Rumors of the death of the press release have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, you could even say the humble press release has been reborn – as a traffic-driving, search-engine-optimizing workhorse. Smaller companies are seeing the light when it comes to the press release’s new role, while larger corporations are more apt to have a traditional view of the press release and may be missing out.

That’s the conclusion of Mihaela Vorvoreanu, PhD, of Clemson University.

Vorvoreanu, a fellow of The Society of New Communications Research, presented a study at the SNCR Symposium last week on how businesses, both large and small, are using online news releases these days.

Smaller businesses are warming up to the fact that online news releases written with search engine optimization in mind are an economical way of tapping into an organic search audience — and may be a better value than sponsored search strategies. They also tend to view online releases as a way to communicate directly with consumers.

Large companies, in contrast, tend to view press releases primarily as a method of getting their news in front of reporters, with hopes of ensuing media coverage, Vorvoreanu said.

Perhaps the big players can learn something from their smaller brethren.

The survey didn’t measure the impact of the social media release – which was more of a PR marketing stunt (albeit a successful one) than anything else. The social media release as envisioned by its creator Todd Defren hewed to the traditional definition of a press release: a method of getting news in front of professional reporters and bloggers. It wasn’t designed or apparently intended for the consumer, who couldn’t care less about “pre-approved quotes” or “boilerplate statements” (But then again, so couldn’t most reporters).

When it comes to the news release, here’s what I think: get rid of the marketing speak and buzzwords, link to relevant blogs, video, and/or audio, make sure it’s optimized for search engines. That’s 25 percent of it.

75 percent of it is this: tell a good story that consumers, reporters and bloggers alike will all find interesting and valuable. And if you can’t make it interesting, question why you’re doing a release in the first place.

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Technorati Tags: press release, public relations, SNCR, social media release

As 2009 approaches, clients and prospects alike are looking at their marketing communications mix and asking the same question – how do I get my message out WITHIN my new (probably lower)budget?

Options on the table include:

- Scale back big ticket items like print advertising in favor of more targeted online advertising
- Scale back tradeshow activities to limit costs on transportation, drayage, design costs as well as staffing
- Rebalance your communications mix to include more PR activities – more releases, more editorial calls, more articles
- Add Social Media to the mix – blogging, commenting on blogs, podcasts etc.

No doubt, these are challenging times for marketing communications. But for PR, these are exciting times – times when we can push the envelope for our clients to cost-effectively get the word out.

What creative ways are you looking at in 2009 to get the word out for your clients?

Technorati Tags: PR, Social Media

Social media technologies are revolutionizing the way we do business in the public relations and marketing worlds. But it’s a challenge keeping up with the bells, whistles, and gizmos associated with the social media tsunami. Figuring out what’s in and what’s out is practically a full-time job.

Given that the average geeky high school student knows as much or more about social networks and technologies than the average paid social media practioner, it’s particularly frustrating. What’s a PR pro to do?

Fortunately, the most valuable PR-related talents have little to do with technology — and remain as sought after as ever. These are talents that transcend specific media. They are called “talents” because they are relatively uncommon and highly valued.

Here are my five top PR talents:

1. Telling a good story. Behind every company is a good story. Entrepreneurship is fueled by passion, vision and dedication. These are all positive attributes that are appealing to readers in a univeral way, regardless of context. Make the story sing, make it compelling. Pull people in.

2. Using the phone well. The web and computers are awesome and exciting inventions, but the invention of the telephone in the late 1800’s was even more of a monumental technological milestone. By 1904 there were already 3 million telephones in operation in the US. A telephone conversation is more intimate than any other method of communication, including email and IM. If you use it wisely, the telephone can be a real game-changer.

3 & 4. Networking and “working a room”. It’s always been about who you know, not what you know. Social networks make networking easier than ever before, but the ability to “work a room” never goes out of style. It’s a talent that is immediately recognizable but difficult to duplicate. Being a good listener is certainly part of it, but if all you do is listen, you’re going to come up short. You need to be interesting, too. My best advice is to identify someone who is adept at working a room and then shadow them for as long as you can.

5. Writing clearly. Especially in tech PR, clarity and simplicity are paramount. Complicated ideas need to be boiled down into comprehensible ones or else you’re going to lose a vast chunk of audience.

Technorati Tags: networking, PR, public relations, Social Media