Articles vs. Press Releases: What’s The Difference?
Some people come to us asking for an article about their business when what they really want is a press release. There is a big difference between an article and a press release and how we write them depends a lot on your goals, both for your business and for the article or press release.
A press release is generally used to create short-term buzz for a particular event or promote a certain aspect of a business for a specific purpose. Articles are simply information pieces that you use to market your business through distribution to various article marketing directories. Those directories are not your real goal, though. Too many marketers think submitting to article directories is enough. But what you really want to happen is for other publishers to find your article and publish it on their website or in their e-zine.
You might write a press release for your company if any of the following has occurred within your company:
- Your company has won an important industry award
- A key employee has been promoted
- Your business is moving in a radically different direction than before
- A scientific finding has affected your industry in ways that will change how you do business
- New government regulations will change your business
These are not the only reasons why you might want a press release, but these are some are some good ones. You can also write articles about some of these topics. I would not write an article about your company getting an award. That’s better left for the press release.
Another key difference between articles and press releases is that press releases are usually a one shot deal. Something happens and you write a press release. While you can write an article about a particular event that is important to your industry, one article over a period of time is not going to do much good for your business. Article marketing is a strategy. To be effective, you want to write articles on a consistent basis and publish them over a period of time. That will get your name out there so that people interested in your type of service will recognize it when they see it.
There is one thing, though, that article marketing and press release distribution have in common: Neither are sales letters. It may seem funny saying that, but if you’ve seen the number of times that a person writes their own press release or article and wrote it like a sales pitch then you’d know why it needs to be said. While both tools can be used to drive traffic to your website in order to close sales, they are not in and of themselves sales tools. But it doesn’t mean they can’t make you money.
