When companies look to cut costs and find more efficient ways of marketing their business, they often find publicity to be a very cost-effective option. But with hundreds of media outlets, it's difficult to know where to start. It can also be very time-consuming and without experienced input, a badly done press release could do more harm than good. However, there is a new solution to help publicity seekers, whether they have prior experience with public relations or not.

A news distribution service has just launched in South Africa, which will send media releases to targeted journalists and help companies gain valuable media exposure. Similar to a newswire service, Media Alerts News Distribution will help journalists access relevant news, while helping companies easily distribute their news to all the right media contacts.

Recipients

Media Alerts News Distribution uses the Encyclomedia media database, South Africa’s largest database of over 6 500 journalists, including freelancers, influential bloggers and all print, broadcast and online media. However, the service uses a targeted approach where the press release will be sent to the journalists who match the specific industry or topic covered in the press release.

"Through our research, we know that some journalists receive up to 800 emails a day, so it's important that a media release is sent to the right journalists. It's even better if it's in a format that's easy for journalists to scan through and immediately access the information and images they need," says co-founder Robynn Burls.

Target markets

• PR practitioners can boost their publicity results by expanding their existing reach with access to the largest database of contacts.
• Marketers can add extra value to clients by offering a publicity service without needing to maintain their own editorial contacts or send the press releases themselves.
• Entrepreneurs who can't afford the full services of a PR agency, but need to distribute news in a simple, efficient way.
• Journalists can update their beats through Encyclomedia and ensure that they receive more of the relevant content they need.