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Went Hot: September 4, 2007 - 2:00 pm
Posted By: thejenn 368 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.searchengineguide.com)
Category: Other Social Media
13 Comments
Went Hot: September 4, 2007 - 2:00 pm
Posted By: thejenn 368 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.searchengineguide.com)
Category: Other Social Media
13 Comments
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Comments
Please, PR agencies don't have a clue about the internet, let alone social media marketing. All they know if that they now have a wider range of toys to spam publishers with.
Argh!
I like the template in the post. It's a good reminder of "holes to be filled" for business based websites.
iBrian,
Umm, that's actually the point of the post. PR firms appear to be pushing back against this idea pretty well. It's the integrated marketers that are trying to educate PR flaks to understand how they can better pitch bloggers and online media resources.
I don't know about you, but as a professional blogger, I'd respond far more favorably to a company that took the time to put together a pitch like this than a company that sent me the boilerplate "we did this, our CEO says that" press release.
Whatever your take is on the subject, make sure you do not submit this style of release to a news wire without alerting them what you are doing. The other thing is that Google News for one does not like a lot of short sentences, it gives back an error to the newswire about the article being fragmented. There are adjustments you can make to get it through.
Social Media press release: get a big blogger to talk about it.
PR and Advertising agencies are clueless about the internet and their staff have the wrong mindset.
This is an interesting topic and I can't help but chime in. The Social Media News Release isn't really "new". The social media press release was being promoted over a year ago http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/10/why-use-social-media-with-your-press-release/ and it was simply too early as most journalists and even bloggers didn't catch on.
It's sort of like old school product development: Make something you think the masses will want and market it until they do. The genesis of the SMNR was based on the comments of one journalist/blogger, Tom Foremski.
With PR, nothing beats a personalized message, true research into the journalist or bloggers' topics of interest and a clever email or phone call.
It's not all bad news for the SMNR as it can be a very useful SEO and social media friendly promotion tool.
Making it easier for journalists and bloggers to do their job is a very good thing. Does the SMNR do that yet? Yes and no.
Providing links to social media elements such as a podcast or video interview with the executive or subject matter expert associated with the company news can be helpful because it gives the reporter an idea of what it might be like to interview them. You don't need the SMNR format to do that though. They can be links within a normal email.
Doing some homework and creating a del.icio.us page of links to resources the reporter could use for researching a story (with links to your client's info intermingled but named clearly) is helpful but not very SEO friendly.
Regardless, bloggers for the most part don't research stories like journalists do. The most popular blogs link to others who have already written stories. A stand alone SMNR is unlikely to be a useful tool for bloggers in my opinion.
Taking the effort to personalize a pitch works with mainstream media as well as bloggers. Especially with bloggers.
Worst case, the SMNR is a gimmick developed by a clever PR firm to distinguish itself and to use as a platform to create their own weather of buzz.
Best case, the SMNR is before it's time as wire services are still not fully ready for the format and journalists are definitely not responding like they do to proper media pitches via email and phone.
Interesting Lee, do you really think that bloggers won't find this new mode of information transportation to be useful? I think of the content I wade through day after day and how much I'd like this style of release so much better than the standard boilerplate template.
As you said, the template was first released as a suggestion more than a year ago, but it's only been recently that ANY companies (let alone webitpr) picked it up and ran with it. Sure, folks have been embedding images and even some video or audio files into releases for a while now, but I've yet to see much activity of this style.
I don't think this type of pitch will replace the standard pitch any time soon, especially not to mainstream journalists, but to pair something along the lines of this template with that traditional pitch to help get more variations of 'sound bite' out there seems like common sense to me.
I suppose I envision this as more of a dedicated 'resource' page within a company's on-site media kit that anything else. Sure, I'd reference in it a blog pitch, or include a PDF version that links back to the embedded content, but I don't see spending the cash to send it out on the wires. If it's not properly framed, I don't think most people would know what to do with it.
That said, I find it sad to think that most bloggers don't take the time to research stories. I know that's true, but when you get into the realms of the more popular blogs, it seems sad to me to think that people are simply adding their "me too" or "nuh uh" to the voices that have come before them.
I have to think that over time, we'll begin to see a greater shift of both professional journalists and bloggers moving toward the middle ground between the two. Bloggers will do more research before posting and journalists will seek more engagement through conversation.
There's no doubting that PR types don't "get" social media, but personally, I think the new template has a lot of potential is presented in the right manner.
(ETA: Because "middle group" and "middle ground" are not the same thing, even at 1:30am)
Thumbs up to you for helping spread the word on the SMNR Jennifer. It's inevitable there will be resistance to change from "traditional" PR types, but it will evolve toward the webitPR model as web savvy types move to PR agencies and pull in new media.
Lee, I'm surprised you appear to be on the fence here, supporting social media in PR, but acting the devils advocate here and suggesting that the Social Media Press Release is "before its time" and that "journalists are definitely not responding like they do to proper media pitches via email and phone."
"Proper media pitches?" Sounds like you've tried SMNR yourself and it didn't work for you.
Let me ask you, How long has email been a part of "Proper" media pitch? OK now that all journalists seem to use email - how long before they expect RSS feeds, technorati tags, del.icio.us links, embedded video? When they become available routinely in social media press releases - journalists will expect them and look for them. This is added juice - if they want it - and they will.
You can still use the phone and email if you like for those "proper media pitches" - but why not add the social media tools to the mix?
The SMNR may take a bit longer to move to the mainstream, but it will come.
Mike Valentine
http://RealitySEO.com
"Umm, that's actually the point of the post. PR firms appear to be pushing back against this idea pretty well. It's the integrated marketers that are trying to educate PR flaks to understand how they can better pitch bloggers and online media resources."
Trouble is, I'm not seeing any change in PR approaches. I publish news sites, and lots of the PR's I get are sheer junk. First big news Press Release I opened this morning was a company setting up a stall at a trade show.
So the first problem is - a lot of PR agencies haven't actually got any news to release. It's Public Relations marketing for the benefit of shareholders, which they can do pretty well on their own site instead of spamming it out.
I also get sent releases from WebitPR - spoken to them a few times on the phone because of the serious lack of targeting. Not seen a social media release, but the bottom line again is that much of what is sent out isn't news worthy in the slightest anyway.
The Press Releases also aren't a source of conversation - which I think is another big issue. They exist simply to tell us what's what, now shut up and cover it. The only company's I find that even dare attempt dialogue are the small ones trying to really break through their niche.
I also keep getting marketing agencies representing massive companies asking for coverage, but offering nothing in return. These do sometimes engage in dialogue, which revolves around "promote this paid product for us!". I offer a channel for them to do it themselves, and they respond that they don't know how to use basic internet tools like forums and communities. When they try, they just end up end up spamming them.
They remain pig ignorant of the social aspect of the web, and have zero interest in engaging the social web unless they are selling something.
Giving them social media tools doesn't change their message or hide their incompetence - simply new ways to annoy.
As a professional blogger, I figure you want something to talk about. Creating videos around zero subject matter, and getting flooded with these from multiple sources, who do not know even the basics of the social web, does not a story make.
2c. :)
Hey Jen, the SMNR "rubber has hit the road" for over a year now and is still a fledgling tactic, attracting marketers because of it's shiny new packaging.
Our small PR firm sends anywhere from 20 - 50 press releases per month with full time smile and dial pitching via email and phone occurring 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. This activity has provided some insight.
I'm not all bad news on the SMNR, although some might characterize it that way for fun. :) I agree with you that paired with traditional media relations efforts, the SMNR type of content and packaging of information can add some advantages.
Also, I agree that the SMNR would best live as a web page on the client site. In essence, it's like a one page media room. This is the form we've ended up using after our trials.
The PR industry does have it's problems with adapting to new media communications, but having personal experience as a speaker at DMA, PR and SEO conferences, I can say that the PR industry is as interested and savvy about social media as any other marketing discipline.
To me, the best part about you drawing attention to this news format are the new ideas, discussions and debate that might come out of it, possibly creating something better and more productive than the original idea.
Brian, I think what it boils down to isn't that the new mode is bad, but that many PR firms have no idea how to pitch.
A press release about exhibiting at a trade show is lame no matter how (or who) you send it to. I get those too. A few companies sent 2 or 3 press releases a week with 98% being "Joe CEO wiped his nose" type releases. Who cares? It's a good way to end up in my spam filter which makes sure you won't get coverage if and when you DO do something worthy of a press release.
On the other hand, for those who DO get it, or are honestly TRYING to get it, offering up new modes of delivery can make a targeted pitch even better.
I'm in no way touting the SMNR as the be-all-end-all of modern day public relations. Like any other tool in a marketer's arsenal, it's only as good as the person using it.
For the smart PR firm interested in putting together targeted and interesting pitches, I think the SMNR template provides a world of creative approaches to sharing information.
Like Lee said, it's not new, it's slow to become accepted and it's only as good as the person using it. But if there's any chance of it becoming accepted (or even tossed out in favor of something better), people have to start talking about it and testing it.
"Brian, I think what it boils down to isn't that the new mode is bad, but that many PR firms have no idea how to pitch."
Indeed - full agreement. :)