As the media has moved away from its traditional roots, so has the old-fashioned press release. Instead of mere text, many practitioners have adopted the social media, or multimedia, press release to further aid journalists in their quest for relevant content.
But despite the rising trend of utilizing social media into releases, a group on LinkedIn called Social Media Marketing has found that the social media press release (SMPR) doesn’t seem to be gaining in popularity.
Recently, Keith Pointon, a creative director for a company based in the UK asked the group: “Why aren’t social media press releases more popular?”
“With the huge growth in social media in the last year it’s surprising that the social media press release and newsroom hasn’t become more popular … Does there need to be a real push from the PR industry to start using this type of service for their press releases?” he wrote.
But what is a social media press release? Generally, an SMPR is hosted on the Web, offers high resolution images, embedded videos or audio, a short summary of content, Twitter pitches, online source links, and PR contact information, including links to social media addresses.
For Amanda Marsh, a real estate reporter at Bisnow.com, all the bells and whistles that come along with an SMPR are more of a hassle. Instead, she favors a good, old-fashioned traditional release. “I’m constantly pounding the pavement and it’s difficult for me to receive more complicated releases on my BlackBerry,” she said in an email interview. “I don’t have time to listen to podcasts or watch videos that are linked in the release, either. I need something I can read quickly, decide if it’s something I need to follow up on, and go.” Marsh, who receives many press releases a day, noted it would be helpful if more PR pros used FTP, file dropping services, or Flickr to share photos and large files. Meanwhile, KHOU-TV reporter Jeremy Desel noted in an email interview that press releases of any kind are of little help. “Generally, press releases do very little for me anyway because they don’t include any way to humanize or personalize the story,” he said.
Back on LinkedIn, Lauren Fairbanks, a former journalist and currently a partner with Stunt & Gimmick’s Digital Media Marketing, noted that in her experience the press release has hit a “dead end.” “As far as getting company information out, I’d rather see it posted on a company news section on their website or Facebook page, with a quick intro email and link to get more information. That way, it’s easier to read and cull through for writers, and it also gives the company social profiles more exposure,” she wrote.
But while the social media release may not yet be widely accepted, this is not true in all cases. Central Business Valley Times publisher and editor Doug Caldwell doesn’t put too much stock in social media platforms, but noted in an email interview that the best press releases include photos, audio and video in addition to text, which summarizes some of the basic elements found in an SMPR.
Meanwhile, various other group comments on LinkedIn touted their successful exploits using an SMPR. It is evident that there is no one size fits all solution to the way PR materials are transmitted to the media. What does stand out is that no matter the means of communication, old school PR themes still need to be utilized. Make it timely, targeted and relevant, and know who you’re pitching.
— Katrina M. Mendolera
Related articles
- The evolving new media pitch (vocus.com)
- Writing and Distributing the ‘Social Media Release’ (blogworld.com)
- Press Releases: Traditional vs. Online (pamil-visions.net)
