A Press Release for Social Media? I Think Not.
Earlier today a piece from one of my favorite blogs, PR Squared filtered into my newsreader. It triumphantly proclaimed that at long last, a press release for social media had been developed.
Forgive me for my skepticism, but I really don’t think that a new format is going to bring the press release to the blogosphere in any big new way. As the situation currently stands, press releases are sent out over newswires like PR Web (which is the official newswire of the Blog Business Summit). Bloggers sometimes link to those press releases when they’re relevant to a topic they care about.
The operative word here is care. A jazzy new format that features bullet points and del.icio.us links isn’t going to make them care about your product any more than sending a love letter to a guy who doesn’t know you exist is going to make him fall in love with you. If you want to reach a blogger, you don’t pitch, and you certainly don’t make an overture with a press release. You send an e-mail or leave a comment. You show that you know her blog because you read it and care about her opinion. Then you figure out what you have in common, you talk about your interests - hopefully reaching some kind of mutual benefit. There is no quick and easy way to talk to most bloggers.
Yes, the press release has a very important place in the world of Web communications. But forget a new format. It’s not going to make one bit of difference. If someone sent me one of these things, I’d disregard it just like I would a traditional press release.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Good comments! There generally seems to be some level of authenticity to blogs, while press releases are associated with skepticism, bias, and alterior motives.
Wow. I normally agree with what I see on BBS but not this time. I really appreciate it when a public relations person goes out of their way to contact me personally but I don’t have time to develop a close personal relationship with all of them. Press releases are a necessary tool that I, as a reporter, want and need. I welcome them. If I didn’t get them, how would I know about a potential story, especially with a private company? Some of the relationships I have with PR people started after I contacted them!
I don’t think any reporter can afford to ignore releases. This doesn’t mean I’m going to copy and paste them into my posts (maybe an excerpt which I attribute to them) but I scan them all.
One of my frustrations with them though is a lack of multimedia content and sometimes a lack of an easy way to contact someone. I think this “social media” release is a tool that’s overdue.
I’m curious what you mean by “disregard” them. Does this mean you delete them without even looking at them? If I got a release like this I would probably spend more time looking at it which would increase the likelihood that I might use it somehow. It’s still going to have to be something I’m interested in and want or need.
I think it’s a great idea and hope to see more of it done. Besides, if they post it to their own blog maybe their customers or members will “use” it and they won’t really care if I do or not.
Chuck: There is definitely a time and a place for these kinds of press releases, here’s an example of one.
That said, there is evidence that bloggers in general don’t trust PR professionals and PR agencies (see question 9). And there’s a reason for that.
As a general rule, I don’t look at press releases unless I come across them in the process of researching something. I much prefer to look to the RSS ecosystem, search engines, news sites, and actual ink-on-paper newspapers/magazines to get my information.
If I were Robert Scoble a couple of weeks ago, and my mother were sick in the hospital - I wouldn’t appreciate receiving this kind of press release any more than I would appreciate receiving an old-style one. The fact is that any time someone sends a press release (or any document for that matter) to a blogger, and it’s obvious that the sender doesn’t read the blogger’s blog - bloggers get miffed. The fact that it’s a new format won’t make one bit of difference.
Teresa,
Thank you for adding to the discussion. It would not suprise you to know that I support the new format with one caveat. Unless there is a platform that supports the distribution of the social media press release all you have at the end of the day is an electronic document.
At the risk of sounding spammy, I am here to tell you that PRWeb is the only newswire that fully supports the social media press release as outlined by SHIFT communications. See http://www.prweb.com/releases/technoratitags/socialmedia/prweb406019.htm for more details.
That said, back to the format. I think it is handy to provide the blogging community with content that in a manner that is familiar and easily repurposable (is that even a word?).
Why does PRWeb care so much about social media and the blogoshere in general? Because blogs report of stuff the media ignores. Blogs are the only shot that a lot of organizations will have in taking their message to the masses. We have seen time and time again where the press come and does clean up after the blogosphere reports on a story. The MSM follows online buzz. They report on what has happened. Few can do what bloggers do, report on news as it is happening.
I could go on forever. But is late.
David McInnis, CEO PRWeb
I know you posted this a while ago, so maybe your perspective on social media press releases has changed. The new format is not for “pitching” a blogger as one would a traditional journalist … it just helps make the news more easily accessible and available to them. Hooray for the new format.
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