Weighing the Benefits of Press Releases and Pitches

As a business owner, you are constantly thinking about new topics to write about and share with other people online. Even if you have amazing writing skills, it isn’t always easy to come up with ideas. However, there are some effective and important ways to communicate with your online connections and it is time to look at the benefits of both so that you can decide what works best for your business.

Let’s look at the press release first

Advantages

There are several positive reasons why you would want to choosing a press release, including the fact that a press release has the potential to communicate whatever number of details you wish to supply. Another really good thing about a press release is that it is not time-sensitive. Once you post it online, it will stay there forever. You can also put backlinks in  your press release, which can be extremely useful to you and to the other person online. You can use hashtags in your press release, which is a great thing when it comes to the search engines finding you and giving you a good ranking on their pages. Interestingly (and fortunately), if another writer wants to write about you and your business, the person doesn’t have to go any further than your press release. All of the pertinent details are right there. A lot of people believe that press releases should only be released when there is some news to share. In fact, that is not the only way that you can use a press release for your business. You can use it like a newsletter as well. You can also use your press release to offer your online connections a list of tips and tricks that you have found to be effective. Before you actually post your press release, you can promote it and get people excited about the idea that it is coming and that it will give them a great deal of valuable information that they can use to advance their own business. Another wonderful result of a press release is that it can give other people the perception that you are a subject matter expert in your particular niche or industry. That is something that is essential for your professional success. No matter what you do, you must achieve that goal in some manner.

Disadvantages

There are many advantages to using a press release. However, just like it is with anything in life (and in business), there is another side to the coin. In other words, there are some disadvantages to using a press release as well. It is very important for you to understand the entire picture so that you can make an informed, intelligent decision. One of the disadvantages of a press release is the fact that it can’t really make a giant splash all by itself. A press release is an extremely common means of communication and because that is the case, business people receive a very large number of them on a regular basis. That means that the pressure is on you to come up with something that stands out and really grabs the recipient’s attention so that they don’t forget you and your business. As is always the case with content, you have exactly three seconds to grab your reader’s attention with the headline. If the headline of your press release doesn’t wow the reader, that person will probably not be interested enough to keep reading. Another thing to remember is that writing a press releases is an art form. You are not born knowing how to write an amazing, compelling press release. It takes time and effort to really learn how to do it well. Another thing to keep in mind is that concept that in this day and age of high-tech everything, the people who are running the show (in many cases) are young and won’t take your press release seriously. The last disadvantage is that a press release gives everyone the same information at the same time. There is no such thing as an exclusive in that situation.

Now, let’s look at the pitch

Advantages

One of the first advantages of a pitch is that, if it is really written well, the message that comes across to those people who are reading it is that you are representing you and your business clearly and that your readers understand exactly how you can help them. When it comes to the subject of your pitch, because you have so much information at your fingertips, you can really customize your pitch to that person. In fact, you can even go one step further and tailor several pitches using the same story. You will certainly get a lot of mileage out of that. Another good thing is that the recipients of your pitch don’t have any awareness of each other. That makes them feel like they are the only one who is receiving it. That makes them special. In a pitch, you can also dangle incentives to your audience members, which can make things very interesting. You can also control the timing on your pitch so that it is in synergy with whichever events you wish to connect it to. That can really work out well for you.

Disadvantages

If you use a pitch, interacting with your target audience afterward can be more difficult than it would be if you issue a press release. Another possible disadvantage is that pitches are much shorter than press releases and you won’t have the luxury of putting in as many details as you wish. When it comes to creating the pitch, it is generally more difficult to write a good one than it is to write a press release. If you do it really well, your pitch will tell your story in a touching way that will compel your audience to pay attention. Once you are finished with your pitch (if you do it right), the audience members will want to interact with you as a next step. One word of caution is that if you don’t do a really solid job of creating your pitch, you may fall flat. That means that you will need to really do your research properly so that the person to whom you are pitching really knows how important he or she is to  you.

Conclusion

It is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of press releases and pitches and to understand when to use which one. Only you can decide for your particular business and the more you work on both of them, the better you will become at wowing our audience members. If you feel that supplying a comprehensive amount of details is essential to your target audience, you will choose one way over the other. On  the other hand, if you want to create an amazing first impression with a personal touch, you may choose to go the other way. There are those people who believe that press releases are old-fashioned and pitches are more modern. You need to look at your business’ needs and figure out which one will be most advantageous for you and your business.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. For a complimentary assessment of your online presence, let’s have coffee.