Newsletter Article

05.20.08

The Slow Rise of the Social Media Press Release

- Michelle Stone, SEO Specialist

Just as the press release celebrated its two-hundredth birthday, a chorus of voices from the public relations community called for its death. Two years later, the press release is still alive and kicking, and its presumed successors, the social media press release (SMPR) and the social media news release (SMNR) remain largely un-adopted. What are a SMPR and an SMNR? Do we really need more acronyms? What makes these better than the traditional press release?

The social media press release and the social media news release made their respective debuts two years ago, both being born from the sounding of the press release death knell and the reaction of a few PR agencies. In addition to the traditional text, the “press release 2.0” iterations sported these features:

• Contact information strikingly displayed at the top
• A list of basic facts
• A series of quotes
• Company logos and photo headshots
• Related audio or video
• Social bookmarking or sharing links to sites such as Digg and del.icio.us
• RSS feeds
• Comments

The addition of these “Web 2.0” elements helps clients and marketing departments shift from the reactive model to the proactive to the interactive. This shift has slowly crept in over the years, with press releases embracing social media elements, and with press releases being picked up by Google News and Techmeme. Press releases have placement in the search engine results pages, more so now than ever with the advent of Google’s Universal Search, and press releases also appear in news aggregators. This placement allows companies to deliver their messages direct to customers, investors, and prospects. As the press release has slowly become more and more interactive, those who write the press releases – whether it’s marketing / communications or an agency – need to think about the ways in which they can turn up higher in search results by using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques.

Even the familiar on-line press release delivery services have recognized that interaction and social media can target new audiences and expand the press release’s reach. Business Wire, a leading source for news, press releases, multimedia and more, has aggressively pursued SEO to shoot to the top of search engines, news sites and social media with their clients’ materials.

In terms of SEO, the same consideration that is given to your website and its content is the same consideration that would be given to a social media press or news release. When writing web copy, thought is given to writing for both the human reader (your customer) and the search engines. This is accomplished by performing keyword research, creating unique, keyword-rich content, and employing the use of relevant metadata. The same is true for the new breed of press releases. It’s no longer enough to write for reporters – the robots need to be given importance as well. And this reflects more than the fact that press releases are showing up in news aggregators. Graphics from company logos to diagrams to photographs also appear as a thumbnail in Google News.

Press release 2.0 doesn’t just include performing SEO. There are also some “Rules of the Information Superhighway” that should be followed when creating social media press or news releases.

1. Resist the urge to submit your press release to a social news site. This is not the same as submitting your press release to news search engines. What appears on a social news site is coverage of an announcement. So instead of submitting a press release to a site like digg or reddit, put your efforts toward having a popular blogger write about your company’s news. Once you get the blog post, then you can promote the coverage through the social news and bookmarking sites.

2. Don’t add a link or a linked icon for every social bookmarking site on the web. While you might think of doing this for the sake of being thorough, adding too many bookmark icons can turn the reader off. Having more than four icons will likely confuse or even annoy a visitor. Worse yet, it might seem desperate. As with SEO best practices when it comes to link building, find out which social news and bookmarking sites are the most relevant to your content and only list those services as bookmarking options.

3. Consider submitting your own content, but do so carefully. These sites aren’t the right place for branding. Such social news and bookmarking sites tend to dislike branded or commercial-sounding user names. Choose with a username that is generic and count on actively submitting, voting, and participating in these communities to create value.

4. Overly positive comments – avoid them and certainly don’t post such comments to your own submissions. Whether you think of it as “Miss Mary Sunshine” or “Greetings from Mayberry” comments, these types of comments use exceedingly positive and chipper language to laud the merits of a submission. They usually resemble something along the lines of, “Golly gee, this is really the best thing ever!” This is a surefire way to make any submission seem fake or disingenuous. This also holds true for the opposite, negative comments. Some social news and bookmarking sites have users who utilize Internet slang as well as popular vernacular to voice their discontent. Don’t try to mimic their commenting style. If someone should post a comment that you don’t agree with, think of it as a great opportunity to display brand or industry knowledge, as well as being a PR exercise. You can even link back to pages on your company’s site…but do so with discretion. Use the links for the greatest effect and don’t become “spammy” with them.

While the SMPR and the SMNR haven’t usurped the press release from its throne, there are many social media and SEO aspects that enter into the crafting of an all-around effective press release. Being aware of the ways in which you can utilize the Internet to your best possible advantage, especially in the realm of social media, can help broaden your reach and attract more attention to your company and your products. The press release isn’t dead yet – with social media and SEO, we’re just finding ways to make it even more useful.