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| 05.14.08 Variety Of Press Releases For Different Purposes  By Brian Solis Thank you to Erick Schonfeld and Michael Arrington for giving me the opportunity share my vision, and experience, on the evolution of the press release on TechCrunch. There's certainly no shortage of opinions on where we are and where we need to be in order to improve the working relationships between PR and bloggers, journalists, and analysts and the brands we ultimately represent - including our own. There are just better ways to share information, and hopefully, this post helps you. Press releases come in different flavors and serve different purposes. Well-written press releases are far from dead. In fact, when developed strategically, their opportunities, appeal and benefits are only expanding in conjunction with the groups of various influencers and consumers who rely on them for relevant information. The disruption of the Web has splintered press releases into a variety of formats to serve different audiences and different purposes: Traditional releases for media, SEO (search engine optimized) releases for customers, and Social Media Releases for press, bloggers, and also customers. Customer-Focused News Releases Companies and marketers can use distribution services to complement releases written for journalists and bloggers to reach customers directly through traditional search engines as well as news aggregation services such as Techmeme. Over the course of the last several months, BusinessWire and PRNewswire have consistently ranked in the top 100 sources for news in Techmeme's Leaderboard. And, according to a recent Outsell study, over 51% of IT professionals reported that they get their news from press releases in Yahoo and Google news over trade journals. It's not just tech. When implemented with calls and links to action, and if they read in a way that's compelling to people aka customers, you'll find that they're usually compelled to act.
The trick for this new breed of press releases is to write it as the article you want to read. Keep it clean, clear, pseudo impartial, but definitely focused on benefits for specific customers. Basically, humanize the story. Here's a rundown of the different formats of press releases: Traditional Releases Standard press releases are what many reporters and bloggers use to build their stories. Let's help them help us in the process. When expanding your news or story into a press release, it's also important to recognize that a majority of the wording templates that we all use still suck. But, there's room in our activity for a well-written release that conveys value, benefits and a story that's relevant to each recipient. It's easier said than done however. Most press releases are driven by product development, which begets an inward and narrowly focused view from life inside the company. The final release usually winds up riddled with adjectives, tech jargon, and hype with very little value stringing everything together. The best releases are going to be outward-focused and reflective of the state of the market, how you fit in it, and what's in it for the potential stakeholders (customers). Oh, and please, can the "canned" quotes. We all know you're excited and thrilled at whatever it is you're announcing. But, if the quote isn't genuinely from the person saying it and bears little or no value to the implications of the news, then it only takes away from it. It's OK to leave it out. Continue reading this article. About the Author: Brian Solis is principal at FutureWorks PR, an award-winning PR and Social Media agency founded in 1999. FW PR bridges the communications gap between companies and their customers, and between products and their specific benefits for their target markets. Solis blogs at PR2.0, http://www.briansolis.com, and regularly contributes to many industry trades. He is also frequently quoted in articles relating to technology trends and Marketing/PR strategies. | ||||||||
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