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: Laura.Sturaitis@BusinessWire.com

Greg Jarboe, SEO-PR

Twitter: @gregjarboe Linked In: Greg Jarboe

Email: Greg.Jarboe@SEO-PR.com