Press releases are invaluable in the real estate industry. Agents can use them to establish themselves in new territories, bolster their reputation, and even boost their website’s SEO value.
A press release is an official statement issued directly by a business. They provide newsworthy information to the media as well as the community. This information could be about an agent’s latest certification, a feel-good homebuying story, or something positive an agency is doing for the community.
While these news statements traditionally target journalists, it is becoming increasingly common to consider prominent bloggers, social media influencers, and the general public when drafting these statements.
Do Press Releases Work?
Press releases prove beneficial in real estate so long as they follow a few simple rules. These rules include writing quality content that is concise, interesting, and free from grammatical and spelling errors. Additionally, successful PRs are geared toward the correct audience. Lastly, prosperous press releases are posted and shared properly and at the ideal time. This blog will go on to cover each of these aspects in more detail.
The Benefits of a Press Release
Press releases do a lot more than simply notify the media when something important is happening. In addition to spreading the word, regularly posted PRs can help to:
- Establish an agent’s presence on the local real estate scene
- Expand an agent’s clientele
- Build an agent’s reputation
- Contribute to fresh content on an agent’s website
- Increase an agent’s website’s SEO value
Spread the Word
A well-written and well-targeted press release notifies readers when something interesting is happening. Real estate agents can use PRs to spread the word by:
- Sharing about a community event led by the agent’s team or a feel-good story about a local family’s homebuying experience
- Notifying followers about professional achievements. These noteworthy accomplishments may boost business by bolstering potential clientele’s confidence and solidifying existing clientele’s trust, leading to more inquiries, more showings, and more sales.
Establish a Presence
Standing apart in the sea of real estate agents is crucial to an agent’s success, yet doing so can feel like an uphill battle. Press releases are a great way for agents to break through and establish themselves in their territories – especially when PRs are issued regularly and often.
Repetition is a proven method when it comes to establishing a presence. Consider the Rule of 7. This marketing tactic stems from the belief that it takes the average person at least seven times to “hear” an advertisement before they pursue the product or service.
The more familiar an agent’s name becomes, the more likely potential followers are to become faithful clientele. In addition, frequently issued PRs are more likely to be picked up by the media and other outlets.
Fresh Content
Agents that frequently post press releases on their website also reap the benefits of fresh content.
Brand-new content is key to gaining more followers and showing search engines that that website is trustworthy.
The more search engines believe a website is trustworthy, the higher that website ranks on the SERPs (search engine result pages).
Agents can take advantage of this easy opportunity to gain traction on the web by setting a weekly or bi-weekly reminder to post a fresh news statement.
Increase SEO Value
While press releases are used more for branding and building authority, they also indirectly impact SEO value. The process is as follows:
- The press release is posted on an agent’s webpage
- Search engines crawl and index the content
- Journalists, bloggers, social media influencers, and readers find the content by searching keywords that are relevant to the PR
- News and social media outlets pick up the story and feature it if they feel it is written well and fits their readers’ interests
- Followers read the featured press release and, if they want to read more, follow the links back to the agent’s website
Having a press release featured on a major news site, popular blog, or prominent social media page is important because of their domain authority. Links from these sources are incredibly valuable due to their credibility and large audience.
- If the content is well-written and intriguing, these new visitors become followers. They will share the content, be it an existing statement or another webpage, on their social media accounts or link back to it on their websites. This results in quality backlinks.
The more a webpage is linked to, the more search engines come to believe that the webpage or website is trustworthy. This results in the website ranking higher in the SERPs, therefore boosting the website’s SEO value.
How to Write a Press Release
Well-written press releases are successful press releases. Well-crafted news statements are free from spelling and grammar errors, include an attention-grabbing title, and are concisely written. They also include a hook, elicit an emotion, and are geared toward the correct audience. Finally, they cover newsworthy stories and answer the five w’s – who, what, when, where, and why.
Elements of a Well-Written Press Release
Newsworthy Content
Newsworthy stories are concise and to-the-point, avoiding any unnecessary information and unclear details. Media professionals as well as everyday readers are likely to bypass statements with content that is dull, overly lengthy, and/or vague.
Factors contributing to content that is exciting and worthy of news value include:
- Events that have recently occurred or will occur soon
- Events that impact a substantial number of people
- Statements that share important or exciting business news
- Conflict-centered stories with an emotional hook
- Trending events that are already circulating amongst the public
- Uncommon and unexpected stories with an element of surprise
- Locally occurring events and stories
- Human interest stories with an emotional charge
- Events that involve a popular public figure
Interesting Media
Press releases may feature interesting media, such as an interview or live footage from an event, to solidify a message or add visual appeal.
Different forms of media can include embedded YouTube videos, audio icons, and relevant graphics or images.
Proper Format
A well-written press release provides all of the information a reader could want, from what the piece is about to where the event occurs to whom the story impacts. Standard PRs tell the who, what, when, where, and why of a story through seven parts:
- A catchy title and italicized subheading that summarizes the statement
- The location in which the story or event occurs
- Two or three clear and concise paragraphs providing the details
- A scannable, bulleted list of facts
- Information about the business or agent
- Contact information
- Any relevant hashtags
Length and Tone
Well-crafted press releases are written in the third person and speak directly to the reader. Content is straight and to the point, leaving no room for fluff or jargon. Essentially, the tone of a PR matches that of a traditional news piece written by a journalist.
Since succinct and scannable content is the goal, it is best practice to keep PRs brief. Marketing authorities such as Search Engine Journal recommend keeping content at 400-500 words.
How to Issue (and Share) a Press Release
Once the press release is written, it will need to be posted on the real estate agent’s website. Depending on how tech-savvy the agent is, they can post the PR themselves or have their marketing team publish the statement on their behalf.
After the PR is issued, the content can be shared with the world. Agents can choose to share the link along with a summarizing statement or share the entire announcement as a whole.
Once the agent determines how they will share the press release, it is time to choose where to share the statement. Depending on the agent’s goals, PRs can be shared:
- On social media
- Directly to journalists
- To press release submission sites or distribution channels
While it is free to share press releases on social media, publishing PRs on distribution channels for expanded sharing can be quite expensive. There is often an initial cost to publish the press release. There may also be a fee for every word that exceeds the channel’s word limit. Agents can also be charged a fee for including media such as images, videos, audio clips, and social media signals. Strategize which press releases are the most important and invest in distributing those.
Know When to Post
Last but not least, the most successful press releases are posted at strategic times. The best time to issue one of these statements is between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM. This is usually the timeframe in which editors and journalists open about 1/3rd of their daily emails.
