Social Media as Distribution
The number one issue that keeps coming up continually is PR spam. There are too many avenues, too many spammers and a lot of nonsense out there to clutter the inboxes of journalists (both blogs and print). As more and more journalists join social networks and expose their contact information, it's increasingly difficult for them to filter. Don't blame social media. Blame bad PR tactics. The two ARE NOT the same.
There are several online press distribution channels available. If a you want to distribute news, go to PR Newswire to PRWeb or Marketwire. This is not social media, this is simply a way to distribute news via the internet. If you want to utilize social media and further engage in conversations with media contacts, get smart about it. Research and build a social media newsroom or offer up social media news releases to your media contacts. It's about the tools and the conversation, not the distribution to journalists. For social media PR to have legs, we have to remain ethical.
A Tight Pitch
Stowe Boyd (who ironically opposed the Social Media News Release initially) came up with the twitpitch in an effort to sort through, cut down and filter all the pitches he was being inundated with. The twitpitch calls for PR pros to pitch Boyd via Twitter using the hashtag #twitpitch. I commend the idea, but am surprised by the messenger. To me, the idea of a concise social media release could be conveyed the same way, via twitter- or some other channel. Send your contact a link with a great headline, and let them take the initiative to voluntarily click for more. If you've crafted a good social media pitch and have something appropriate to announce, chances are you'll get picked up. I would argue that a social media release is much less obtrusive than a traditional 600-plus word press release attached to an email, twitpitched or not.
Really Simple PR
In Deirdre Breakenridge's new book PR 2.0, she interviews Phil Gomes, VP of Edelman who offers up some good logic. He prefers the term "New Media Release" as opposed to "Social Media Release" and he may be on to something, since the "social" aspect is often misunderstood by journalists. Aside from technology bloggers and editors, most writers don't grasp the concept. Announcing that you're opening up a two-way conversation can be daunting, especially if it's with an unidentified PR hack eager to spam you. That said, the social aspect is vital to the future of interaction between media and brand - not to mention, brand and consumer. Start simple by offering journalists something more than the next guy (or gal). Pitch them and provide enough information that they won't have to seek out more. Give them links high-res images, show them a video of how your product works or just give them bulleted features with a link to the full-on AP style press release. Buzzwords like "social media" don't make the release interesting to media, the contents and tools you offer-up do.
The Revolution
Tom Foremski's "Die! Press release! Die! Die! Die!" post in 2006 was the catalyst for change. Thanks to him, social media release and newsroom templates have helped lead the charge into the future of the PR industry. The PR industry is fragmented, but with emerging tools and daring PR pros taking the initiative to innovate, it's not long before the tide will turn. Keep up the progress, but use caution and do it with class. You and your brand will be better for it.
Original post on PitchEngine