Press releases can be a valuable content marketing tool for promoting your online magazines, web catalog or any other aspect of your business or brand. But writing compelling copy is only half of the equation.
Getting people to actually look at your release is the other. And there’s a rather simple way to gain more visibility for your press releases: throw in some visuals.
PR Newswire performed a hearty analysis of the more than 1 million press releases in its system. It found that those with visual elements nabbed significantly more views than text-only press releases. You need not go into visual overload, either. Adding a single visual element can bring in notable results.
Increase in Press Release Visibility
- 92% – Increase in views of a press release with one visual element over text-only release
- 552% – Increase in views of a press release with more than one visual element
- 5,092% – Increase in views of a press release with multimedia elements and campaign microsites
The analysis also found that nearly 50 percent of the top performing press releases of all time were those with visual elements, yet 86 percent of press releases didn’t include a single one.
Photos: Popping a photo (or two) into your press release is one of the simplest ways to nearly double its potential views. Include photos of the product or service you’re promoting, such as the cover of your digital magazine or web catalog.
Multimedia elements: Videos can be attention-grabbing and memorable. Online Publishers Association reports 80 percent of Internet users can recall viewing a video ad on a website within the past 30 days. A full 46 percent took some type of action after viewing the video.
Campaign microsites: These mini websites are built to promote a particular product or service. Totally separate from your main site, they typically contain three to 10 pages and a unique look catering to the product’s target audience.
Creating a buzz around your press releases can be as easy as creating at least one visual element to go with it. Couple the visuals with killer copy, and you may be on your way to a sharp increase in sales.
