I attended the New Comm Forum session on the Social Media Press Release, but lucky for you, I am not going to report on it. Others have already done so, and quite frankly, not much new was said. Read this blog, read Chris Heuer‘s stuff, read Todd Defren’s blog PR Squared, read Brian Solis, Kami Huyse and Robert French. You’ll have the gist. Of both the session and some of the questions raised.
I’m still of the mind that this new format is a solution in search of a problem. Not that there isn’t value in providing links to additional information. Or del.icio.us pages for background. Or images without requiring the writer — journalist or blogger — to navigate multiple levels of security just for the privilege to access the "stuff." All of this is terrific… for the reporter who wants it. For a story that merits it.
But it just seems so complex. Unnecessarily complex.
The fundamental problem with public relations is a content problem. Bad, poorly targeted pitches. Poorly written press releases. Worse, content-free, news-free, jargon laden releases. I want to know how this new format will help solve this problem.
When I asked this of the panel at New Comm — how does this format make a better pitch, help the journalist write a better story, I got two answers. One which I am about to reject, full stop, in this post. And the other edging toward a real response.
First, the answer I do not accept. The gist:
Absolutely, content is an issue. But we are separating format from content in this discussion, they say. Focusing on format, and how this new format benefits companies, bloggers and journalists by making releases more accessible, easier to find in search engines, easier to parse.
To which I politely say, bull. Search engine optimization is in NO WAY a sufficient answer. I cannot count how many odd sounding Web sites I’ve stumbled across in the last few years because folks were "optimizing" instead of focusing on telling a good compelling story on their Web site that would drive someone to, umm, buy something. And we want the press release to follow suit? Why? The current format is causing enough problems, with companies shoehorning non-news into releases with a big TA-DUH. I really don’t see why we need a new format that can be just as content-free as the old. But with links.
Now, the better answer.
It was an example of a pharmaceutical company which issued an important release, but in the usual fashion. Images and so forth were reserved to credentialed members of the press who contacted the company. However, the topic was of vast interest to many, many bloggers who had to resort to whatever clip art and images they could find to illustrate their posts. The story would have been far better served if the company had made their materials widely available.
YES!! This tells me how the new format helps tell a better story. Let’s stay here for a minute.
With all my skepticism, I actually do think the proposed new formats could help us solve the press release content problem. They make us chunk up the story, so if you are looking, you can clearly see if there is no there, there. But only if we are looking. Willing to let it help us tell a better story. If all we are worried about is SEO and whether we have a del.icio.us page, we will not get there. And quite frankly, if we make this a "big thing," corporate PR departments are going to run for the hills. I know. I managed one for years.
We have to embrace this in baby steps. Instead of presenting this as THE social media press release, we have to think about it as a toolkit, a process.
First, let’s open up the corporate media room. Understand that releasing a few images without authentication won’t kill the story for the more exclusive media outlets. Hold those back for the top targets, by all means. The bloggers and third tier media won’t care. They’ll just be happy that they got what they needed without standing on their heads.
Now, let’s keep the baby and the bathwater, and deep six all the jargon. Stop "leveraging synergies" and start "working together." Convince our clients and our companies to communicate in human language. Preferably with a minimum of BS, but yeah, I know….
Everybody benefits from clearer writing. Make sure there is some real news, and tell me WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN WHY and maybe HOW.
And if in all this, a different, "social media formatted" press release makes sense for your audience, whether journalists, bloggers or both, by all means, go for it. But let’s not leave corporate communicators with the impression that they have to go all the way to the (all caps) SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS RELEASE in order to get this right.
They don’t. All they really have to do is understand that the world now contains a whole new class of reporters, bloggers, and that all their reporters, whether bloggers or professional journalists, appreciate open, clear, honest and hassle free communications.
With links <VBG>
Tags: social media press release, new comm forum, new communications forum, press release, PR, public relations
Great post Susan. Seriously, more people need to be thinking about this. I wrote a post after coming back from the event because I felt we left people with more questions than answers.
http://www.briansolis.com/2007/03/social-media-release-in-spotlight-again.html
Excellent, Susan. The writing is what has suffered for a long time. And, the issuing of releases when someone has actual news is the second major problem. These days, too many people feel that any burp of activity is deemed worthy of a “news release” – and it isn’t worthy of much at all.
Perhaps the worst thing that has happened to the news release is that spammers and SEO specialists (often one if the same) discovered the phrase and have applied “news release” or “press release” to all manner of foolish nonsense.
Too often these “press releases” are horribly written announcements of a “100 page ebook that will teach you all you need to know about _________” – insert term or phrase in the blank. Contextual search cannot properly evaluate such posts and therefore we get awful results. I notice this more and more in Google and Yahoo! news alerts, for example. So, those tools are becoming useless – as is some organic search.
So much for monitoring quality search results with those tools.
Thanks for the comments. I agree, Brian– more questions than answers. In particular, I think it is very important to make this a bit more “bite size” for corporate communicators. We get in our little PR blogosphere echo chamber where everyone knows the back story, and forget how many issues are in play here. Resulting in confusion.
And you are absolutely right that we have to separate the question of press releases and how to write them from the distribution issue. The wires should be Switzerland on this – neither defending nor offending. Simply supporting news release distribution in whatever format clients choose. Otherwise we get down the rathole of whether the wires are necessary. Which has little to do with the topic at hand. Use ‘em. Don’t use ‘em. Your choice.
I do not think, though, that we can separate format from content. That’s part of how we got in this mess in the first place. As Robert points out in his comment, folks using a cookie cutter press release template for any and everything, regardless of news value.
X company today announced revolutionary Y thing at leading industry conference. Y is the (first/best/blah blah) to allow some group of people to accomplish some very important thing.
Followed by further details, lame quote and so on.
If we are going to make changes, we have to do better, and we have to articulate HOW it is really better.
I think the problem is bigger than just the content, though I agree that the Social Media Press release is definitely a solution in search of a problem. I think the problem is that PR people can’t give up control so they keep trying to figure out ways to scream louder or longer or more forcefully at publics who really don’t give a shit about their message. If they’d shut up and listen for a change they might figure out what part of their story people find interesting. Think of it this way. How much money is spent by corporations screaming more loudly at employees, customers and other stakeholders vs how much they spend listening.
Susan:
Great post.
I get whole idea about providing more content, such as artwork, but I’ve never really understood the value of chunking up the release into pieces.
It’s also important for all of us to remember that a lot of the jargon and BS that winds up in news releases is put there by the clients and lawyers, not the PR people.
Excellent post! All comes down to – if you’re talking about a pile of bovine biosolids – it’s going to look and smell like just what it is – no matter what you call it, from what angle you approach it, or how you pitch it.
And – having been forced to add “solutions speak” to marketing materials – I second John’s comment. No matter how many times we marketers tell them otherwise, clients often still demand to be “the leading supplier” “the premier solutions provider” ..and think the world is waiting in breathless anticipation of their organization announcements and CEO pronouncements.
Amen Susan,
I’ve been vending online newsrooms to the biggest corporate PR teams in the country for years, and they couldn’t care less about SMNR. It’s important to advance technology but not for technology’s sake alone.
Stinky PR is stinky PR in any language, including PHP, Ruby on Rails, Drupal, html, or Word.
Thanks for the comments. As Katie, John and Mary point out, a big part of the content problem is indeed companies not listening to what the audience really wants and insisting on being the leading supplier, premier provider etc etc.
FWIW, here are two ways I deal with this problem. First, in determining news value, strip out all the adjectives and adverbs. Is there still something new when we remove all the flourishes? Could be real news 🙂
As far as the corporate speak, take out the BS detector and ask the client, what would you think of this document if it were (name biggest competitor) issuing it? When he or she replies, “I would dismiss it because I know it can’t possibly be true, too much hype,” you then ask, “what makes you think people won’t react to our document in just the same way?” Doesn’t always work. Some people are just that clueless. But worth a try.
Amen, Susan. (Hi KD!) Revisited the schlocky PR subject myself just recently on my blog (Pitiful Pitches), although I was talking more about the typical dysfunctional PR phone pitch than the quality of the story or new ways of distributing/enhancing what is usually no story at all.
If cars were made the way PR is normally conducted, we’d still be riding horses.
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