NEWS RELEASES FOR THE DIGITAL AGE

Story Time

Ivy Lee “ One of the founding fathers of modern day PR” (Wikipedia) Slide Credit: Todd Andrlik

Statement from the Road Slide Credit: Todd Andrlik

100+ YEARS LATER

INTERNET THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED

THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED INTERNET

The press release has been unchanged for over a century… Journalists are no longer considered the only audience for a company’s news… It stopped being about the “press” at least a decade ago. And how much has the media landscape changed during that time? THE NEED FOR CHANGE

The press release has been unchanged for over a century…

Journalists are no longer considered the only audience for a company’s news…

It stopped being about the “press” at least a decade ago.

And how much has the media landscape changed during that time?

THE NEED FOR CHANGE

IN A NUTSHELL Keep it straightforward rather than spintastic. The journalists are going to go with their own spin on the story anyway, so why bother? Provide a page of quotes from the CEO or other C-level execs. Provide information in many different formats. Images, audio, video, pdf etc. Provide many links inside the release copy, and also provide a whole page of relevant links to other news stories or reference sources

Keep it straightforward rather than spintastic. The journalists are going to go with their own spin on the story anyway, so why bother?

Provide a page of quotes from the CEO or other C-level execs.

Provide information in many different formats. Images, audio, video, pdf etc.

Provide many links inside the release copy, and also provide a whole page of relevant links to other news stories or reference sources

Traditional elements Headline Core facts Approved quotes Boilerplate Contact details FEATURES

Traditional elements

Headline

Core facts

Approved quotes

Boilerplate

Contact details

Traditional elements Headline Core facts Approved quotes Boilerplate Contact details Navigation Hyperlinks in the copy body Links to previous coverage Links to other backgrounders & FAQs Multimedia Video Audio Images Social media capabilities Social bookmarking RSS feeds Technorati tags Inbound links Comments FEATURES

Traditional elements

Headline

Core facts

Approved quotes

Boilerplate

Contact details

Navigation

Hyperlinks in the copy body

Links to previous coverage

Links to other backgrounders & FAQs

Multimedia

Video

Audio

Images

Social media capabilities

Social bookmarking

RSS feeds

Technorati tags

Inbound links

Comments

Journalists Social media users Consumers (direct) AUDIENCES

Journalists

Social media users

Consumers (direct)

Headline Contact info Multimedia Social network video Release content Hyperlinks

Quotes Related links Technorati tags Boilerplate statements Social bookmarking RSS feeds Coverage generated Inbound blog links Comment facility

Optimised for search Optimised for conversation Optimised for sharing Tells the story through words and multimedia Helps provide context on complicated stories BENEFITS

Optimised for search

Optimised for conversation

Optimised for sharing

Tells the story through words and multimedia

Helps provide context on complicated stories

CASE STUDIES

A FEW NUMBERS Online Coverage (blog/editorial) 52 Links back to SMNR 49 Views on YouTube (since 10 Nov) 449,096 Top 5 referring sites to video Gizmodo – 32,335 Engadget – 27,100 SMNR – 15, 964

The SMNR is NOT a panacea for bad PR or a weak story The SMNR is NOT a substitute for one-to-one relationships Sending an unsolicited press release (regardless of format) will most likely be considered as spam People tend not to comment on press releases (not yet anyway!) What’s in a name? Experiment, experiment, experiment! AND FINALLY...

The SMNR is NOT a panacea for bad PR or a weak story

The SMNR is NOT a substitute for one-to-one relationships

Sending an unsolicited press release (regardless of format) will most likely be considered as spam

People tend not to comment on press releases (not yet anyway!)

What’s in a name?

Experiment, experiment, experiment!