SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS RELEASE
What is it:
According to RealWire a social media news release is a press release format designed for the online media world. Initially press releases were only created with the press in mind and in the online world you need to write a format that is relevant to a wide variety of people. They are also designed with community nature of the online world in mind so it can be shared and commented on in social bookmarking, microblogging and social networking communities.
There are many different ways a social media news release can be written. It can either be produced in the “traditional” narrative style or be deconstructed so that the core facts, quotes, contact details and boilerplate are all individually segregated to allow users to disseminate its various elements. It can be company branded and can accommodate images, audio and video.
Socialtraining defines a SMNR as something that takes advantage of linking, multimedia, and social media capabilities of the Web to make release more reader-friendly and useful. It also aims to completely rethink the narrative, text-focused approach to news announcements.
Advantages and Disadvantages:
After watching a YouTube video called Social Media News/Press Release by: realwirefromwebitpr I was able to learn about a lot of advantages and disadvantages associated with SMNR’s.
Advantages: They allow you to communicate with a much broader scale of people on the web. It also provides bloggers with diconstructive content in the form of news facts and quotes. News is presented in a more factual manor with rich content.
Disadvantages: After reviewing a numerous amount of sites the only disadvantage I was able to find was that it is hard for people to access the news releases if the do not have a computer or do not know how to use basic computer applications.
When should a PR practitioner consider using SMNR?
When you have clients that want to get vital information out fast and to a large amount of people.
Links to help you Create an SMNR:
SMNR Example:
Tips on Creating SMNR’s:
Smartblog gives some great tips and advice on how to create a SMNR:
- Keep headlines short. Make sure your headlines are no longer than 80 characters
- Tell a story. Write like a person and not an organization, Get rid of the marketing-speak and craft a narrative you’d like to read in the newspaper.
- Create multimedia objects. Make creative use of video, photos and interactive objects that can be embedded and shared. Rather than including a canned quote within the story, consider recording a video of an executive making the statement and uploading it with a transcript.
- Make sharing easy. Ensure your release syndicates to RSS readers, shows up error-free when pulled into Facebook, Twitter or other sites, and comes in a printer- and e-mail-friendly version. Include one-click buttons for popular social-media sites at the bottom of your SMR.
- Make feedback easy. Include a section for moderated comments at the bottom of your release.
I found a few other good tips on creating SMNR’s at technorati:
- Try to outline the fundamental elements of what you are writing about: the “Who, What, Where and When” of the event, product or announcement.
- Develop a way to try and direct viewers to your site by using hyperlinks, and include your social contact information somewhere on your site that is easily accessible.
- Use templates such as pitchengine.com along with the other sites that i have listed above
