Effective Outsourcing And Your Press Release Distribution Plan
Outsourcing can be an integral part of a successful press release distribution plan, provided you keep a few pros and cons, and best practices in mind.
What is outsourcing?
Outsourcing, or contracting out, means to hire someone to help with an important business-related task. Outsourcing is usually done on the basis of:
- reducing costs
- improving efficiency
- bringing new skills into the company without having to hire someone full-time
- shifting tasks so you or your colleagues can focus on other aspects of the business
In the case of writing press releases and distributing them as part of an overall marketing plan, there are many areas in which an outsourced worker, service, or freelancer can help.
Full-service outsourcing
This will cost the most money, but a well-written press release distributed to the right media outlets can be worth its weight in gold. The important things here are to have a clear goal so that you can determine your results and whether or not the outsourced service has given you a good return on investment.
You will need to lay the groundwork in terms of:
- What is new that is worthy of a press release
- What your goal is for the press release
- What call to action you want to include in your press release (it should be related to your goals, such as more subscribers or sales)
- Images to support the release (releases with images are more likely to get pickups)
- The contact information for the person journalists can follow up with
- The niche or target audience you are aiming for
Of course, if you have to put in all of this effort anyway, you might just try to go all the way and write your own 400-word release. If you choose to do it yourself, there are a range of ways that an outsourcer can help.
1-Create media lists
Successful media outreach is all about making connections with the media representatives who work in your niche. They can be journalists, bloggers and more. A database of contact information can help you pitch the right content to the right people. A press release will usually be a must for top journalists if you want media pickups in any prestigious publications.
2-Upload the press release/s into the distribution service interface/s
A virtual assistant or someone who has experience of using press release distribution services can copy and paste your work in as needed, while you spend your time doing other mission-critical tasks. They should have a good eye for detail and be able to follow instructions clearly.
3-Tracking and reporting results
Once the press release is published, your distribution service will show you the results in terms of reader activity and media pickups. An assistant can create a report and track the most important pickups. They can create links to those pickups and publish them on your media page. Your metrics can also help you decide if you are getting the best return on investment from the various services you use, and adjust your plan as needed.
4-Keeping to your timetable
Your plan should have a clear timetable of what needs to happen, and when. A freelancer can help you gather all the pieces you need for each release.
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