a full service web marketing company to write content on a regular basis.

As detailed in an article written by B.L. Ochman in Advertising Age, extra steps must be taken to ensure that a social marketing campaign results in some measure of success.

B.L. writes:

Social media can’t:

1. Substitute for marketing strategy.

A Twitter campaign or a Facebook page that announces your company’s weekly specials is not a marketing strategy.

2. Succeed without management buying in.

Social media requires a way of thinking by company executives that includes the willingness to listen to customers, make changes based on feedback and trust employees to talk to customers.

The culture of fear—of job loss, of losing message control, of change—is ingrained in corporate cultures. Top management has to want to change.

3. Be viewed as a short-term project.

Using social media is not a one-shot deal. It’s a long-term commitment to openness, experimentation and change that requires time to bear fruit.

She continues further to list a total of 10 specific points regarding social marketing and what it CAN’T do for you.

Read the full article “10 Things Social Media Can’t Do For You”

Display your website along with keywords on your Linked:In profile
Linked:In is all about networking, and getting your information in front of others who might find it interesting and/or useful. To help you accomplish this, Linked:In allows you to showcase a link to your website, along with a tagline that can be customized to include keywords or key phrases, thus increasing the chances of your profile ranking high in organic search results. Additionally, you can also showcase your blog, and any additional websites you deem valuable.

Syndicate your blog feed on your Linked:In profile
If you desire, you can also syndicate your blog feed directly on your Linked:In profile page by utilizing the blog feed application made available through Linked:In (access this through the “Edit Profile” page.)

Display your Twitter account and Twitter updates on your Linked:In profile
Linked:In, like many other social networking sites, now also works in conjunction with Twitter. Display your Twitter account on your profile, as well as any Twitter updates if that is your preference. This can also be especially useful if you make sure to insert keywords into your tweets!

With many companies only touching their toes to the Web 2.0 waters, or avoiding the pool completely, Active Web Group has jumped in head first, spreading ripples through Facebook, Twitter, and Linked:In.

Just as Active Web Group understands that one of the key fundamentals of a successful website design is rich content, they’ve applied the same principles to their Web 2.0 presence. Focusing on delivering quality content to attract followers, rather than spamming techniques employed by other companies and individuals, they regularly update their pages with interesting news topics related to the online marketing industry, encompassing both national and local Long Island news.

Read the full press release about AWG and Web 2.0

One app in particular that caught my attention is SocialOomph (originally called TweetLater), a highly useful tool developed to increase productivity and enable automated tweeting.

While the ability to set scheduled tweets is probably the most useful and popular function of SocialOomph, it has many additional features that makes this Twitter app a must-have for any serious Tweeter.

SocialOomph is available as freeware or a as a professional account for $29.97 per month. The freeware version allows complete control over setting up scheduled tweets, as well as keyword tracking, automated welcome DMs and automated following/unfollowing, unlimited Twitter accounts, and more.

The professional version expands the power of SocialOomph to allow automated keyword searches, spam account filters, grouping channels, DM management, and much more. For a complete listing of all the features, visit the SocialOomph website.

You might not necessarily need all of the features that SocialOomph offers, but the free version is worth it just for the automated tweets. There are many times when my work schedule does not permit me to tweet about important updates regarding blog entries, new articles, press releases, etc. If I know I’m not going to be available to do Tweet manually, a few simple settings on the SocialOomph console is all it takes to schedule my tweets for the following day, or beyond, if desired.

Follow Active Web Group on Twitter for online marketing tips, news, and information.

Mobile marketing has yet to be fully embraced by many corporations, but it’s positive impact on promotion, branding, and quick access to information cannot be denied. Wireless mobile devices with Internet access capabilities are finding their way into the hands of thousands of new wireless subscribers every day, creating a new fertile market. Corporations are moving progressively forward and are ready to embrace the advantages of new and ever-changing technologies.

According to the Mobile Marketing Association, the majority of major brands are already utilizing mobile marketing or planning for it in future marketing budgets. Mobile marketing allows companies to expand upon positive marketing efforts generated by email and websites and reach consumers in a more direct manner. Closer interaction with consumers means increased brand recognition and a stronger ROI.

As mobile device capabilities increase with nearly every new offering from major cell phone manufacturers, the ability to reach consumers also increases. Of course, as consumers have always shown an aversion to forced advertising interrupting their browsing activities (i.e. popups), there is bound to be a thin line between effective, acceptable mobile marketing and overdone, irritating marketing. Companies would be advised to learn how to recognize the difference.

Other names and terms have worked themselves in many daily conversations: “Social Networking”, “Twitter”, “LinkedIn”, and “Web 2.0”, to name a few. Not everyone is entirely familiar with what these terms refer to, but if you own a business, or are involved marketing any sort of product or service, you definitely should.

MySpace, Facebook, and other sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn are known as social networking sites; essentially a website in which an online community of individuals share information. The combination of social networking sites, along with other regularly updated information or file sharing sites, such as blogs and video sharing sites such as YouTube, are known as Web 2.0.

For further clarification, you could say that websites in which the information rarely changes, such as a corporate website, is classified as Web 1.0 (even though there really isn’t such a term). But a website in which interaction with content and other visitors to the site is a key fundamental aspect, is a Web 2.0 site.

Now that we understand the basic concept of Web 2.0 and social networking, let’s examine a few social networking sites in greater detail, and how they can benefit your business.

Facebook

Facebook still suffers from a stigma of being a site mainly utilized by a younger generation, solely for the purpose of meeting and chatting with friends, and sharing pictures, videos, and other items of interest amongst those with similar tastes and hobbies.

But don’t be so quick to categorize Facebook; not only is this perception false, the site can also be utilized as a highly effective marketing tool. As Facebook currently has over 125 million members worldwide, and many of them belonging to various groups and organizations centered around a particular interest, the opportunities for marketing a product or service, or increasing brand recognition is ripe and plentiful.

For example, let’s say you sell jewelry, and you want to advertise on Facebook. Facebook advertising works similarly to Google’s Pay-Per-Click advertising; if a user posts an update with the word “jewelry”, “necklace”, “diamond” or other keyword you may have chosen to attribute to your ad campaign, then your ad may appear along the sidebar of their Facebook page.

However, a more important advantage of utilizing Facebook, and one that might not be too commonly known is that a Facebook page is SEO friendly. Create a Facebook page as an extension of your corporate website, and chances are you’ll show up fairly high in search engine results if someone performs a search for relevant keywords. Use your Facebook page quickly and easily post links to new articles, press releases, videos, and other information that others in your network will see almost immediately without even having to visit your main website.

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LinkedIn

Consider LinkedIn to be the Facebook for professionals. Over 47 million members worldwide, including top executives from Fortune 500 companies, independent contractors, and experts in nearly every industry can be found on this social networking site. As such, the potential for marketing your business, service or product is only limited by the time you have to spend using the site to its fullest advantage.

Individuals joining LinkedIn create a profile, detailing as little or as much information as they want. This normally includes a resume of experience, accomplishments, and a brief biography. Often the top executives of a corporation can be found, linked to a complete company profile.

Making connections on LinkedIn not only increases the size of your network, but also your extended network; the connections of your connections. This means you’ll be able to contact, converse and share information with others in your industry, and also increases the potential for gaining new clients or prospects.

However, simply creating a profile will not garner you the results you desire. You’ll need to remain active on the site to some degree, either by joining industry-related groups, starting discussions and answering questions about relevant topics, and tracking new leads.

Join our network on LinkedIn >>

Twitter

And then there’s Twitter, the latest social networking phenomenon whose membership includes everyone from celebrities, politicians, government agencies, news networks, corporate executives, college students, and everyone in between.

Acting somewhat as a micro-blogging site, Twitter allows its members to post small updates instantaneously to their followers, which can number in the hundreds of thousands. Updates (referred to as “Tweets”) can be submitted through the web, via mobile phone, or by instant messaging services.

Some of the advantages of Twitter are obvious: you can post links to your corporate website, new articles and press releases, and other information, as increase online visibility and brand recognition, and connect with other industry professionals.

But Twitter also allows you to market directly to those who actually want to hear what you have to say. If an individual doesn’t care about you, your company, or you updates, they won’t follow you, and won’t receive your tweets. So while a prominent advantage is being able to market directly to your target market, you’ll also need to make sure that your updates are interesting, informative, and fairly frequent, or you might find yourself losing some of your followers instead of gaining new ones.

It goes without saying that the key to marketing success when using any of these social networking sites is to maintain consistent and frequent activity on your profile. Keeping content fresh not only increases your visibility in a search engine ranking algorithm, but it also keeps people coming back to your pages.

It can sometimes be difficult to maintain an active profile on more than one social networking site, and not all of them may work best for you, depending upon your needs. But try to pick at least one to devote a certain amount of time to on a consistent basis. Twitter typically calls for daily updates, several times a day, while LinkedIn may only require you to be active once or twice a week. Many companies have opted to assign one or more employees to maintaining their profiles on social networking sites, while other corporations have sought the services of outside agencies to do the same.

Be sure to subscribe to our Twitter feed, sign up to receive our newsletter, and check our website for upcoming articles regarding more detailed marketing capabilities of each social networking tool.

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You Have an Online Reputation to Uphold

Do you know what your customers, ex-employees, and competitors are saying about you? The Internet allows information to travel faster than the speed of sound, so it’s important that you’re paying attention to online conversations about your company. Anything posted on the Internet about you can have a huge impact on how people view your organization.

When it comes to establishing and preserving your company’s online image, a good, quality website is just the beginning. A great beginning no doubt, but there are a wide range of other things to consider.

Today’s smart consumers use the web to make buying decisions. They do this by first researching a brand by reading reviews and getting opinions from other people who have purchased your product or service. With the explosion of blogs, forums, and message boards, consumers have easy access to posting and reading free information on the web. Without spending a dime, they have the ability to sound off about essentially anything they feel like, and people are reading. All you have to do is enter a search term about a brand and you’ll likely come up with pages of results.

Why not try searching your own brand? Look beyond your own website listings and find out what others are saying about you. Are there any negative listings saying bad things about your brand or your company? Listening to what they say gives you an opportunity to perform damage control so that you can ensure a positive web presence for your business.

Here are some steps you can take to uphold your company’s online reputation.

Step 1. Monitor what’s being said about you.

Assign someone at your company to be in charge of performing regular Internet searches for your company. It can be difficult to continuously monitor everything that is being said on the web, so you need to establish an early warning system to alert you of all news relating to your brand. You can set up free Google and Yahoo Alerts to catch the use of your company’s name in the news. In addition, you can use sites such as Feedster and Technorati to see what’s being said about you in blogs. The person in charge of this important task should track for all names associated with your business, including brand names, company names, product names, and key employee names.

In addition to self-tracking, you should look at other information such as competing brands and organizations, industry terms, as well as general industry news. If your company has an individual in charge of public relations, he or she is the ideal person to handle this online reputation management. However if you do not and cannot afford to hire a PR professional, assign the task to another trustworthy individual.

Step 2. Participate in the discussion.

You have the power to influence online conversations by becoming actively involved in them. Your participation will give you the opportunity to improve the perception of your brand. Take an active part in your industry conversation by becoming a regular contributor to blogs and forums within your industry. Besides blogs, you can lead the conversation about your brand on forums, consumer opinion sites, consumer complaint sites, and social network sites. By being honest and responding directly to critics, you’ll build trust in your audience, even if the truth is negative. If a blog or forum includes inaccuracies about your brand you should send them clarifying evidence and ask them to remove the error.

Step 3. Develop your online assets.

First, make sure your corporate website is fully search engine optimized and appears at the top of results lists for your name and your brand. Also consider creating a corporate blog if you do not already have one. There are many benefits to this kind of forward thinking.

It is important that you publish all of your company’s corporate communications on your website. This type of information can include press releases, articles, testimonials, case studies, and white papers. Optimize these pages for the search engines as well. Submit your press releases to online wire service to ensure maximum visibility, and optimize the releases for your company name and brand.

If you do not already have a paid search campaign in place, it is a good idea to start taking advantage of Pay-per-Click advertising. Include a listing for your company name and/or brand. The combination of high organic listings and PPC ad presence will help you to dominate your search engine space and counter the efforts of competitors who try to infringe on your trademark.

A note about PPC ads and trademark infringement: If you take advantage of Pay-per-Click advertising, you should be aware of the dangers of trademark infringement. 20% of all online searches are for actual brands. Companies often bid on the brand names of their competitors. So if a searcher types in your brand name in a search engine, they could get results that include ads for your competitors. They might click on your competitor’s ad thinking it’s related to your website, which is a form of bait and switch. You can control this when advertising on Yahoo and MSN, as they offer you the opportunity to prohibit others from bidding on your trademarked search terms. At this time Google does not offer this option. It is highly recommended that you perform regular searches of your brand name and report violators to the appropriate search engine.

The key to managing your online reputation is persistence. You must constantly monitor and take the appropriate action to uphold your company’s image. Only you have the power to prevent the loss of business and ensure the ongoing success of your organization.