Social Media News Releases are news releases that are meant for online viewing. They are not just meant for journalist but for bloggers, and others viewing the release. It is also formatted differently because of being online.
Some of the advantages of Social media news releases are that the content can be administered to a lot more people. Not that many people to do read the newspaper anymore. Most people get their news from the internet. So a lot more people would see the news release if it was online. Other advantages of social media news releases are the use of the interactive properties. Like links and tags. The writer of the news release can also add graphics much easier like pictures or videos. Another advantage to smnr’s is that others can share the story through popular sites like Facebook, Twitter and others. This allows for even more exposure. There are not many disadvantages to social media news releases. The one disadvantage that I could think of was that maybe the people that do not use the internet to get their information would not see this. This is not really much of a disadvantage though because the majority of people do, so there would not be much of a loss. The main concept the writer has to remember is that content is still the main focus, and should not be drowned out by other graphics or videos.
A PR practitioner should consider using a social media news release when the subject needs maximum exposure. Also if the story needs to be put out very quickly because the writer does not have to wait for the journalist to write the story for the newspaper. Anything that gets put onto the internet spreads like wild fire. It is a very easy way to get things out quickly and allow for more people to see it.
There are two websites that I think can help others and myself to learn to write social media news releases. Here are the two websites:
http://www.realwire.com/servicesSMNR.asp
http://socialtraining.wetpaint.com/page/Social+Media+News+Release
Here is also a link to a media news release done by Pepsi:
http://www.pepsico.com/PressRelease/PepsiCo-Celebrates-Influence-of-Social-Media-Week-With-Global-Activation02082011.html
Here is the link to my social media news release:
http://www.prxbuilder.com/link.aspx?p=1663
The purpose of my social media news release is to to inform others of Eagle Entertainment’s upcoming Late night bowling event. The goal of the smnr is to get as many students as possible to participate in the event. The target audience for this smnr is the student body of Georgia Southern University. This is why it is very important to use a smnr for this event because students mainly get their news from online. Others can share it on Facebook and everyone will know about it.
Some Tops for Social media news release creation are as follows:
1.) Bullet point-style news that cut to the point rather than wordy, spin-filled paragraphs
2.) Focus on content, not graphics
3.) Know when and when not to use a social media news release
4.) Use the right tags, so that people can find your smnr
5.) Use graphics strategically, but not over crowding, but helping to better explain the smnr
