Marketing Home Products

News search engines have made it more important than ever to optimize your press releases for universal search. Outlined below are important steps to take.

If you’re targeting journalists, keep in mind that 98 percent of them use the Web daily as part of their search for news, while 73 percent of them use it to find press releases.

If your goal is to put your news in the hands of the public, optimized press releases utilizing targeted keywords and links can reach the millions of Americans using news search engines.

1.  Keyword Determination
Decide which keywords or search terms pertain to your specific company. Think about words users would type to find your pages and brainstorm keyword categories that address your customers’ wants.

2.  Keyword Analysis
Next, compile the keywords for review of traffic potential, competition and other factors. Use tools like Trellian’s free search term suggestion tool, Google AdWords keyword tool, Google Trends and Wordtracker’s free keyword suggestion tool. Each provides different benefits—age and gender breakdown, season spikes, trends over upcoming months and daily/yearly search figures—so it’s best to use several simultaneously.

3. Keyword Implementation
Once you’ve determined the best keywords, implement them in press releases. Build your campaign around things like company/description, product/service and news/benefit.

Be careful not to overload your materials with keywords. After all, the primary objective of a press release is to announce news. But the general rule of thumb for keyword density is approximately five to 10 percent of the written work or five keyword uses per page.

4. Include Links
Links are a great way to include a destination for readers seeking related content. You can also include a link that redirects to a unique landing page of your site so it can provide readers with additional information and be tracked as a result of the optimized press release.

5.  Select Newswire Distribution Provider
Now that you’re ready to distribute and release your optimized press release, it’s time to choose an authorized newswire service. News search engines aggregate thousands of news sources including major press release distributors like PR Newswire, Business Wire, PR Web and Marketwire.

6.  Measurement
Last, but certainly not least, measure the success of the keyword campaign. Depending on your Web site software, you can measure your site’s traffic and unique landing page visitors. If you don’t have any Web site traffic measurement in place, try Google Analytics, which provides a fairly thorough indication of your traffic. Yahoo Site Explorer can also track the number of inlinks to your Web site for free.

Press Release Optimization as Part of a Larger Focus

Optimized press releases are only part of a marketing campaign. Both journalists and consumers search for news about a company through company Web sites, traditional news sources, direct contact from professionals and advertising in addition to search engines.

One of the best ways to gain market share and create a strengthened competitive edge during difficult economic times is to sustain, and even better, increase your marketing budget. I know this “invest in the future” message sounds convenient coming from a marketing agency guy like me…so instead consider what CFOs and CMOs from the client side argue.

86.1 percent of CFOs either maintained or increased their marketing budgets from the previous year, according to a 2008 study conducted by Financial Executives International (FEI) and Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business. What’s more, 23 percent of those CFOs surveyed said they actually increased their marketing/advertising budget as a response to the economic downturn. Why?

(1) Gain superior market presence
According to a survey titled “The Evolved CMO” which surveyed 132 chief and senior marketers from $100M + companies, the number one ranked marketing objective (nearly 60 percent of those surveyed) was to “acquire new customers.” Nearly 50 percent said “increasing brand awareness” was a top marketing objective. If you decrease your marketing budget, how are your potential customers going to find you?

(2) Surpass sales projections
If you’re looking to hit a specific sales goal next year, marketing will only aid in that effort. Like sales and distribution and product development, marketing is a vital element if you wish to grow your company. I like to use the analogy of a three-legged stool. A stool won’t stand by itself if all three legs aren’t working together. Keep in mind the symbiotic relationship between the three legs—sales, marketing and product innovation.

(3) Develop customer understanding
Having a clear understanding of the attitudes, buying patterns, lifestyle motivators and the demographic makeup of your target market or potential future targets is one of the most beneficial uses of your marketing dollars. It is also key to understand the influencing factors in the buying decisions of these groups. According to “The Evolved CMO” survey, “customer trends and research” ranked the highest in terms of importance to a marketing campaign’s future success.

(4) Pursue leadership of the game
If you fail to market your product and service during a harsh economic period, what you’ll lose is precious market share to your more aggressive competitors. A strategic marketing campaign isn’t an expense – it’s an investment in your brand’s future.

(5) Maximize beneficial marketing tools
Marketing isn’t just about delivering your message via print, radio or television media advertising. Today there are many facets to a strategic marketing campaign that include a host of mediums: podcasts, RSS feeds, chat rooms, social networking and search engine optimization. As technology progresses, so should your marketing budget. Declining budgets garner declining results particularly when your competitors are moving forward.

Think of your brand as a plant. Just like a plant, you want your brand to grow, right? Then why would you stop watering it?

According to an article in MediaPost, “Today’s luxury industries are confronting a convergence of two trends:

1. Boomers entering a life stage when traditional materialistic values become less important, and
2. A recessionary economy that for many has decimated prospects for retirement.”

So, what does this mean for the luxury home market and how do today’s luxury marketers prevail in this down economy?

MediaPost lists four strategies to aid today’s marketers:

1.  Build communities around your products. The legendary Harley Davidson has always commanded higher prices than foreign motorcycles partly because of HOG (Harley Owners Group), a network providing powerful referential reinforcement.

2.  Differentiate with values that address emerging Boomer needs to seek higher purpose in lifestyle choices. A watch is more than a watch when acquired as a future heirloom for a grandchild.

3.  Make an unassailable quality and durability case. Most Boomers have been burned by shoddy products that seemed like a good deal but broke after purchase. Boomers believe the adage: You get what you pay for.

4.  Consider tiered pricing. Just as airlines such as Frontier are unveiling tiered ticket prices in coach class, luxury-class products can be offered to consumers as good, better and best (not cheap, cheaper, cheapest), without compromising brand stature or differentiation.

For more information on marketing to Boomers and the emerging Ruppies population, click here to download K&A’s free Ruppies White Paper. For more information about luxury marketing click here.