Maximizing Press Release Performance Online Greg Jarboe, President, SEO-PR PRSA 2011 International Conference Tuesday, October 18, 2011
May 12, 2015
Maximizing Press Release Performance Online
Greg Jarboe, President, SEO-PRPRSA 2011 International Conference
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
SEO-PR distributed 10 optimized press releases for Rutgers CMD in Q3 2011
Day Date Headline Release views
Wed 7/6 Rutgers University Online Mini-MBA Program Offers Conversion Optimization Course 1,718
Thurs 7/14 Rutgers University Online Mini-MBA Program Offers Social Media Marketing Course 5,635
Fri 7/22 Rutgers University Online Mini-MBA Program Offers Search Engine Optimization Course 2,825
Mon 8/1 Rutgers University Online Mini-MBA Program Offers Pay Per Click Course 2,493
Wed 8/3 Rutgers University Offers Short Courses in Mobile Marketing, Social Media Marketing and Web Analytics
5,286
Tues 8/16 Rutgers University Online Mini-MBA Program Offers Web Analytics Course 2,697
Thurs 8/18 Rutgers University and Business Wire Collaborate on New Digital Public Relations Course Featuring David Meerman Scott
6,177
Fri 8/26 Rutgers University and Business Wire Digital PR Course to Feature Katie Paine as Instructor 3,226
Thurs 9/1 Rutgers University Integrates Apple iPad 2 Into Digital Mini-MBA Program 4,102
Wed 9/28 Rutgers Center for Management Development Offers Sports Management Program in $400 Billion Sports Marketplace
1,580
Distributing on Thursdays generated biggest share of 35,739 release views
Distributing on Thursdays generated largest share of 722 clicks on links
Tagging links allows Google Analytics to show which activities are paying off
Source: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=55578
People see blue anchor text link, but only Google Analytics sees tagged link
http://www.cmd.rutgers.edu/mini-mba-going-digital-the-new-rules-of-pr.html?utm_source=BW&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=KP
Tagged links show 1,139 PR visits to Rutgers CMD website vs. 492 BW clicks
Websites that post releases with links produced 647 of 1,139 PR visits, 56.8%
BW/PR is #5 traffic source, generating 1,139 of 22,658 visits, 5.0% of all visits
BW/PR has 6.8% goal conversion rate, 77 of 1,344 leads, 5.7% of all leads
15-25% of leads became participants in $595, $3,500, or $4,995 programs
Rutgers got a 2.4X return on marketing investment from its 3-month campaign
• Rutgers CMD spent $23,230 on 10 optimized press releases– $10,500 for press release optimization– $12,730 for Business Wire distribution
• Three-month campaign generated at least $55,660 from 15 registrations– 2 registrations were for $595 programs– 7 registrations were for $3,500 programs– 6 registrations were for $4,995 programs
• Rutgers CMD got a return on marketing investment of at least 2.4X from its 3-month campaign
• Nielsen Analytic Consulting found that the average return on marketing investment in the first 90 days is 1.1X
What was PR’s impact on direct traffic, referring sites, and search engines?
Visits coming directly to site increased 34.9% from baseline of 2,659 to 3,587
Some websites show unclickable URLs or plain text but not anchor text links
Visits from referring sites increased 22.9% from baseline of 2,340 to 2,876
Some articles about Rutgers Mini-MBA programs didn’t link to CMD’s site
Non-paid visits from search increased 30.5% from baseline of 4,784 to 6,243
Most posts linked to CMD’s site and inlinks (inbound links) increased to 576
Did Rutgers CMD actually get a 8.6X return on its marketing investment?
• Rutgers CMD spent $23,230 on 10 optimized press releases– $10,500 for press release optimization– $12,730 for Business Wire distribution
• Three-month campaign may have generated $198,870 from 52 registrations– 15 registrations from tagged links in optimized press releases– 12 registrations from 34.9% increase in direct traffic– 5 registrations from 22.9% increase in visits from referring sites– 20 registrations from 30.5% increase in non-paid searches
• Rutgers CMD may have gotten an 8.6X return on its marketing investment from the 3-month campaign
• Google CPC generated from $177,785 from 46 registrations
PR needs to become more data driven and you need to be an analysis ninja
• Avinash Kaushik is the Analytics Evangelist for Google and the Chief Education Officer at Market Motive, Inc.
• Web Analytics 2.0 provides specific recommendations for creating an actionable strategy, applying analytical techniques correctly, solving challenges such as measuring social media and multichannel campaigns, achieving optimal success by leveraging experimentation, and employing tactics for truly listening to your customers.
Source: http://www.webanalytics20.com/
Rutgers CMD offers Mini-MBA Short Courses in Web Analytics for $595
Source: http://www.cmd.rutgers.edu/mini-mba-short-courses.html
Rutgers CMD offers an Online Mini-MBA in Web Analytics for $3,500
Source: http://www.cmd.rutgers.edu/online-mini-mba-web-analytics.html
Rutgers offers Mini-MBA: Going Digital – The New Rules of PR for $4,995
Source: http://www.cmd.rutgers.edu/mini-mba-going-digital-the-new-rules-of-pr.html
Anatomy of the 21st Century Press Release
Laura SturaitisEVP, Media Services & Product Strategy,
Business Wire
Compose with the End in mind
CONTENT + CONTEXT = IMPACT(Message) (Channels) (ROMI)
CONTENT + CONTEXT = IMPACT
• CONTENT:Press Release
Headline Keywords Links Call to Action
Multimedia Landing Pages / TrafficExperts / MessagesPostsTweets
• CONTEXT:AudienceDistribution MethodHosting ChannelsSearch VisibilityLanding Pages / TrafficAuthority ArchiveGlobalMobile
EARNED:• Media Coverage
• Links and Rich Content
• Search Ranking
TRADITIONAL + SOCIAL MEDIA
OWNED:• Landing Pages
• Online Newsroom
• Blog
PAID:• Marketing Mix
• AdWords PPC
• Events
SOCIAL:• Social Networks
• Experts and Employees
• Audience Engagement
Key components of a well optimized multimedia release:
Headline is key and all many people will see to click thru
Subheads help include more keywords up top
Multimedia: Logo, photos, charts, videos, captions tell the story
Links reinforce keywords / drive traffic to key landing page
Formatting makes your release look and act like a web page
Contacts direct viewers to the right contact for ROI
Publicize all your Channels so your audience can find you: gather friends, fans, subscribers - include links
Checklist for Press Release Optimization:
Your image from the
wire
MEASUREMENT:• Press Release
• Quality vs. Quantity
• Activity on Release
TRADITIONAL + SOCIAL MEDIA
METRICS:• Traffic Stats
• Referral Site Authority
• Conversion for ROI $$
MONITORING:• Clipping
• Context / Sentiment
• Competitive Ranking
SOCIAL MEDIA:• # Fans/ RTs / Comments
• Audience Engagement
• Referrals / Conversion
IMPACT
• What is the goal? What is success?– Writing for Humans and Robots– ROI from a Call to Action– Maximize Your Influencers and Authority– Manage Engagement and Feedback – Campaign Horizon: Visibility over Time – The Company’s Personality– Metrics vs. Measurement vs. Monitoring
Our Case Study: What We Learned
• Do your SEO checklist every time.• Get your AdWords list of KEYWORDS• Create a STYLE GUIDE for your messages• Have your MULTIMEDIA available all over• Customize your LANDING PAGES and URLs• Integrate all your social media CONNECTS• Be ready to be PORTABLE and MOBILE• Be ready to be INTERNATIONAL• Gather, Monitor and Study your ANALYTICS then
modify your message for conversions
The Takeaways:• The performance ROMI of your release and
other messaging is determined up front with a newsy message, optimized for online visibility
• Use all the channels and platforms available to meet your audience and influencers where they are
• Make your message easy to consume, easy to share and ready to be measured
• Use your results to take credit for your campaign strategy and apply your resources
Thank You! Questions?
Laura Sturaitis, Business Wire
Twitter: @lsturaitisLinked In: Laura Sturaitis
Email: [email protected]
Greg Jarboe, SEO-PR
Twitter: @gregjarboe Linked In: Greg Jarboe
Email: [email protected]