The Evolution of Social Media Releases

The conversation about Social Media Releases (SMRs) as well as the tools to create them continue – albeit slowly. Each time someone introduces something new, we place a new stake in the ground and reignite an important conversation.

Maggie Fox released a new Social Media service called Digital Snippits(tm). Congratulations Maggie, it’s a very polished and useful solution that will help your clients expand their options when running proactive communications campaigns. And, I’m being genuine when I say that Maggie has done a great job. She's gets it…

The rest of this discussion is aimed at everyone who is looking to learn more about SMRs and how to improve press releases in general.

For all of those who have been part of this exhaustive process of “pushing a boulder uphill,” as Chris Heuer so appropriately put it. I think we all agree that this is a positive release and an opportunity to bring the conversation into the spotlight in order to learn from one another. It is also comparable to a variety of tools and solutions that are available today. But, I'm not here to compare everyone's work, only to acknowledge individual achievements along with the great work contributed by others.

What we don't need to do is overlook noteworthy contributions over the last 20 months. That way we don't take away credit from those whose advancements have paved the way for everyone else. At the same time, most of the industry is still shaking their heads wondering what all of this means...so what are we going to do about it?

Geoff Livingston is right when he says, “Old-timers in social media need to realize that innovation and adoption will occur with or without them.”

Where I differ with him on opinion is when he continues, “They would be better served embracing these people, and making their past content easily available than kvetching about how no one researches. History means nothing when people with two years, two months or two days of social media experience are trying to create a solution that will work for their companies and paying clients.”

I do agree with embracing new ideas and those who create them. And for the most part, I think we all do…maybe to a fault. We also get dinged for creating a so-called social media love fest that sometimes eclipses the value of what the collective of great minds produces.

Regardless of money and paying clients, it is important to remember that history lessons prevent us from repeating mistakes in the future. It also eliminates celebrating the reinvention of the wheel. And, research aka "getting smarter" also serves as a foundation for legitimate evolution in a rapidly changing media landscape. We’re talking about social media here, not just about the latest shiny new object. There’s real value in the stuff that happens behind the scenes and as we’ve all learned, companies can make mistakes and customers are quick to call them on it.
There are consequences.

Why do I care?

This isn’t just about PR for the SMR.

There’s a tremendous amount of confusion out there and the community is working independently at a time when we should be working together to help people. It’s only widening the gap between the people who do get it and the people that don’t. Narrowing that gap is a personal objective for me across all forms of Social Media.

The only reason I run this blog is to spotlight the evolution in New Media, Social Media and also traditional Public Relations to bring things from the edge to the center so we can all learn and grow together.

Almost two years ago, Todd Defren released the SHIFT template in response to Tom Foremski’s call for evolution. Todd graciously offered it up as an “open source” document to help the entire PR industry do something new and at the same time, re-examine the way they write traditional press releases.

How did the PR industry respond?

- Many pushed back.

- Others defended it.

- Most just didn't know what to do with it, and it continues today.

- Some PR and New Media agencies and consultants saw the opportunity to rebrand it as a differentiated service> This may be one of the main reasons that we don’t see many case studies available to the public as it could now be considered a competitive edge.

- A small group of people banded together to help build a community around it to help the rest of the industry get it.

I’m part of that small group which includes Chris Heuer, Shannon Whitley, Tom Foremski, Todd Defren, Shel Holtz, Todd Van Hoosear, among others. Together we founded the New Media Release Workgroup with the original charter of creating an open standard technology base for creating and distributing SMRs. The product would eventually be called the hrelease.

We looked for participation from PR practitioners, wire distribution services, geeks within the microformats community, bloggers, and reporters.

To this day, the WorkGroup moves forward under the leadership and perseverance of Shannon Whitley. Members include, Alison Minaglia, Andy Arnold, Dan Zarrella, David Weiner, David Parmet, Jason Ryan, Michael O'Connor Clarke, Paul Dyer, Paul Pritchard, Steve Kayser, Susan Watiker, Todd Van Hoosear, and me.

I'm happy to report that there are good things to come. You can also join the discussion with advice, insight, and quesitons on Social Media Releases and the hrelease format on Google.

With every new SMR discussion it's good to go back to the beginning to unearth the case for SMRs from the archives, dust them off, and spotlight two years of invaluable discussions to set an equal foundation for everyone currently standing in the same room.

There is tremendous brilliance in those discussions and not embracing them is like trying to practice law without referring to past cases.

For a quick study, see “Everything you wanted to know and should know about Social Media Releases.”

The most important and consitent points that emerge are:

- Aren’t press releases dead?

- Why an SMR?

- How do you build one to look like the existing template?

- Does it need to have bullets?

- Why another release?

- Has anyone asked journalists if this is what they want?

- How do you send one out?

- Do SMRs replace traditional releases?

- How do SMRs comply with RegFD?

- What’s the difference between a traditional release, multimedia release, and a social media release?

- Should conversations be hosted or should they be encourage through individual communities?

- Could an SMR be a Web page or should it be hosted on a Social Media platform?

- Does adding RSS, embedded content, widgets, links to external social networks, images, videos, bookmarks, etc. make a release “social?”

- Where are the case studies?

These are all incredibly relevant questions to this day. So, let’s take a step back to remember how and why this started in the first place and why it isn’t going away.

Press releases are 100 years old and reporters, and now bloggers, have been complaining about their uselessness for years. Over the years, PR got caught up in buzzwords, hyperbole, spin, and caused an inability to easily build a story from them, which was supposed their intent and sole purpose all along.

SMRs aka SMPRs are not the miracle cure for the ills that plague a majority of press releases.

Todd Defren was the latest person to take the tools of today to help PR tell a story in a way that gives the media what they need so they can assemble the story their way, without having to first deconstruct, research it, and reconstruct it. There have been champions for change and improvement over the decades.

Whether it’s Social, Traditional, or Multimedia, it all starts with what you have to say and how you say it.

Instead of presenting aggregate pieces, bullets and facts, you could very well write the story you want to read. For example, I've experimented with SMRs which were basically "branded" blog posts that read exactly like the story we hoped to see, minus the gratuitous BS and unecessary posturing found in most traditional releases. When hosted on a blog platform, in this case, WordPress, they an inherently operating in a Social Ecosystem. They're an extension of a company press center and each release aka post, feature embedded video demos, audio interviews and sound bytes, artwork, etc. all sourced from the various networks where we ALSO place them for additional exposure. We share them under password protection and after the embargo passes, the post appears to the public. To everyone else, it looks like just another blog article...but to those in the PR business, it's easy to see the connection to what we talk about in a Social Media Release. Each one distributes through blog search engines and also features RSS, bookmarks, tags, trackbacks, comments, widgets, embed codes, and all other pertinent social building blocks. The press and bloggers we've worked with absolutely love it.

But, let’s not confuse SMRs with Social Media.

SMRs are just one of the many Social Tools available to help reach the people that matter to your business and the communities of customers wherever they engage across the Web. You need to use a variety the tools, networks, and services through the channels that reach them in the way they communicate. For more on this, read the Social Media Manifesto.

But remember, they don't want to be pitched or marketed "at."

SMRs are only meant to deliver information in a way that not only helps media write stories, but a bonus effect of good Press Releases, regardless of format, is that they enjoy additional exposure through search engines. Why not use it to facilitate conversations. It is a Social Media Release after all, and Social Media is defined by any tool that hosts and encourages conversations on the Web.

Again, if you can distill the essence of your story in a way that matters to the very people you’re trying to compel, then why wouldn’t you change how you do things? It could only expand your reach and help you improve blogger, media and customer relations. In the new world of PR, they are intertwined.

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 consumption, "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 customers 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 still have to do your homework and reverse engineer the distribution channels that reach journalists, bloggers and customers, nderstand what they need, and why they should listen to you, and in turn, share information within their own social networks.

Other voices on the subject:

Chris Heuer on the history of the SMR.

Shannon Whitley on Digital Snippits and PRX Builder.

Chris Heuer, Paul Gillin, Jason Falls, and Geoff Livingston on the Digital Snippits.

Geoff Livingston shares 9 points for evolving SMRs.

Make sure to read the comments in these posts. There's great dialog there...there always is. If you agree, perhaps you'll join me in the discussion, "The Value of Online Conversations."

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The Value of Online Conversations

No, blogs are not dying. No, blogs are not going away. Blogs will continue to serve as one of the driving forces for the democratization of how content is created, shared, and also internalized.

All forms of user-generated content will continue to excel...maybe to a fault.

In conjunction with how blogs are continuing to influence the evolution of online conversations, micromedia is also inspiring new forms content creation and in turn, contributing to the spike of mostly irrelevant conversations.

Steve Rubel recently accused bloggers of contributing to the “lazysphere” by simply glomming on to other “me too” conversations rather than creating new ideas or penning thoughtful, "deep" essays. In a side discussion with Steve, he also added that it’s not about length either, it’s simply about good content. He's right.

Indeed, the barrier to entry has been lowered to a point where new user-generated content is only going to increase in volume and frequency and not necessarily in value along the way. But, for those who pay close attention to the shift in the behavior of adoption, creation, and consumption of media in all forms, it is also blinding with insight.

Creating content is just one part of the conversation.

Regardless of format or distribution channel, it’s still only a one-way street until someone responds, trackback, bookmark, comment, etc. And this is the part where I think we need to focus in order to positively impact and nurture the future of online conversations.

It’s not just about the source, it’s about the dialog that ensues and the ideas and discoveries that emerge along the way.

This goes beyond the original premise that anyone with an important idea or thought will simply blog it. In my experience, the most enlightening part of any topic is always the conversation…and in the world of Social Media, that conversation is in the form of the very actions that are triggered by the original topic.

If you took the time, whether as a reader or a writer, to read the comments of a favorite blog post for example, you’d find brilliance, perspective, and new opinions that allow a topic to genuinely flourish. At the same time, you can also find a series of comments that are completely pointless and distracting that can take away from the value of the conversation.

Again, content is increasing in production to the point where it’s almost impossible to navigate through the static. Instead of honing on and strengthening relevant signals, we jump from place to place and from conversation to conversation, contributing most of our time to sharing less important content than the very ideas that can help empower the value of each online communitywhere we engage.

We move too quickly.

Concurrently, we’re groomed to think that older posts are also aging in context and relevance. Unfortunately, rather than continuing to live, breath, and evolve, these discussions are often buried by new content often to be recreated from scratch elsewhere. How quickly we move away from what could become timeless masterpieces.

We’re also not conditioned to contribute productively, therefore, most posts wither away into the history books (aka deeper and deeper into search results). Commenting has so far is mostly representative of either applause, reaffirmation, trackbacks, and dart throwing mixed in with new ideas, thoughts, and content. Most of the time, the value is buried and eventually lost, but it should be elevated as a way of inspiring and re-energizing the conversation.



What if we spent less time cranking out posts and more time joining, spotlighting and promoting the conversations that take place in the comments section, forums, and across social networks?

It’s an interesting thought…but at the moment, the architecture of many social platforms are designed to spotlight the stage of the initial thought/article and not necessarily the ensuing conversation. Depending on the outlet, you may have to sift through 95% garbage in order to find valuable insight and perspective.

There isn't a filter for expertise other than your time and effort.

In order for conversations to flourish online, the architecture of social platforms needs to evolve. It is also the key to inspiring more meaningful dialog.

It all comes back to the notion that “participation is marketing.” And, participation doesn’t require the consistent spark of new articles or posts, only the interjection of new ideas, aspects, angles, and thoughts – especially into ongoing threads.

The hierarchy of Social Media isn’t spotlighting the conversation, only the original thought. In order for an individual to spotlight their ideas they have to take the discussion elsewhere.

In 2008, I'd like to see people consciously contribute to their online reputation and brand by assuming everything they write, whether posts, comments or updates, is searchable.

What if we spent less time throwing our hat into the rings of every relevant or peripheral discussion and spent more time contributing to and grooming our knowledge pedigree?

And, what if those contributions were aggregated, ranked and showcased in a more prevalent way?

Channeling all of the Easter Eggs that we strategically place in comments, updates and forums across the Web into one discoverable basket could change everything.

I’m talking about tracking, contributing to and measuring an online reputation based on how and what we contribute. The focus should be on encapsulating and representing expertise, contribution, and insight as a way of promoting a new, active, and more invested form of meaningful conversations, giving way to a new dimension of conversational marketing.

Really, what are the incentives, and most importantly, the metrics for engagement today other than referring traffic?

This is about empowering conversations where conversations take place and showcasing them in a more balanced format. It's a shift from simply "showing up" to the party and contributing to the festivities. It boosts the value of the content, extends the lifespan of great ideas, and also contributes to the Social Capital of all those who engage.

It's people rank versus page rank evolving the democratization of content by giving people a shared voice and platform exactly where the conversations are taking place.

I'd like to extend this conversation throughout 2008 to all of those who wish to contribute. Blogger doesn't offer the best comments section out there. In fact, you have to click to a different page in order to leave and read comments here. It's a removed process, so, if you'd like to include your thoughts in this post, I will feature them as updates organized by topics. You can either email me or leave your thoughts in the existing comments section and I'll add the highlights.

I would also love to hear from and spotlight the thoughts and statements of the very "social architects" who are also laying the foundation for and defining the infrastructure of online conversations.

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, or Facebook.

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BrandWeek Runs My First Article: You Are the Online Brand in 2008

My first article for BrandWeek is now online, originally entitled, "In 2008 the Online Brand to Focus on is You."

Here's an excerpt:

Yes, it’s a new year. And no, this isn’t another “Top trends for 2008” piece. For the last 12 years, you’ve been reading how to leverage online tools to amplify visibility for company brands. In 2007, it was all about how to leverage Social Media to “engage” brands, and the people behind them, in the “conversation.”

Well, this isn’t another one of those articles, either.

Instead, we’re going to focus on you. That’s right. In 2008, the most important online brand to focus on is you.

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce, Plaxo, or Facebook

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PR for Startups Now Available as a Free ebook

I recently spoke at an SVASE StartUp University event in San Francisco to discuss PR and how startups can effectively leverage the right strategies, tools and tactics in order to gain visibility at every stage of their growth - without breaking the bank.

Early stage and bootstrapped startups must embrace DIY (Do it Yourself) or outsourced PR as their product reaches advanced alpha in order to build strategic visibility without losing precious time.

It all starts with answering a several important questions:

Who are your customers?
Where do they go for information?
What are they looking for?
Why would they need this product?
How can it help them do something they couldn't do before and better than anything else out there?
What will be the most compelling things to convince them to give it a shot?
How can you tell your story in a way that matters to the people you're trying to reach without speaking "at" them?

PR is not an afterthought.

You need PR to help you carry your product or service to the very people who will help your company grow.

Simply relying on features and word of mouth simply isn't going to cut it. This is a real world and the reality is that customers aren't looking for you. You have to compete for mindshare. Those companies who don't proactively tell their story will find themselves missing from the radar screens of their customers while their competition earns their business - regardless of whether or not it's an inferior solution.

In order to be successful in Public Relations, you need to grasp what it is, what it isn’t, and how it works and why. Otherwise, you’ll never be able to build the right team, determine the best strategies to amplify visibility and gain traction, or have the ability to effectively measure it.

I've created an ebook for startups and VCs based on a previous post to help steer them in the right direction on the road to visibility, attention, and resonance. It will go through several revisions in the future, but at the moment, it's a great place to start.



Table of Contents:

1. Understand what PR is and isn't.
2. Don't under value PR.
3. PR is not a switch.
4. Initial and consistent coverage takes time.
5. Get a spokesperson.
6. PR is not the only tool in the shed.
7. PR at the Head, Across Chasms, and in the Long Tail.
8. Engage in social media.
9. Support and reward your PR program.
10. Keep good people.
11. Keep an open line of communication.
12. Establish realistic metrics.
13. Do not launch your company or product at a conference.
14. Do not start contacting people on your own.
15. Breaking News.
16. PR and Social Media Enable a new form of outbound customer service.
17. PR isn’t charity.
18. You’re not the only company with a great story.

Download as a Word Doc.

Download as a PDF.

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New ebook: The Art and Science of Blogger Relations

Happy New Year everyone!

The discussion around blogger relations is more relevant now than ever. And quite honestly, with every debate, exploration, and analysis, these conversations only fuel the advancement and improvement of Public Relations overall.

It makes us think.

Lest we forget, there is a significant percentage of bloggers, reporters, and analysts who think we're useless - we're merely spin artists who focus on pitching, blasting, and cranking out poorly written press releases. We contact people without caring or knowing their interests or passions without knowing what we're talking about or why it should matter to them. That's the perception.

Don't be that PR person.

No, seriously. Chances are, at one point in your career, you contributed to the stereotype. So, let's do something about it now.

Believe it or not, I still arm wrestle with influencers defending PR. But in may cases, they're right. And, a lot of it has to do with pushing down important outreach to people who are either too junior to engage with industry veterans or not concerned with educating themselves as to why they're reaching out in the first place and why it matters to the person they're contacting. But, this is another topic for another day.

Blogger relations is so much more than the recognition that bloggers ARE influencers in their own right. Now it's the understanding of how PR can work with them in addition to their traditional day-to-day activity.

I compiled a series of articles into one ebook that I hope will contribute to the elevation of PR as a respected profession, not just by the clients and executives, but by the very people we hope to build relationships with to bridge our story to the people who matter.

View it here.

Download the Word Doc.

Download the PDF.



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