Partner Research: Business Wire

Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is utilized by tens of thousands of member companies and organizations worldwide to functionally enhance  and communicate investor relations and public relations content to target audiences.

Six Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Press Release
Monika Maeckle, Vice President, New Media

What makes some press releases more effective than others? The most important factor for a successful press release remains the content itself, but there are certain techniques and tactics that can help optimize the visibility of your release to readers and search engines. In this Business Wire white paper, Vice President of New Media Monika Maeckle looks at six tips from our experts — covering all aspects of the writing and distribution process, from attention-grabbing headlines to helpful social media sharing links — on how to get the most out of your press release.

Build Your Brand for Better SEO 
Joseph Miller, Product Manager, EON: Enhanced Online News

With the tremendous growth in the amount of information on the Internet these days, search engines are constantly looking for new indicators of brand quality. Understanding how search engines judge and evaluate brands is imperative to building the trust that results in online visibility. In this Business Wire guidance report, EON: Enhanced Online News Product Manager Joseph Miller looks at what makes a search friendly brand and how to incorporate search friendly brand awareness in your marketing and PR campaigns.

Considerations for Building a Better Online Newsroom
Ibrey Woodall, Vice President of Web Communications Services

Every organization needs an online newsroom. It's the central communications headquarters for all of your company's news and information and can help start your conversation with media, bloggers, consumers and influencers. So, how do you make the most of this important communications platform? In this Business Wire guidance report, Vice President of Web Communications Services Ibrey Woodall reviews ten important considerations — from how to manage your content to what you should choose for your newsroom's URL — for building a better online newsroom.

A Guide to Trade Show Publicity 
Leon Harbar, Vice President, Global Trade Shows & Events

Trade shows are terrific opportunities for exhibitors to showcase their products and services and make impactful corporate announcements. A well-crafted event publicity strategy can mean the difference between wasting your time, money and resources or getting the most return on investment out of a show. In this Business Wire guidance report, Vice President of Global Trade Shows and Events Leon Harbar provides a comprehensive guide for the steps you need to take before, during and after an event to get the most out of your trade show publicity.

Best Practices for Enhancing Earnings Releases 
Michael Becker, Senior Vice President, Financial Product Strategy

In today's rapidly changing communications environment, investor relations professionals face a wide range of issues to consider in providing maximum transparency and outreach with their company news, and specifically, the critically important earnings press release. In this Business Wire white paper, Senior Vice President of Financial Product Strategy Michael Becker reviews current best practices for enhancing earnings releases, including linking and SEO tips and techniques, as well as newer opportunities, such as XBRL and mobile devices.

Press Release Measurement: Creating the Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) 
Laura Sturaitis, Executive Vice President of Media Services and Product Strategy

In this time of transition in public relations, there is a great deal of buzz around how communicators can determine what is being said about brands and who is saying it. However, there is no real consensus on who has influence, what should be valued and how to determine if something "worked." In this Business Wire white paper, Executive Vice President of Media Services and Product Strategy Laura Sturaitis attempts to demystify this process by providing an approach that utilizes the press release as a way to illustrate how to unify all your PR efforts and maximize the return on marketing investment - or ROMI - of your communications program.

XBRL Next Steps: What You Need to Know
Gary Purnhagen, Director of Compliance Services

The SEC's three-year XBRL phased-in mandate ultimately requires all public companies to submit filings in XBRL format by 2011. The first wave, Large Accelerated Filers (U.S. GAAP with a worldwide public float above $5 billion) has been submitting in XBRL since 2009, while the second wave, the balance of Large Accelerated Filers (U.S. GAAP) completed their initial XBRL filings in 2010. The third and final wave (all remaining filers) are required to complete their initial XBRL filings in 2011. In this Business Wire white paper, Director of Compliance Services Gary Purnhagen discusses what each of these groups should be doing now to understand the SEC's mandate and ensure their companies are well prepared to comply with it.

State of the Press Release
Monika Maeckle, Vice President, New Media

The press release has come a long way since its introduction back in 1906. With the changing media landscape, today's press release has evolved into a virtual Swiss army knife of communications tools that can address a myriad of marketing challenges. In this Business Wire white paper, Vice President of New Media Monika Maeckle looks at the state of the press release — its versatility and ability to deliver messages through multiple platforms and devices (from search engines to mobile phones) — and how, with more than 288,000 press releases issued over Business Wire alone last year, PR professionals can make a single release stand out from the crowd.

Engaging Global Audiences: Public Relations & Bridging Borders 
Neil Hershberg, Senior Vice President, Global Media

For many companies, the key question is no longer whether to have a global public relations strategy, but rather how to best implement it. "Going Global" has become a necessity instead of an option. Many iconic American brands now derive the bulk of their revenues outside the United States. This increasing dependence on key international markets highlights the need for these brands to engage audiences on a global level. But conceptualizing and executing an effective global public relations strategy means navigating through logistical hurdles for languages, culture, politics, time zones and media. In this Business Wire white paper, Senior Vice President of Global Media Neil Hershberg examines the reasons why companies have come to recognize the importance of an international communications plan and the complexities and challenges to consider in developing a successful global PR strategy.

Considerations for Building a Better Online Investor Center
Ibrey Woodall, Vice President of Web Communications Services

Every organization needs an online investor center. It's the central investor relations headquarters for all of your company's news and information and can help start your conversation with investors, analysts and media. So, how do you make the most of this important communications platform? In this Business Wire guidance report, Vice President of Web Communications Services Ibrey Woodall reviews ten important considerations — from how to manage your content to what you should choose for your investor center's URL — for building a better online investor center.

State of XBRL: Rules, Regulations & Best Practices 
Michael Becker, Senior Vice President of Financial Product Strategy

Fulfilling the SEC’s XBRL mandate has proven to be challenging and time-consuming. Companies often dedicate hundreds of staff-hours to complete their initial filing, yet thousands of validation errors have already been identified in the XBRL-formatted filings since the mandate became effective. In this Business Wire status report, Senior Vice President of Financial Product Strategy Michael Becker outlines what the SEC has been doing to help companies understand the XBRL mandate, learn best practices in filing and avoid common errors.

Additional Resources

Our expert staff serves up insights and best practices based on their years of experience in the industry weekly on the BusinessWired blog. Here are some of our most popular articles on one of our most frequently asked about topics, press release optimization:

• Free Keyword Tools For Your Press Release (PDF)
• Five Tips for More Search Friendly Headlines (PDF)
• Why Your Press Release Might Not Make It Into Google News (PDF)