If you have only a moment to tweet out an announcement, you only have your smartphone to take a quick photo or video related to your announcement, or you simply want to promote your official press release, then you have to rely on the power of social media. Unlike the average press release where you get 300 - 800 words to express your announcement, with social media, you might only have 90 characters, one image, or just seven seconds.
Without further ado, here are five ways to get the word out using the social media press release.
The 140-Character Release for Twitter
Chances are, you've seen quite a lot of press releases come across your news stream. Media outlets are big on these, starting them out with breaking.
If you really want to get attention for your press release, you'll have to get creative beyond just using text and links. For example, you can incorporate images in your press release tweet.
And you can use video.
Both will help your announcement stand out on your profile as well as within the Twitter newsfeed itself. You can also use a mix of tweet types (text based + link, image + link, and video + link) to tweet about your press release multiple times, but in different ways so that even someone who has seen all three tweets will see something new in each.
For an additional boost, you can use Promoted Tweets to reach an even larger audience with your press release. You can sign in to Twitter Ads using your usual Twitter credentials and then target your press release tweet to reach specific audiences. For example, you could target your ad towards specific news networks and the people that follow them, or Twitter users with specific interests.
This will help you spread your press release even further, generating more buzz, shares, and traffic back to your press release or website.
The 90 Character + Image Release for Facebook
Using Facebook for your press releases is a bit tricky, thanks to Facebook's continued lowering of business page's organic reach. And for the little organic reach your page has left, you certainly don't want to use it on text based updates as those receive less exposure than updates with links, photos, and videos.
Hence, you need to make your Facebook press more than just text. A combination of an uploaded photo, 90 characters worth of text, and a link to your website or press release is (currently) the best option to go with.
The reason you want to only use 90 characters before the link is so that the link shows up above the photo. Otherwise, people would have to click on a read more link or on the photo itself to get to the link.
Speaking of links, you can also paste in the link to your press release as your update, and add an additional description for great visibility.
One thing to note - with this approach, you'll need a good photo on the press release page, or a great photo to upload as the thumbnail for the link.
Another thing to keep in mind is engagement. The more engagement you can get with your press release post, the more reach it will have. So instead of just posting, "We're announcing the new ____..." consider asking your fans what they think about it, how excited about it they are, and other prompts to get more engagement.
As with Twitter, you can also depend on Facebook Ads to promote your press release to a larger audience. With better targeting options, you can promote it to the audience you want to reach based on demographics and interest, or to the media outlets and journalists you would love to cover it.
This can definitely help you increase the odds of getting more coverage for your press releases.
The Image Release for Pinterest & Instagram
If you want to promote a press release on an image-based network like Pinterest or Instagram, you need to have an image that really grabs people's attention and gets your message across - without the need for someone to click through to your press release. While photos like this are cute, they are the type that will get shared, but not get your press releases clicks.
On the other hand, if your image represents the content of your press release with a call to action, you'll get shares and clicks.
One thing to keep in mind about Instagram shares - all you have is image and text. The links you share with your images are not live links. So your only two options are to get the entire message across with the image and the description, or to include an easily memorable link to your official press release. So consider posting announcements like this...
Or, for press releases, take a screenshot of the release itself with directions on how to find the link.
Both will help your instagram followers figure out what your announcement is about, and will help them quickly find the link to more details.
The 7 - 15 Second Video Release for Instagram & Vine
Videos can help your audience get excited about an announcement even better than images. This is why you should add an Instagram or Vine video (or both) into your press release promotion. The big difference between the two networks is you get seven seconds for Vine video, and fifteen seconds for Instagram video.
Essentially, these can be teaser videos that will make your audience want to learn more about your announcement.
You can also share your Instagram and Vine videos on Twitter and Facebook to make sure that you reach more of your audience and get a live link out to them all. Not only that, but your audience is more likely to share them, especially if they are clever.
The best part is these videos don't have to be professionally made. People expect Instagram and Vine videos to be made quickly on a smartphone. So all you need is something that represents your announcement or press release and is film-able, such as a behind the scenes of an interview, or a quick product tour, and you're all set!
How do you incorporate social media into your press release campaign?