What are the Benefits of Press Releases for Your Business? We asked Industry Professionals.

Written by Megan Lowdon

Megan is the Director of Operations at Robert Lowdon Photography. Megan has 10 years of experience in project management and logistics planning, having worked in the event and hospitality industry for large companies for many years.

Published December 21, 2022

A press release is an excellent way for businesses to announce important news and spread information quickly. As a result, they can create awareness, generate leads, and enhance brand reputation. But press releases also have many other advantages that can help your business to succeed and grow.

Here, we discuss photography in press releases and speak with industry professionals who explain why press releases tend to be beneficial.

What is a Press Release anyway?

A press release is a written communication that introduces and explains a new brand, upcoming event, product launch, company news, or other noteworthy items to the press. It is typically distributed to journalists, media outlets, bloggers, and the public. A well-crafted press release will reach new audiences, loyal readers, and more customers than different methods.

A press release should provide concise, factual information that helps inform readers and promote interest in the topic. In addition, they can offer other significant advantages, like establishing credibility, generating traffic to your website, and increasing social sharing. This piece of media coverage is essential to promoting brand recognition, with the ability to share through multiple channels like social media, media publication agencies and other social platforms.

Should you hire a PR Firm?

Working with a public relations (PR) firm can help businesses ensure their release is crafted with quality and professionalism. A PR firm will be able to provide feedback on content accuracy, as well as offer guidance on the best strategy for distribution. They also have relationships with many critical media outlets and journalists that can provide an essential edge for getting your press release noticed.

With a good working relationship with a public relations firm, businesses can benefit from the expertise they offer in terms of writing, independent research, and content development. PR firms also have valuable knowledge about the best way to distribute content at the most affordable cost for your budget. For example, when determining the value of a press release versus other traditional paid advertising methods, the right PR firm aims to ensure a balanced marketing strategy with the proper marketing channel in mind to produce more value for the overall cost.

Photography in Press Releases

At Robert Lowdon Photography, we often produce digital images for our clients to include in a press releases. Strong visuals are essential to the success of any press release, as they capture attention and help readers to remember the information presented. Images can also provide context and clarity for press releases that may otherwise be difficult to understand.

In addition to making them more visually appealing, quality images can help support key messages in press releases. They can send a clear message to readers and provide a visual representation of the media content. This helps to ensure that press releases get noticed and stand out from the competition.

Recently, our client Diptyque released a press release for their first Canadian store, which included one of our photographs. The media piece shows a sneak peek of what services the brand offers potential customers and creates excitement about the launch.

It helps You Control the Narrative

While many press releases should share positive news or major developments, many are about controlling a narrative. 

If you have some terrible news dropping that can cause reputational harm, press releases give you a way to get out in front of the story. You can spin the news how you want with a delicately worded piece and change the narrative before it even becomes a narrative. 

If you know bad news is coming, the last thing you want to do is bury your head in the sand and let the press run wild with it, all with no comment from you. However, press releases offer an incredible opportunity to alter course before things go south.

John Ross, CEO, Test Prep Insight

Makes Reporting Much Easier

Journalists are extremely busy. Suppose you can do some of the work for them by providing them with written statements they can quote and take information from without having to do additional research or interviews. In that case, you’re saving them a great deal of time and effort while also taking a more excellent hand in shaping the narrative your news makes. 

Frequent press releases mean that you’ll establish closer ties with reporters that cover your sphere and make a positive impact on the SEO around your organization. The biggest caveat to doing frequent press releases, however, is to make sure that whatever you communicate is actually newsworthy or you risk training reporters and news outlets to ignore you in the future.

Dragos Badea, CEO, Yarooms

Sends a Coherent Message to Your Target Audience

News releases in trustworthy publications leave lasting impressions. Whether the press releases are about change in the company strategy, a new product, or a partnership, one thing press releases do is send a coherent message to your audience—an essential factor for any brand. 

Press releases help create the right impression for your stakeholders, and having a solid message leads to increased sales.

Marco Genaro Palma, SEO Manager, PRLab

Press releases are a great way for businesses to announce significant news and spread information quickly. They can create awareness, generate leads, and enhance their brand's reputation. But press releases also have many other advantages that can help your business to succeed and grow.
Diptyque store exterior

Garners Free Website Traffic

I write tons of press releases for my clients for various purposes. One benefit they enjoy is the free website traffic that comes from it. 

Press releases that are published by third parties typically include a link to the company being promoted, making it easy for readers to learn more about what that company does. 

Not only will you get free traffic this way, but you’ll also gain backlinks to your website—both of which can give you an SEO boost.

Alli Hill, Founder & Director, Fleurish Freelance

Raises Brand Awareness and Interest

One main benefit of press releases is addressing the first two stages of your sales funnel: awareness and interest. They raise brand awareness and make people interested in the solutions you provide.

But let’s say you have a brand-new website you spent a lot of money on. And, of course, you would like to get it noticed by search engines in record time; only one press release can get you dozens of backlinks to your site in just a few days.

As an SEO expert, I strongly believe a well-written press release will take care of all that and more if you are trying to increase the visibility and search engine traffic of your new website.

But you should have expert insights into your press releases to promote the awareness of your brand among potential clients and investors. Add more authentic details to the story in your own words-evoke your audience’s interest.

Maria Harutyunyan, Co-Founder, Loopex Digital

Press releases are a great way for businesses to announce significant news and spread information quickly. They can create awareness, generate leads, and enhance their brand's reputation. But press releases also have many other advantages that can help your business to succeed and grow.
The ordinary pop-up space at sephora.

Gets Amazing, High-Quality Backlinks

While brand awareness and reach are outstanding benefits that come from a well-syndicated press release, the high-authority backlinks that you can get when it gets published on top-tier websites is probably the best benefit from a digital marketer’s point of view.

Not only does it help direct people to your website, but it also helps with your brand’s off-page SEO too! 

Think about it this way: a “recommendation” from a directory or listings website or getting link backs from smaller blogs is good for building quantity with backlinks. But having an established, trusted website (let alone a good number of them) talk about your brand and even link back to your website does wonders for building quality backlinks.

Rain Flores, Digital Media Marketing Manager, Clark Staff

Gives the Potential of Your Content Going Viral

When you write an excellent PR post, it can go viral, or at least go broader than the ways of marketing you are doing right now.

If you have something exciting to say and you find the right PR people, they can make sure your message gets seen by the right people. As they have the network, it is a matter of posting the content for you.

Regular marketing is pushing content toward people; with PR often, people are looking for it. Think of newspapers; people buy them to get the latest news. The benefit of PR is that people will find your content by searching for it themselves on the channels they trust or love.

Again, when the content is relevant or has a high target audience, it will increase the potential of your news to go viral.

Joran Hofman, Founder, Reditus

Individual cheering on people crossing the finish line at the ms walk in toronto.
Individual cheering on people crossing the finish line at the ms walk in toronto.

Builds Relationships With Media

Press releases can help you build lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with industry publications. These publications have a vast reach and substantial influence on many consumers, so it is worthwhile to build a relationship with them. 

For example, when a journalist needs a quote about a trend or industry event, they are more likely to contact you if you’ve established a relationship with them. This will also help build your credibility, solidify yourself as a thought leader, and increase overall brand awareness for your business.

Nick Oberheiden, Founder & Attorney, Oberheiden Law Group, PLLC.

Produces Immediate Exposure for Your Brand

A press release is a sophisticated way to reach target audiences. It provides instant exposure to your brand. Whoever doesn’t know about your business or products can now see you. Since it talks about something new in the company like a product launch, event celebration, and achievement, it can grab the attention of readers easily.

A press release is vital to immediately hit the ground before anyone, because of fierce competition. Instant exposure helps to gain some initial push for your product and business. It also improves the visibility of your website, which is crucial to attracting more traffic. And most people still don’t think it’s a way of marketing—they consider it news and read it completely.

But they should be well-written, clear, and comprehensive because they create the first impression for your audience. Start with a bang!

Yogesh Kumar, Digital Marketing Manager, Technource

Final Thoughts

A press release is a powerful tool for businesses to get their message out to the press, build relationships with a media outlet, and potentially generate buzz around your content that can become viral. By crafting a compelling press release and having a major SEO-friendly strategy in place, you have the chance to reach a large audience and create brand awareness for your business.

As a business owner, it may seem daunting to start your first press release. Utilizing a PR service can ensure the press release distribution is seamless and reaches a wider audience. A good press release should help with powerful backlinks and search results and generate more sales. The goal is to rank high on SEO and produce organic traffic.

It’s clear press releases can be extremely beneficial for businesses, and using strong photo assets will help to narrate the story. In this content-heavy era, visuals are the perfect tool to capture your audience’s attention and draw them into your brand.

If done correctly, a press release can be a great asset for any business, so make sure to take advantage of them and hire a photographer who can help.

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