I had one of those moments the other day that left me with an Arsenio moment. You remember his schtick form his show…things that make you go hmmm? I had two execs from Company X ask me to help promote a P&I television commercial and a press release on social media.
I’m pretty sure that we just flipped the calendar to 2015, but yet I was asked to act as if social media didn’t exist. Perhaps these execs don’t get the “social” part of social media.
Other than some journalists and bored executives, who still reads press releases? I’m sure there are more readers of the mundane, self-serving, corporate speak, self-championing fodder than I think. However, I highly doubt that audience is relevant on social media.
Most brands can barely bring attention to their tweets and updates. You expect us to stop looking at the content that we actually want to see to take notice of your internal hi-fives?
Releasing a press release on social media may be a strategy for some but it will only have any usefulness if you have an audience that wants to hear from you. If you don’t have an audience that wants to hear your message, whatever that message, then you’re just wasting your time.
In my opinion, sending a press release indicates that your company has been left behind. The laggards in charge probably still use fax machines. Many people are searching for news. But these days they’re searching for news and information that tells a compelling story!
Instead of the traditional press release, how about crafting a story that people might be interested in. You can include all of the same facts and data that no one really cares about, but at least you can make it somewhat appealing by telling a story, including some great images and maybe even a video.
***Note to Laggards- A commercial spot isn’t a video we’re going to have any interest in unless it’s really compelling. You know, is funny, invokes emotion…yeah…tells a story!***
“Press releases are not a good idea for social networks, the formality of a press release with headline, sub-headline and text is not the sort of formal communications that works well in social networks.
Don’t use a press release format, re-purpose that content into a more informal piece of content, from a blog post, which is what I recommend.” David Meerman Scott – Author, The New Rules of Marketing and PR
By the way, if you had a social newsroom that actually produced content on an ongoing basis, you’d more than likely would have built an engaged audience and already have earned the right to push out a message.
[Tweet “Value always trumps self-promotion.”] … you can tweet that!
