In addition to sending media releases to the news media, many organizations also have a list of bloggers on their distribution list. It is important for bloggers that you include a link to the URL of your media release, which you should have ensured has been posted in your website.
If the release contains some useful news, bloggers will comment something like: “XYZ Company announced in a news release today that they plan to launch a…”, and the link will enable readers to go to the full announcement (there’s no way the blogger will run it in full for you.). Omitting a link to your media release causes hassles for bloggers because they can’t refer readers to your full release.
What to do
- Publish your news release on your website (or at least have the web page set up temporarily with a holding note).
- Visit this news release web page using your web browser.
- Copy the web address (URL) from your browser.
- Paste the web address into the news release email and distribute the covering email.
The bonus is that an influential blogger who may not have the time to write about your news release may still want to send the link to their followers via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. But they need a LINK to do that.Some PR people may say it takes time to publish the news release in their organization’s website because their web or IT team may be slow in posting the page to the site. That is merely a process matter that should be cleared up with them, especially with some forethought on your part.
For further leverage, you can also put links in your media release to your company logo, quotes, photos, videos etc that you might want a blogger to potentially include in their material. These links can be included in various formats ranging from easy-to-find links in the sidebar next to the text in your release through to a full “social media news release.”
Photo by Kon Karampelas on Unsplash.
Kim J. Harrison has authored, edited, coordinated, produced and published the material in the articles and ebooks on this website. He brings his experience in professional communication and business management to provide helpful insights to readers around the world. As he has progressed through his wide-ranging career, his roles have included corporate affairs management; PR consulting; authoring many articles, books and ebooks; running a university PR course; and business management. Kim has received several international media relations awards and a website award. He has been quoted in The New York Times and various other news media, and has held elected positions with his State and National PR Institutes.
