The Sneaky Way To Increase Pandemic Publicity: Regular Press Releases

Reports have suggested that up to one-third of small businesses have been forced to close down during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these small businesses have shut down for short periods of time, while others have closed their doors for good.

As a result, the pandemic has been mostly bad for small businesses. But there are some things that you can do to drum up publicity for your small business throughout the course of the pandemic.

If you would like to get more publicity for your small business between now and the end of the pandemic, one way to do it is by putting out a new press release every now and then. Regular press releases are some of the most effective forms of advertising in the pandemic.

Does press release publicity sound like something that could benefit your small business? Here is how to use regular press releases to generate more publicity for your business.

Decide What You Want a Press Release to Be About

While it’s a good idea to put out new press releases during the pandemic to generate interest in your small business, you shouldn’t put them out for no reason. You should have a clear goal in mind each and every time you send out a new press release.

For example, maybe your small business just started offering a brand-new product that you want to tell people about. Or maybe you’ve decided to begin offering new services to assist those affected by the pandemic.

Whatever the case may be, there should be a purpose for every press release that you put out. Otherwise, it’s not going to take long for people to start tuning out your press releases and eventually ignoring them altogether.

Figure Out If You Want to Mention COVID-19 in a Press Release

When the COVID-19 pandemic first started, many small businesses were hesitant to mention it in their marketing materials. Most people assumed that the pandemic would come and go, and they didn’t want their marketing materials to look dated within just a few months.

But once it became clear that the pandemic was here to stay for the long haul, a lot of small businesses switched up their approach to how they handled it in their marketing materials. One study found that almost 50% of the press releases put out in 2020 mentioned COVID-19 in them.

You should give some thought as to whether or not you want to mention COVID-19 in your press releases. It might make total sense to do it in some cases. But it might also cause you to sound like a broken record if you’re constantly name-dropping COVID-19 for no good reason.

The last thing that you want to do is mention COVID-19 in a press release just to do it and lose people’s interest. It could hurt your attempt at getting publicity for your small business.

Hire an Expert to Put Together a Press Release

Writing a press release might seem simple enough at first. After checking out some examples of press releases, you might think, “I can do that!”

But it’s not as easy as you might think to create an effective press release. It’s why you should steer clear of attempting to do it on your own if you don’t have any experience writing press releases and leave it up to the professionals.

A professional press release writer will be able to create a high-quality press release for you that will hold people’s attention. They’ll also be able to work whatever you would like into your press release and make it sound good.

Click here to read some case studies on different individuals and companies that have hired the pros to write press releases for them. It’ll convince you that you need to have a reliable press release company on your side creating content for you.

Aim to Include Multimedia Content Within a Press Release

For a long time, most press releases looked exactly the same. They would have a company’s logo at the top and then several big blocks of text about whatever it was that a company wanted to promote. This was the way that business was done in the marketing industry for years.

But nowadays, you can’t send out press releases that include little more than logos and text anymore. You need to find other forms of multimedia content to get people’s attention and keep it.

You might want to try to work charts and graphs into your press releases. You might also want to go as far as to incorporate short video clips into them.

The more forms of content that you’re able to cram into a press release, the better your chances of getting some kind of response to it. You should always make it your mission to make your press releases as interesting as possible by filling them with useful information that comes in many forms.

Avoid Making a Press Release Too Long or Too Difficult to Read

As we just mentioned, you do want to include as much information as you can in your company’s press releases. But you don’t want to make your press releases look like a mess by trying to shoehorn every statistic that you possibly can into them.

Generally speaking, most experts will tell you that press releases should only be between 300 and 400 words in most cases. If you have a press release that drags on for more than one full page, it’s going to be too long for most people to read.

At the same time, you should also make sure that press releases aren’t going to be too challenging for the average person to read. If a press release is going to call for people to go and fetch a dictionary, it won’t be as effective as it should be.

Look For a Company That Can Help With Press Release Distribution

You can write the absolute best press release in the world. You can also have a press release highlight a legitimately interesting aspect of your business.

But if you don’t have anyone in place to distribute your press release, guess what? There is a pretty good chance that no one is going to end up reading it!

After you have a great press release put together, your next goal should be to have it distributed to all of the right places. You should be able to hire a company that can lend a hand as far as press release distribution is concerned.

A company like this will have a long list of media contacts that they’re able to send your press release to. It’ll guarantee that your press releases end up in the right hands and that they get you the publicity that you’re looking for.

There is nothing worse than spending a bunch of time handcrafting the perfect press release only to have it fall on deaf ears. So you should make sure that you set up a solid working relationship with a press release distribution company you can trust to get your press releases out there into the world.

Choose the Right Time to Put Out a Press Release

There really is no “right” time to put out a press release. You’re more than welcome to put it out at any time that you think would be best.

But you should keep a few key things in mind when you’re sending a press release out in terms of timing. Here is what you should remember when you’re choosing a time to send out a press release through a distribution company:

• Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays appear to be the best days to send out press releases
• Sending press releases in the middle of the day is usually better than sending them at the beginning of or the end of days
• Steering clear of sending press releases at the top of any hour is usually a good idea

Think about how you would feel if you got a press release first thing on Monday morning or last thing on Friday afternoon. You probably wouldn’t pay it much mind, right?

It’s why you should avoid sending press releases at these times and choose a better time on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.

Prepare for the Response a Press Release Will Get

Unfortunately, not every press release that you send out is going to get you all the publicity that you want. There will be some press releases that will generate more publicity than others.

But even still, you need to mentally prepare yourself for the fact that any press release you send out might give you an opportunity to publicize your small business. You could have media outlets beating down your front door and asking to interview you about some aspect of your business.

You need to be 100% ready to spring into action and take advantage of this. You don’t want to have media outlets reaching out to you and having a tough time tracking you down.

All of your press releases should include your contact information on them. They should also include a few different ways in which people can get more information on our company.

If you’re not ready to respond to any interest that your press releases might get, you could miss out on a golden chance to get your company the publicity it needs. You’ll kick yourself later for not doing more to reap the rewards that come along with sending press releases out.

Make It a Point to Send Out Press Releases Regularly

If you put out one press release and it doesn’t get you as much publicity as you anticipated it would, you might get discouraged. You might even go as far as to stop putting out future press releases.

But you should not do this! Instead, you should be understanding of the fact that not all press releases are going to be publicity gold mines for you. There will be some that will do little more than just reinforce that your small business is still around and doing what it can to survive during the pandemic.

These press releases will set the tone for your company’s whole approach to creating and sending out press releases. From there, you’ll have to keep on sending them out until one of them generates a bunch of publicity for you.

If nothing else, your regular press releases will show how active your small business is. They’ll also show all the media outlets there that you’re doing what you can to keep your business going. And this might lead to them taking a renewed interest in you and providing you with the publicity that you desire.

Bottom line: Don’t give up just because your first press release—or even your first few press releases—don’t put your small business in the spotlight. You never know which press release is really going to resonate with people and take your company to the next level.

Start Generating More Pandemic Publicity by Utilizing Press Releases

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a lot of small businesses in a position where they’ve been forced to hit pause on their operations. It’s gotten them the wrong kinds of publicity in some instances.

If your small business is still kicking during the pandemic, you should make sure that you let people know about it. You can do this by releasing press releases early and often. Every press release that you put out will be a new opportunity to get your business the publicity that it deserves.

Get more tips on advertising in the pandemic by browsing through more of our marketing-related blog articles.