Praxis Communications, Inc.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF A PRESS RELEASE
Generating Press Releases On A Consistent Basis Can Pay Off In Unexpected Ways.

Press releases are the staple of any good media relations program. In the short term, they generate awareness for your products. Over the long haul, they build brand familiarity for your company.

As an example of short-term sales generation, consider the case of material handling equipment manufacturer W.A. Schmidt. “We sent out a press release about a product we rarely sold. The next month a 50-word blip, along with a photo, ran in a few of the industry pubs,” recalled Kim Wanamaker, V.P. of Marketing at W.A. Schmidt.

“We had six new orders within a week of its appearance in those magazines. And this is a product that rarely sold!” Sometimes a release happens to get ink in the same issue where you’ve placed a full-page ad about the product. In that instance, you reap the double benefits of an “unbiased” article and the “hardsell” ad to produce a spike in sales.

Occasionally a release generates absolutely no immediate response. That doesn’t mean it isn’t working. Say, for example, you announce the biggest contract ever signed by your company and you get nothing. No phone calls. No e-mails. No increase in hits to your website. Three months later, one of your sales reps is jubilant about an appointment he finally landed with a big prospect – the one your company has been aching to do business with. When asked why they finally granted an appointment, the company explains that they read about your contract with their competitors. The value of the press release you thought no one read now becomes the value of that big prospect.

Consistently seeing your company’s name in key publications tells prospects and current customers that good things are always happening, be it new products, design improvements, contract announcements or personnel hires. What’s important is that they become familiar with your name and associate it with success. And that familiarity – the kind that influences purchasing decisions – only comes through a consistent stream of press releases.

An Extra Pair Of Hands

Let’s face it, you’re only one person. And unless you, like Dolly the sheep, have British scientists create your clone in a petri dish, you might consider hiring an agency to handle your media relations program. “No, no,” you say. “Those PR agencies are too expensive. I’m already working on a restricted budget.” Bite your tongue. Agencies specializing in media relations programs for B2B companies can start as low as $1,500 per month.

Using an agency reduces the amount of time you and your staff spend trying to get publicity. A good agency will run with potential ideas and work behind the scenes to develop a story. Your role typically consists of three responsibilities:
  1. Information – providing background on new products, recent projects, innovative designs, etc.
  2. Access – providing contact information for staff and customers involved in the story.
  3. Approval – reviewing finished work for accuracy.


Take into account that agencies are familiar with the process of landing stories in trade pubs. They understand what editors want. And they know how to craft a story based on a publication’s editorial preference. Agencies also have relationships already established with many of the same editors you’ll be hoping to gain favor with.

If you have the time or additional staff to handle a media relations program on your own, go for it. Maximize the opportunity for free ink. But if you are already juggling too many responsibilities, an agency may be the smart move for helping you get more sales leads for less.