The Rise of the Social Media Press Release
Yesterday I visited a Facebook group in which I’m a member. I was somewhat taken aback when I read a post that started –
“Social media has forever changed how nonprofits and journalists distribute and consume news stories, yet the format of press releases has not evolved at all. Almost every communication medium out there has been impacted by the rise of social and mobile media, but not press releases.” (11 Tips for Making Nonprofit Press Releases Social and Shareable)
Well, I know I’ve been creating and posting social media releases (SMR) and releases that are Search Engine Optimized (SEO) since 2009 when I managed The Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture featuring Al Gore.
And, I’m far from the first!
Then I remembered the post The Definitive Guide to Social Media Releases by Brian Solis, written February 11, 2008.
The blog covers a lot of information about the creation of SMR and the evolution of press release wires and includes a description of what an SMR should include:
- Headline
- Intro paragraph, rich with key words, relevance and context (summary)
- Supporting facts
- Quote
- Embeddable Video (The new VNR)
- Embeddable Audio
- Embeddable Images
- RSS for the organization’s news
- RSS for product/services info
- Post in “insert social network of choice”
- Blog this (links to blogging platforms)
- Share on Twitter, Tumblr, etc.
- Bookmarks
- Relevant links
- Digg, Reddit, and other relevant news aggregators and communities
- Comments – Maybe also include a link to a hosted network on Ning or even a discussion forum
- Contact: hcard, vcard, Linked, Facebook
I use a national or local release distribution service, depending on the scope of the release. All have templates in which you input your press release and include ways to ensure that they are SEO and SMR.
I love using the Atlanta Daybook for local news releases. They have direct reach into the newsrooms, corporate headquarters and nonprofits in my target market.
Once the release is posted I encourage members of the organization to share with their organizational partners and personal networks.
I also send my releases pasted to the face of a personalized email. When I do this I:
- Keep everything flush left, including the header, sub-head, organization’s logo and contact information
- Follow the classic pyramid with the most relevant information in the 1st paragraph
- Ensure that the subject line has all the relevant information & piques interest in the release
- Use keywords in the header and subhead
- Hyperlink the name of the organization, project and/or event to the organization’s website in the 1st paragraph
- Use a relevant quote in the third paragraph
- Link details of relevant information back to the organization’s website
- Provide a link to usable JPEG files housed in the website press room
- Add a link to the website in the boilerplate
- Add contact info to the bottom of the release
- Post the release in the organization’s press room, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter feed, blog and whatever social media platforms they use.
Is there room for improvement? Absolutely! Read through the suggestions in 11 Tips for Making Nonprofit Press Releases Social and Shareable and see which suggestions will work with your organization. Also checkout Marketwire’s Tips for Entering Your Nonprofit into the Social Media Environment and PRWeb’s Nonprofit News Release Services. You’ll find good information and some excellent examples of nonprofit social media releases.
Remember, no matter how social and shareable your release is, be sure that the information is relevant and worthy of distribution and creating positive conversations between your organization and your target markets. And, don’t forget that to have ‘real’ people follow up and respond to queries from the media and bloggers.
Any other suggestions? We’d love to hear from you!
