By Brett Thomas, Owner of Jambalaya Marketing in New Orleans, Louisiana
Some people think press releases are something only the giant corporations use. You know… the ones with skyscraper offices, neon-lit boardrooms, and enough budget to buy a small island in the Caribbean just to host a quarterly meeting.
But here’s the funny thing about 2025: small businesses have figured out that press releases work just as well for the corner shop in Chalmette as they do for the massive company with its logo plastered on a blimp. And honestly, it’s about time.
Press releases have evolved from stiff corporate memos into dynamic digital tools that work like little authority-boosting grenades. They explode across the internet, sending signals to search engines, AI models, and news aggregators that a business is active, informed, and worth paying attention to.
And unlike enterprise brands, small businesses can do this without waiting for six committee meetings, two audits, and a strategic “brand alignment summit.”
Press Releases Aren’t Just for Fortune 500 Anymore
Let’s get something straight: press releases used to be intimidating. The old versions felt like they were written exclusively by people in $2,000 suits who lived on black coffee and corporate jargon.
Now? Press releases are basically accessible to anyone with a laptop, a brain cell, and something even mildly interesting to share.
Local businesses have discovered that publishing regular announcements helps them show up in search results, news feeds, and those new AI-driven summaries that people trust way too much. And since smaller companies often move quicker than national giants, they can publish more nimble, more relevant, and more frequent updates.
It’s the difference between steering a fishing boat and steering a cruise ship. One turns fast. The other needs an ocean, a map, and three hours of planning just to make a U-turn.
Why Search Engines Actually Care
Search engines today act like digital librarians—very organized, mildly judgmental, and obsessed with activity. When they see a company consistently sending out structured updates, they take that as a sign the company is legitimate and engaged.
Press releases feed those search engines valuable data:
- What the company does
- Where it does it
- Who is involved
- What topics matter
- What events are happening
This builds something called an entity profile, which is basically the internet’s version of a reputation dossier. The more complete the profile, the more likely a business is to show up when someone searches for a service in the region.
Enterprise-level brands have had this advantage for decades. Now smaller companies are realizing they can build the same digital reputation—without needing a marketing department the size of the Saints defensive line.
Local Relevance Beats Corporate Blandness Every Time
National companies often try to appeal to everyone at once. This usually results in messages so generic they could have been written by a robot that’s never left its cubicle.
Meanwhile, local companies are writing press releases about real-life issues—like hurricane prep, seasonal safety, neighborhood development, shrimp prices, crawfish season, or the pothole that has grown large enough to require its own zip code.
These topics hit home. They matter to the people reading them. And search engines recognize that relevance.
Press releases let local businesses speak directly to their community in a way big corporations simply can’t. When a company in New Orleans publishes an announcement about a local issue, the search engines connect that business to that location and that topic. That’s a massive ranking advantage.
Thought Leadership Without the Fancy Suits
One of the best parts about press releases is that they let everyday experts become industry voices. You don’t need a national platform or a corporate press room.
Comment on a trend?
You’re now a thought leader.
Share insights on something happening in your industry?
You’re now a resource.
Address a seasonal concern?
You’re now relevant.
Press releases make that possible because they distribute those ideas across the internet where search engines can easily pick them up, index them, and attach them to the business entity.
Small businesses can dominate niche topics simply by having something useful to say—and putting it in a press release instead of whispering it into the void.
Distribution Has Become a Beautiful Thing
Gone are the days when you needed a newspaper editor to decide if your press release deserved oxygen.
Today, the moment a release is published, it gets picked up by:
- News aggregators
- Industry directories
- Business databases
- AI training feeds
- Local news robots
- High-authority digital outlets
- Social discovery platforms
It’s like throwing a handful of Mardi Gras beads into a crowd—you never know who’ll catch them, but someone always does.
Smaller companies are using this to their advantage, dominating space that used to be controlled by enterprise-level marketing machines.
A Permanent Archive of Credibility
Press releases don’t disappear like social media posts that vanish into the doom scroll after a day or two. They live online permanently, building a long-term historical record of a business’s activity.
This becomes digital proof of credibility—something enterprise brands have enjoyed for decades. Now local companies are building that same legacy, one release at a time.
Why 2025 Is the Year Small Businesses Catch Up
The rise of AI-driven search has leveled the playing field. AI wants data. Press releases provide it.
The businesses that communicate consistently—on real topics, with local relevance, using structured releases—are earning visibility that used to require deep pockets and national marketing teams.
Small businesses finally have a tool that makes them competitive with brands that operate on a national scale. Not because of budget… but because of consistency.
The Bottom Line
Press releases aren’t old news. They’re the new leveling force in a digital world where visibility matters more than size. Local companies using frequent, strategic announcements are discovering that the path to competing with enterprise giants doesn’t involve matching their budget—just matching their activity.
And honestly? That’s the kind of underdog story New Orleans has always loved.
