There has been plenty of talk within PR and marketing circles about one of the oldest PR tools out there: The press release. As we PR folk continue to ponder the future of the press release (Google “Is the Press Release Dead?” and see what you get), we have to wonder: Why are there so many press release haters? Is it the worn-out distribution methods utilized by PR professionals, or the bad content contained therein?
Answer: Both.
Let’s start with distribution. We all know it’s not enough any more to just slap a press release on the wire, hoping someone important will see it. Nor is it enough to simply reach out to your personal media contacts with a pitch. Although these two methods aren’t dead (I personally still use both); it’s important to augment them by posting a Social Media Release (SMR). I use a blog platform and services like PitchEngine or MarketWire’s Social Media Release service, Social Media 2.0.
PR pros also need to take into account that the media is increasingly turning to alternative mediums to get information and news. According to a recent survey by TEKGROUP International, an online newsroom and PR research company:
- More than 77 percent of journalists think it's important to be able to access a company's social media networks from its online newsroom.
- 45 percent of reporters say they use a corporate blog when researching a story.
- 25 percent of journalists visit a company's Facebook Page (up 10 percent from a year ago).
- 40 percent are looking to receive news or updates via Twitter.
- Almost 99 percent of journalists expect a company to have an online newsroom, and 75 percent said they prefer it to be organized by news category.
- 95 percent want access to photos, company background, and product information within the online newsroom. Sixty-five percent want digital assets and 53 percent consider video and audio files useful.
So go ahead, post your press release on the wire, but supplement that posting with Twitter feeds, a company blog, online newsroom, a corporate Facebook page and an SMR.
Now, for content. To quote Brian Solis: “I’m sorry to say, that just because a new tool is available to you, you still have to make your story interesting, relevant, and newsworthy.” Yes you do! There’s nothing that turns the media off more than a poorly written press release.
Here’s one piece of advice: Stop writing the ME! ME! ME! press release. I recently read a press release that made me feel like the person who wrote it was preaching to me. It was obviously written for the company’s CEO rather than its audience. There were no benefit statements; nothing that indicated what the company’s new product did for its audience. It only highlighted what it meant for the company itself. Good for the company, I suppose, but if I were a reporter covering this company’s product category, I’d be left wondering what it meant to my reading audience.
Check your spelling and grammar! If you have any writing education and/or experience, you should know the difference between “complement” and “compliment”. You should know that the comma or period at the end of an executive quote goes inside the quotes.
Speaking of executive quotes – save the biography for Random House. Two to three sentences should do the trick. Leave the verbosity for the interview.
And for Heaven's sake, PROOF READ! ‘Nuff said on that one.
Bottom line: The press release is not dead. As long as they’re done properly, they’re still a very valuable business communications tool. And, considering reporters continue to ask for them, obviously the press release is very much alive and well.
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