To compete in today’s global marketplace, a company must be intentional in promoting its brand beyond its borders. The press release, a stalwart component of today’s marketing and public relations (PR) mix, can be an effective tool toward this end. In particular, the press release
can be deployed to announce a wide range of news, events, updates, and more一all in the service of reinforcing brand values, expanding audiences, and increasing sales.
However, navigating international press release distribution is often easier said than done. The value chain varies from country to country (if not region to region). It can include a wide range of media outlets, press norms, press release formats, and languages, among other challenges. And it’s often expensive.
To help optimize your international press release distribution, we’ve provided a few easy-to-follow tips below.
Identify Your Target Market(s)
Whom do you want to engage with your press release? Finance professionals in London? Cinema buffs in Delhi? The answers to this question should be as specific as reasonably possible. Getting the right content in front of the right audience will get you a long way toward engagement.
The specificity of your target markets will help inform your distribution strategy. If you’re a travel agent with plans to open your first overseas office in São Paulo, make sure you’re targeting local or regional media outlets your prospective clients are likely to follow.
Alternatively, as a multinational conglomerate looking to announce a new product line or expand your exposure across Europe, global news services such as AFP or AP may be just the ticket. Chances are you’re likely to end up with a mix of target markets covering local areas, industry trades, and worldwide news services across several channels and formats.
While many established newswires specialize in national or global news outlets or niche markets, industry newcomer News Direct does both. Launched by industry veterans to revolutionize the legacy newswire model, News Direct offers a state-of-the-art, self-directed platform that streamlines content creation and distribution workflows.
With significant targeting capabilities in geographic regions, single countries, and by news beat, industry, and specialty wire, News Direct is the one-stop solution for all your targeting needs. View its global distribution list for more.
Partner With a Newswire With Local Media Relationships
Successful international distribution often depends on trusted relationships between newswires, press outlets, public relations professionals, and journalists. Don’t opt for distributing a press release across Eastern Europe if you’re only interested in Gdańsk, simply because that’s as targeted as your newswire can go.
Newswires that have nurtured relationships in smaller markets are generally more knowledgeable about local conventions, expectations, and processes. They also understand what cultural nuances can support more effective audience engagement in a given market. If you must, resort to an established, global newswire only if you can’t identify a reputable service with local knowledge and experience.
News Direct professionals have built their careers developing strong relationships with news services across the globe, and you can easily distribute to local markets with precision and efficiency一and at a significantly reduced cost.
Distribute Your Release in the Local Language
For PR pros working under tight deadlines and budgets, having a press release translated into another language may seem too much trouble and expense. However, the opposite is true.
Distributing a press release in the local language can boost your opportunities for earned media and reader engagement. Furthermore, a full translation goes beyond the words themselves. It includes translating context and, where necessary, industry terminology to boost reader understanding. And chances are your run-of-the-mill online translation app won’t capture the same level of nuance required here. It’s essential to work with human industry experts who can accurately impart the tone and meaning of the release appropriately to a foreign audience.
News Direct provides full-text, human-prepared translations in various languages, from French and Spanish一including continental variations一to Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Korean, and many more.
Distribute Your Release at Appropriate Local Times
Be sure to schedule your distribution to provide the greatest opportunity for audience engagement, regardless of location. That might mean your release crosses the wire in the middle of your night so your audience can access it in the early part of their workday.
With its automated workflows, News Direct provides optimum flexibility in scheduling your distribution. With a few mouse clicks, you can arrange for your release to go out just about any day or time.
Include Your Logo & URL
Be sure to include your company logo and URL in your press release. These are easy and great opportunities to extend your audience reach, reinforce your brand, and drive website traffic. And, unlike several legacy newswires, News Direct enables you to include these assets on your releases for no extra charge.
Include Multimedia
Adding multimedia to your press release, such as a video or image, can significantly improve engagement opportunities. It can boost the overall understanding and impact of your press release and, importantly, make it more memorable. Video, in particular, is especially effective as a brand-building tool. See this article for more on “How to Best Leverage Multimedia for Press Coverage.”
You can even consider deploying multimedia on a standalone basis without a supporting text release. Often an image一with or without a text caption一can deliver a message more effectively than the release itself. And journalists agree. According to News Direct’s 2019 Market Assessment Study, 86% of journalists surveyed find standalone multimedia appealing.
News Direct makes embedding multimedia easy with drag-and-drop capabilities. In addition, it’s the only newswire that has a Digital Asset Direct release, a streamlined format that accommodates standalone multimedia content without the need to embed it in a text-based release.
Measure Your Results
How will you know if your international distribution is a success? Work with a newswire that provides meaningful data on your release’s reach, earned media, and detailed visibility and engagement metrics to ensure you’re getting the ROI you want.
News Direct provides all these and more at no extra charge with actionable analytics and shareable, professionally formatted reports that are a cinch to access and client-ready in real time.
Partner With News Direct for Your International Distribution Needs & More
News Direct offers PR pros a content creation and distribution process purpose built for today’s modern media consumption preferences. With its ground-breaking, self-directed platform, unsurpassed global reach一including international and national news outlets, media agencies, trade press, customizable niche media, and flat rate, predictable pricing, News Direct is your go-to source for all your distribution needs.
Contact News Direct to demo its industry-leading capabilities for international press release distribution today.
