Blogs and press releases make different contributions to your marketing needs

More and more companies now publish a corporate blog (weblog) to promote their products and services, or to facilitate communication with employees and customers. Blogs are versatile because they enable companies to make posts, comment on those posts, and track those posts easily through centralized hosting. Although they come in different types, most corporate blogs can be categorized as either internal or external.

Blog types

• Internal: Internal blogs are accessed generally through an organization’s intranet and are exclusive for use within the organization. They allow communal posting, allowing any user to make a post. Their informal nature encourages employee participation, collective intelligence, free discussion, direct communication, and a sense of belonging or community. Aside from these, internal blogs may be used in place of emails and meetings. They are also substitutes for newsletters, bringing employees who work in different locations together and ensuring that they get the latest corporate news.

• External: External blogs are public-access blogs that normally appear on the organization’s web site. While employees are still able to use them to voice their views, external blogs are usually used by the organization in announcing new services and products, the end of certain services and products, explanations and clarifications on policies, or reactions regarding public criticism on some issues. Though they may accomplish similar objectives to press releases, they are more informal. While public access is allowed, posts are normally reviewed before being posted. To encourage dialogue, most external corporate blogs allow comments.

Press releases

Press releases, on the other hand, are normally utilized to generate favorable media attention. Used to announce an event or the release of a new product or service from the organization, they are sent out to newswires for publication. While they are traditionally meant to invite journalists to create news articles on the topic, press releases these days can stand alone, imparting what a consumer needs to know about a certain event, product, or service without the need for a news article to be written. These days, press releases are also published on line.

So, which one should you use?

Corporate blogs and press releases accomplish similar goals. If you want a more informal approach, then corporate blogs are for you. If you want to be more formal, then you’re better off with press releases.

However, take note that what you use may also be limited by the kinds of resources you have. If you’re not updated on how blogging works, it might be better for you to start first with press releases.

Do them both

There’s no reason why you should choose one over another when you can do them both. It does not take a lot of money to publish a corporate blog, and now, thanks to press release distribution services like PressReleaseRoom.com, it’s free to publish and distribute your press releases on the Internet. This service can handle RSS syndications for blogs and RSS feeds so you can harness all the benefits of promotion and publicity. Use PressReleaseRoom.com now and ensure optimum exposure for your business.