Digital Press Releases & Digital PR – Really, what’s the difference?

As the world continues to connect more and more online, clients and publicists alike have embraced the art of the digital press release.

This shift to digital makes sense. While the basic format of a press release is the same, there are a few tactics publicists can now optimize for your clients that would not be an option otherwise.

Link, link, link: Link everything you possibly can to the web. Link the client’s main site. Link your site. If you are announcing an event, link the event site. If you are promoting a new product, link the product site. Driving traffic is key, because, well, now you can. It is increasingly easier to drive traffic to your client’s website simply by imbedding a link to it. Readers are now infinitely more likely to check out a website simply because it is one click away via a digital press release.

SEO: Use your keywords. A digital press release means, obviously, it is on the web, so your release will be able to be found if you use those important keywords throughout. And if they find your release, they will find your client’s website.

Get interactive: Besides linking other sites to drive traffic, you can make your digital press release more of an experience for the reader. Include Twitter handles or Facebook pages. Use graphics, logos and photos. Get creative, and you will drive interest.

Post your press release; tweet your press release; link your press release. Get it out there!

However, the same basic rules do still apply for the digital press release.

• Make sure you have a creative, attention-grabbing title.
• Keep it as short and concise as possible. Remember – get to the point immediately, as your audience does not have any more time than you do.
• Use your writing skills. Good grammar and punctuation is always important, no matter what.

Embracing the digital press release can be scary, but have fun with it. As technology continues to change, you will be glad you evolved your PR efforts when you did.