Small Biz Franchise Blog

The Role of Press Releases in Franchising

Posted on August 10, 2009 by Lizette Pirtle

Press releases have always been great marketing tools for franchisors and franchisees alike. Most franchisors have always encouraged franchisees to send out press releases when they open their doors for business. And, many franchisees were reluctant to follow this suggestion because of the effort that it used to require to distribute them. Today, however, with the help of the Internet, press releases have become even more powerful and easier to use.

Press releases can be (and should be) used to announce anything relating to your company that’s of interest to the public and to the media. There must be a story for the press release to work; otherwise it won’t be picked up by the media and you’ve wasted your time, effort and money.

I always knew that press releases were great tools, but until this year I was unaware of how powerful they really are. In trying to increase the visibility of a client, I suggested they write a press release and use PRWeb to distribute it. At that point (Oct. of 08) if you entered the name of my client’s company in Google, the listing appeared only once and low on the page.  After only three press releases in less than a year, they now have 26 pages of references to their website. Not bad for a less than $2000 investment for the writing of the releases and the fees to PRWeb for distribution!

The more references you have about your company, the greater the brand awareness you create. Further, the greater number of references increases your ranking in search engines; and a higher ranking means that you’ll be more likely to attract people who are searching for franchise opportunities to your website.

Remember, press releases work; but, they must include the right key words so that search engines will pick them up and they must tell a good story so that the media will embrace them. Opening a location is okay news but what the location means to the community is better news. 

Do your own experiment. Use press releases and watch your ranking and references grow. You will be amazed.

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