New Version Of Social Media Release Lacks Essentials

Not sure if I agree with that. To me a lot of the criticism of this version assumes that people really want to talk about the SMR. I think no one gives a darn about press releases or SMRs as central conversation point. They may — if the content is OUTSTANDING — be interested enough to consider another story.

Another criticism I hear is that it’s just a new version of PR NEwswire’s Multivu. I don’t know about that, but I don’t think Multivu has RSS, etc. Not familiar with Multivu at all.

It doesn’t really matter what anyone of us inside the bubble thinks. What does matter is if these formats are generating results. And I think all parties need to talk more about the coverage — both new and traditional — that these various formats are or aren’t generating.

Geoff — Point well taken and thanks for the persperctive. And the inside the bubble argument is certainly a well made one.

My contention, though, is that the social media release is supposed to be more substance and less spin. While I agree with Autohousewife that providing the materials to allow the audience to decide for themselves is in fact a step in the right direction, the lack of third party input and reference, I believe, takes away from the context angle. Afterall, Ford is going to pump beautiful pictures, videos and the like on the site. They’re going to give us material to “decide for ourselves” but the material is already sphun, though more subtley.

I do think Digital Snippits is well done and certainly gives a nice version of a social media release to the big corporations and businesses that aren’t keen on showing off their flaws, or at least opening up the possibility of such. But I see a lack of some context and wanted to make sure I pointed it out. I’m happy to be disagreed with, however. Thanks for stopping by.

Autohousewife — You’re not off base at all. Transparency, from the company and from the community, only builds credibility and context. Nice thoughts. And as I indicated to Geoff above, I agree that it’s good we can decide on Ford for ourselves, but there’s still a fair degree of beautification that occurs with what we see. Thanks for chiming in!

J-Pepp … Good point. I would imagine some blogger/journalist input happened, but that’s a question for Mr. Defren.

I also agree there is a better way for press releases, but I am convinced the gravitation to new media, even by old media, illlustrates the social media release (or to dumb it down for hillbillies like me — digital resources for journalists, citizen or otherwise) is a resource that will eventually be much more prevalent.

My logic: If you give writers of any kind the resources they need, there’s no need for narrative or opportunity to copy-paste. Sure, that means journalists and bloggers have to work a little more, that’s fine. It holds them to a higher standard. Does it diminish the role of PR? Hell no. It only changes it.

Thanks for the input. You are, as you know, the man.

Maggie — It’s an honor. Thanks for stopping by. I can understand editorial control and weeding out the splogs of the world. And forgive me for not clicking through to all the community links, but are there some mediocre reviews out there? Certainly my clients would also nix the idea of uplifting them, but offering that perspective and context, in the social media space and environment, is a good thing. In my opinion, that is participating (more) meaningfully to give consumers a whole picture view rather than just the “I Love Ford” perspective.

Understandably, Ford is the client and what flies with us may not with them. I don’t mean to toss a blanket over the project and say it didn’t work. If the client is happy and it connects with consumers (or bloggers), to Geoff’s point, it is a success. But if the point of social media outreach is to offer a wide array of resources to bloggers wishing to write about a certain product, service or company, the array is wider with that additional perspective.

Bravo for the launch of the Snippets. I know I sometimes come across as naysayer and nitpicker and not enough positive. I have a client that probably would eat Digital Snippets up (and I’ll be happy to discuss it with them). I only offer the perspective as another comment on the evolution of the social media release.

Thank you, so much, for coming by and commenting.

I’m with you, Jason. As an old school PR guy, I’ve always believed that it’s about providing substance and context without the spin. PR people are so afraid that someone is going to say something bad about their client. Well, people are saying bad things and you can’t control it. That hasn’t changed in my 30 years in the business. It’s just easier to see who is saying what now, which provides PR people with an opportunity to carry on a dialogue. And, in the final analysis, that is what PR is about: dialogue.

Very interesting discussion here to say the least. Jason, thanks for hosting it. And Maggie, thanks for sparking it.

Social media releases, to me, expand the discussion beyond form versus function and forces us to examine why we need to explore additional options and what we can bring to the table in return.

One thing to think about in any discussion related to traditional or social media releases is that stats show that good releases ARE the central point of “conversations” and more importantly, a catalyst for “action” courtesy of search engines.

In the tech world, numbers show as much as 51% of IT professionals discover news and information from press releases found in Google or Yahoo over trade journals. That’s pretty compelling…and it’s the activity and discussions inside the bubble that keep a level playing field in order for it to effectively influence the rest of the industry.

With stats like that, it starts to show you several things…1. Press releases are far from dead. 2. One press release doesn’t serve everyone. 3. There are now press releases for journalists and bloggers as well as story-based releases directly for customers.

And, when you break it down, as of now, there are search engines that comb through traditional HTML web sites and there are search engines that monitor blogs, wikis, and other forms of social media.

If customers are searching for information, make sure you have a social and traditional strategy in place and think about the content, context and building the social bridges that reach them. You might write for them differently than you would for media and you should consider utilizing all forms of releases available to you. After all, one message doesn’t fit all…

Maggie’s keeping the discussion going…if anything, we should consider that “social” in the social media release implies conversation…whether hosted internally or externally. An SMR is an ideal beacon for all of those conversations and can serve as a hub for flourishing thoughts, ideas, and opportunities for customer service and also a magnifying glass into the dialog within their online communities.

At the end of the day, take from all of this what applies and matters to the people you’re trying to reach – media, bloggers, and customers. None of these options are magic bullets. You have to do your homework and reverse engineer the distribution channels that reach them, understand what they need, and why they should listen to you, and in turn, share information within their own social networks.

I believe that “Social Media Press Release” is an oxymoron - read my post Ford uses Wordpress and Social Media to find out why…