Beyond Blogging 2006 » Blog Archive » The Press Release Isn’t Dead

David Meerman Scott’s free eBook, The New Rules of PR, kicked off a wave of discussion in January about the future of the press release.

On of his points was that with the advent of popular news sites on Google and Yahoo, the primary readers of your “release” are now sometimes the business buyers or consumers searching for information about products and services you offer.

What about the press?

The press remains a critical audience for a number of reasons, but how many times does a traditional, national release get you the kind of attention you hope for? Most people get better results through one-on-one emails and phone calls with reporters. You know, a little human touch.

Now that we are in May, the long shelf life of that initial discussion is still evident and the “Rules” are now a point of reference (and debate). There have been articles about the “death” of the press release and continuing posts on blogs about what’s the next great thing.

For many it’s a tired topic, but the “New Rules” that I’ve seen work really boil down to a few key points:

1. Write directly to your audience - including all key micro-segments – when appropriate. With the new approach, write one release (or “releaselet” — mini-release) for each audience using words and concepts they personally relate to.

2. Take advantage of research resources like Yahoo and Google keywords tools or Wordtracker to find out what terms people are searching for and integrate them into your “release.” Ensure that the way you structure your release and the keywords it contains are in alignment with what people are actually searching for.

3. Incorporate links back to content on your site, or add multimedia and RSS features to add richness to and extend the reach and life of your release.

4. Publish more often, take advantage of cheaper distribution channels like your own site, blog or services like PR Web.

5. Deliver a clear call to action.

6. Be more familiar.

At the end of the day, these approaches can be hard for communicators to embrace. However, they should be easy for communicators to implement – we’ve been crafting the story behind “the story” for years.

As far the traditional “press release” goes, we should know enough about the media we are pitching to accommodate them however they prefer to receive information. So in the end, the truth is that the press release isn’t dead - it’s just that the concept of a “release” is no longer limited to the press. So we need to avoid the dilemma of the recording industry and adapt as it evolves rather than trying to fight the change we know is inevitable.

Categories: New Media, Media Relations

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