Tips, thoughts and topics on marketing for small to medium-sized businesses in Michigan and
throughout the world. Contributions by Chris Slocumb, Casey Frushour, as well as other members of the Clarity Quest team.
Press Release Wire Service Comparison
Which wire service is best for small business press release distribution? Like so many things in small business marketing, it depends. Here is my take on the top press release wire services and the best use for each.
1) PR Newswire - when I first started in PR, this was THE wire service and all we used. It's the oldest,largest, and most expensive newswire service. However, their delay in adopting new SEO technology was a big mistake. Also, the Account Managers assigned to us were not helpful and turned over frequently. We rarely use this service anymore unless it's a co-release with a large corporation that still uses this wire.
2) BusinessWire - the other Tier 1 wire service. BusinessWire is large but progressive. Through their partnership with PR Web, you can get one of the best deals on the Web. For $399 you get distribution on PR Web and BusinessWire's US 1 distribution. For B2B companies with the budget, we go directly to BusinessWire. For smaller B2B companies and startups, we use the BusinessWire package with PR Web.
3) PR Web - probably the most well-known online wire service, distributing over this wire gets you LOTS of links, although the quality is not always the best. We do get amazing results on this wire for special interest B2C press releases such as travel and tourism offers. They also have great offers every once in awhile like free Podcast interviews when they first introduced the Podcast service.
4) Marketwire - We tried Marketwire's SEO press release package last year. They have very competitive rates compared to PR Newswire and BusinessWire. While their SEO console is not as polished as PR Web's reports, we did get great media pickup on a local Michigan story. We recommend Marketwire for local market releases that need SEO on a budget. You can get Michigan-only wire coverage plus SEO features such as reporting and anchor text links for $150, significantly below PR Web's $249 entry-level SEO package. We also get great friendly support from our Account Rep.
Some PR companies are advocating releasing over multiple wire services. This choice is not an option for many small businesses on a tight marketing budget. My advice - try a different wire each time until you find the one that works best for your business or industry.
Copyright 2007, Clarity Quest Corp.
Labels: marketing, Michigan marketing, Michigan PR, public relations, wire services
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