Don’t Kill the Press Release
I didn’t want to jump on the bandwagon but…a few quick thoughts about the New New Press Release or Press Release 2.0 given all the chatter and discussion today.
Fact: Press releases continue to be an efficient way to widely distribute information, so there’s no need to cut off your nose to spite your face. In other words, just because new technology is available doesn’t mean the old technology should be discarded - look at how paper-based books continue to be superior to e-Books despite the best efforts of Sony, et al.
Fact: Press releases can definitely be improved/enhanced. New tools such as Digg, Newsvine, del.icio.us, hyperlinks, etc. should be incorporated into press releases to drag them into the 21st century. Even before implementing new tools, the PR industry has to stop making press releases irrelevant with executive quotes that are completely ignored and rarely used by the media.
Fact: Blogs are a great complement to press releases as opposed to replacements for press releases. The soon companies realize that blogs are just another weapon within their marketing/communications arsenal, the more effective they will be in reaching out to their employees, customers, etc.
Update: For more, check out Deep Jive Interests, Publishing 2.0 and Hugh MacLeod, who offers his usual hilarious cartoon depicting the situation.
Technorati Tags: Blogs, Media, press release
January 21st, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Mark:
I’m not sure your own company, b5media.com is following your advice. In your last release, I was looking for hyperlinks, lack of executive quotes (or quotes that are not useless), and other recommendations you made in your blog. Perhaps you can comment on how your releases are changing (or identify the things I missed) or alternatively, share the real life struggles you face in changing your own approach toward press releases.
January 21st, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Well, you’ve got me there. To be honest, it’s not something we’ve spent a lot of time focused on over the past four months but it is something we’ll have to correct soon. We’ve got a press release coming this week so I promise to walk the walk in addition to talking the talk. Check in later this week to telll me how we’ve done.
Mark
January 21st, 2007 at 4:57 pm
[...] Shel Holtz, who was part of the Third Tuesday panel, has a long and thoughtful post, and Stowe has responded to Chris and others as well. In the end, I would agree with my friend Mark Evans that there is a place for press releases — social or not, as well as for blogs and pretty much every other kind of social media. A place for everything, and everything in its place. [...]
January 21st, 2007 at 6:27 pm
[...] with del.icio.us | Email this entry | TrackBack URI | Digg it | Track with co.mments | | Cosmos Click here forcopyright permissions! Copyright 2006 Mathew Ingram [...]
January 21st, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Don’t beat yourself up too bad Mark. There isn’t anything wrong with traditional press releases for traditional media. Lots of traditional media journalists would never read your press release if they didn’t receive it the old fashioned way.
Mark you have lived it. How many of your former colleagues are still clueless when it comes to new media?
I love new media as much as anyone but for all its faults traditional media still dwarfs it in terms of readership/ viewership / listenership.
If you want to get your company’s message out to as many people as possible you would be foolish to simply replace your traditional press releases with new media communications.
Smart companies incorporate both.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:48 am
PR 2.0: Why can’t Press Releases be proper 2-way conversations?
http://mediavidea.blogspot.com/2007/01/pr-20-why-cant-press-releases-be-proper.html
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:45 am
[...] This weekend the definition of “social media” and the relevancy of the “social news release” had the blogosphere all a twitter. Everyone and their uncle appears to have weighed in, and it seems like it’s the PR folks vs. the web strategy folks, with a few journos thrown into the mix. Which makes me ask - whither the marketers? [...]
January 22nd, 2007 at 1:15 pm
[...] Mark [...]