What’s the Purpose of a Press Release? For the Newbie

The topic of discussion at a recent company meeting was that of Press Releases: What is the true purpose of a Press Release? This was a question posed by all skill levels. Similar to the meeting, let's not waste any time and dive right into it then, shall we?

The basic purpose of a Press Release is a communication to the media (in any form these days - online, newspapers, magazines, etc) that is focused towards attracting favorable attention from a general audience to the arrival or release of an event/person/product.

Press Releases are used for many purposes such as announcements of accomplishments, promotions of events/people, etc. They are supplied to media outlets for one simple reason - EXPOSURE! In today's electronic heavy world, they are also sometimes submitted in the form of a video through such companies as YouTube with the notion of generating YouTube views or hits, thus increasing traffic to the client's website. With the ability to distribute PRs to a vast number of outlets online, it is a very cost-effective solution for clients to choose. You are in fact being more socially responsible when distributing online because you consume less natural resources - but that is an entirely different topic I will not touch at this point. With the use of Search Engine Optimization companies, your budget for advertising is much less and you reach a larger, more general audience quicker! Outsourcing the submission of your PRs by using these SEO companies frees up your most valuable resource - TIME! You can then turn your focus to concentrating on more important ideas and tasks for either your clients or your company.

Credibility is what you are ultimately looking to build through the publicity you are generating with your PR. Your intended audience needs to see that your Press Release is newsworthy, factual, and most important, brief. If your PR tells everything, it is in fact not a PR any longer. It is an article. I won't go into the specific details as to what to include in a Press Release as there are many articles that spell it out for you in great detail. One of the best I have seen can be found at on wikiHow at http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Press-Release. Follow the simple steps that are spelled out for you in this article to create an effective PR.

I hope I have clearly stated the importance of a PR in the few words above. PR are a great tool when used correctly and in a timely fashion. PRs can definitely generate some (depending on how you submit them) inexpensive and much needed attention/traffic to your company's website or event.