How to Measure Press Release Success
If you’re reading this blog, odds are you’re already using press release distribution to your advantage.
But, you’re here because you want your press release campaigns to work even harder for you.
To improve your return on investment and see the tangible results from your work, you need to look at your press release analytics.
This data will help you understand what’s working and how you can adjust your strategy if needed.
In this blog, we cover:
- The importance of press release analytics
- Metrics to consider for measuring press release success
- Why you should monitor media coverage
- Tips for optimizing your campaigns for SEO
- Using social media to promote your press release
- The ROI of a press release
The importance of press release analytics
Simply put, press release analytics give you facts to work from.
This includes media coverage, website traffic, and lead generation to name a few. We’ll share some details on these in the next section.
But, with data in hand, you can tailor your content accordingly to ensure you’re sharing news that the press and public care about.
The more positive attention you get from your press release distribution efforts, the more opportunities you create for your brand to turn leads into customers.
Metrics for measuring press release success
Imagine you’re enrolled in a course. You take tests and write papers, but they’re not graded.
You have no idea if what you’re doing is right. But you keep taking the tests and writing the papers anyways.
Sounds kind of crazy, right?
That’s what it’s like when you don’t review your press release metrics to grade how well or maybe how not-so-well your campaigns are performing.
Here are three press release metrics to pay attention to:
- Media coverage – This is the primary metric to focus on because you can gauge the reach of your content and understand what outlets are interested in the news you’re sharing. This information helps you refine your approach, so you continue to feed the right journalists and media publications with the content their audience finds interesting.
- Website traffic – Your campaigns should include links to your website and if they do, successful press releases should increase your website traffic.
- Lead generation – In addition to media coverage and website traffic, successful campaigns should fuel your lead generation. Including calls-to-action in your press releases and then tracking the number of leads you receive will help you gauge the newsworthiness and effectiveness of your campaigns.
The importance of monitoring media coverage
As mentioned before, monitoring media coverage is important. It helps you measure the impact of your press release distribution efforts.
A Media Monitoring tool, like ours at Newswire will help keep track of your brand mentions across various media channels as well as the sentiment of those mentions.
This makes it easier to monitor your progress. You can focus on these key insights when creating your future strategies.
Tips for optimizing your press releases for SEO
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is pivotal in increasing your brand’s visibility and reaching your target audience.
To optimize your press release campaign for search engines:
- Focus on one SEO keyword per campaign.
- Include that keyword in the headline, press release summary, and two to three times throughout the body copy.
- If possible, use the keyword as anchor text and link out to a relevant page on your site.
By following these steps, you can improve your rank for that SEO keyword and attract website traffic.
Use social media to promote your press release
Promote your press release on social media as soon as it hits the wire.
By sharing your press release on the social media channels where your audience spends the most time, you’re giving your news an extra set of legs to expand your reach.
We created a comprehensive guide that’ll help you amplify your press release on social media.
What’s the ROI of a press release?
Now more than ever, you want to see a return on your investment with everything you do, press release distribution included.
Base your ROI on your initial goal with press release distribution.
For example, if you set out to drive more sales, you’d want to pay attention to your website traffic and conversion rates.
With Google Analytics, you can keep track of how many people visited your website from your press release and how many of them made a purchase.
No matter your goal, keep in mind that press release success doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and consistency to generate brand awareness and build trust that translates into sales.
If you want to learn more about our press release distribution services and what’s right for your brand, fill out the form below.
