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March 17, 2020

As countries engage in taking further measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, many businesses have been looking into remote work options for their employees.

In some cases, this is turning fairly major bustling metropolitan areas into ghost towns. One case example is Seattle, where ABC News reports that 'Traffic does not exist'. Labeled as a 'hot spot,' an article at NBC advises 'Seattle feels like 'ghost town,' business owners say as they face life in coronavirus hot spot'.

With the world tuned into the COVID-19 pandemic, this means that more people than average are reading the news. How can businesses benefit from this and increase your online exposure?

At 24-7PressRelease.com, we have seen a slight decrease in press release submissions, (perhaps due to everyone settling into new temporary reality); however, on a separate note, we've noticed an increase in readership of news releases (between 10%-15%) in the last couple of weeks. It would appear that during this time, many marketing / PR staff are either working remotely or just taking time off from work. Combine what is going on around the world along with Spring break, and this leaves you with fewer press release stories disseminated.

The only logical conclusion would be more people reading online news and information during this time and less competing news in the business news sector, translating into an excellent time to take advantage of the lull and distribute some news. We should add that whatever story you distribute, you will want to ensure that it is newsworthy to your audience. Sending a press release just for the sake of 'getting something out there' is not advised and will only cause more harm than good in the eyes of journalists and bloggers within your industry. If you require assistance with writing a press release or are looking for some tips, we always encourage you to check out our Press Release Knowledge Base Library.

When you look to craft your press release, please be wary and responsible with your headline during this time and be respectful of your headline and the message you are trying to convey to journalists & bloggers.

Adding a headline that incorporates the usage of 'Corona Virus' or 'COVID-19' to try and capitalize on eyeballs, without having a related news angle to your actual business is deceitful, not recommended and something that journalists can see through.

Our staff has come across a few stories that are decent enough to be published. These include a business notifying the general public of still being open (if you are in an industry where people may have doubt), new songs or jingles that artists have come up with related to what is going on. Both of these types of messages are timely and related. A couple of examples are listed below:

• Computhink Ensures Normal Operations During These Unique Times
• Composer Donates "Wash Your Hands" 20-Second Jingle to Center for Disease Control (CDC)
• A Face Mask Factory in China Add 10 New Production Lines Against COVID-19 Demand

'Strike while the iron is hot' is a quote from one of our customers, which is what we are seeing with more people tuning into news and reading news. Is it an excellent opportunity to get a few extra eyeballs on your message? Some undoubtedly believe so, however, remain responsible for your messaging.