• How To Pitch Bloggers and Journalists
• How to NOT Win Friends and Influence Journalists
• Creating the Search Optimized Press Release
• Press Releases Can Increase Search Engine Positioning

The social media press release format is completely foreign to most journalists. It's a useful way to SEO and socialize press release content, but is by no means replacing traditional press release formats or methods of wire service distribution.

Posted by: Lee Odden on September 4, 2007

No arguments here Lee...I imagine we have a long way to go before mainstream journalists are accepting of anything outside the standard boilerplate.

I DO, however, think this idea is long overdue in terms of blog pitches. We've long lamented the fact that PR flaks try to "pitch" bloggers the same way they pitch traditional media. It doesn't work. Bloggers aren't trained journalists, they're people...looking for ideas to write about.

I would wager that companies that use this format for a blog-media push would see better results than those that try to utilize traditional press releases.

Mainstream media? Yeah, that's probably still a long ways off...

Posted by: Jennifer Laycock on September 4, 2007

I think it's a great idea, I too have a site for any news youd liketo get out to the blogging community, And I'm allways looking for blogs to feature. http://blogcarnivals.blogspot.com

Posted by: jim on September 5, 2007

Hi Jennifer

Thanks for the links. You have pretty much summed up our position on the use of the SMNR so I won’t repeat your points. Suffice it to say that as a growing press release distribution company we haven’t invested the time and money building this platform because we think it will replace the traditional press release. We expect our core distribution service for traditional press releases to represent the vast majority of releases we send for the foreseeable future. We have done it because we want to give people a choice - where they are looking to engage with people like you who would like to receive content in this form they can. We also included the references in the video to Foremski’s post and Defren’s template so viewers would understand the background to the concept and help educate people and as you point out thanks to Todd’s generosity there is nothing stopping anyone doing this themselves if they can’t afford to use a service like ours.

On the price point I agree the service is quite expensive in $ terms and the current 2:1 exchange rate really doesn’t help. The standard pricing does actually start at the equivalent of $700, not $1000 though. In addition we do offer discounts to regular users of our services which can result in charges nearer the $400-$500 mark for the blogit5 service. It is also worth bearing in mind that unlike all other distribution companies that we know of we also proactively monitor all coverage of releases that we send (SMNR or traditional) across all online media for a period of time after the release is sent (5 days in the case of our blogit5 for instance) in addition to the Technorati feed. This is included in the cost. It is also distributed on your behalf to newswire sites, Google news and unlimited targeted trade and news online publications and our average coverage achieved per release we send (of all types) is around 35. Finally as more users hopefully adopt the service over the coming months the economies of scale will allow us to reduce these prices.

I’m sorry if this sounds like an advert, but I just wanted you to be aware of the service’s comprehensive nature and that we aren’t trying to price it out of everyone’s reach. If you want to read an independent “review” check out this post by Paull Young at Converseon - http://pages.citebite.com/g2i1k1x1j5aci.

Thanks again for the mention.

Adam

Posted by: Adam Parker, Chief Executive - webitpr on September 5, 2007

Jennifer, I really liked this article...and you bring up good points.

Remember at the end of the day, this is about relationships and the rest are just using the right tools for the job.

A social media press release isn't intended to replace a traditional release nor is it really designed to be specific to any group of journalists or bloggers per se. It's designed for "people" and to not only deliver media, facts and information, but to also facilitate conversations.

In my experiments, I've created SMRs that resemble blog posts rather than the bullets used in the Shift Template. I've had more link backs and "cut and pastes" which seem to have generated a lot more visibility and memes.

Now, mainstream media and new media can still benefit from a well-written traditional release. That's where it all starts. The use of media isn't new...All reporters and bloggers want is information and content, not hyperbole.

The difference now is that the SMR offers the ability to also be an aggregator of your own information to a wider array of influencers and decision makers.

There are some other things that you should also review...for example, SMRs don't cross the wire intact, nor do they socialize the content very well.

Take a look at these recent posts. They'll provide an in-depth background to help people learn where to start and how to jump in (the right way):
http://www.briansolis.com/2007/08/marketwire-acquires-prnn-but-is-this.html

http://www.briansolis.com/2007/05/social-media-releases-everything-you.html

Posted by: Brian Solis on September 5, 2007

I agree with Lee Odden. When was the last time you saw a social media press release -- or any press release, for that matter -- getting a lot of Diggs? What may be more significant than the format of a press release is the fact that bloggers have become as influential journalists. And it is more important to engage bloggers as well as journalists in conversations, rather than add tags to a press release, or format it in new ways.

Posted by: Greg Jarboe on September 6, 2007

Greg,

I don't use Digg much, so I'm not the best person to ask...but I never really thought the goal of a press release (or SMNR for that matter) was to get it on Digg.

The resulting coverage of the press release...sure, but the release itself?

I also never really looked at Digg as my "goal" when it came to social media campaigns. Sure, it's a component for some campaigns, but for the greatest majority of work I've done, it's simply not a targeted audience, so why worry about it?

The point I'm trying to make is not that sending the same old boring press release in a new format is the key to the future.

It's that companies that embrace the new approach of sharing data that has come with social media and then work to integrate those approaches into their pitches, will stand a far better chance of getting positive coverage from bloggers than those who rely on the same old tired pitches.

I guess I just don't understand the resistance? Why is it a bad thing for companies to work to offer up relevant data in more formats that are more easily digestible in conjunction with personalized pitches that launch conversation?

Posted by: Jennifer Laycock on September 6, 2007

Hi Jennifer -
Sorry to jump in so incredibly late (usually I back off as soon as Brian Solis jumps in, since he's such an impassioned and articulate advocate).

Your article is great (and flattering, thanks!), and I'd be happy to chat with you if you ever have the time to do so live. Your post and the ensuing comments raise good questions that I'd be happy to help answer via a phone call, if you are interested. Just email me at tdefren@shiftcomm.com.

Thanks again!

Posted by: Todd Defren on September 10, 2007