Join Malayna Williams for her online training session, “Digital Media and Today’s Digital News Release,” now available on-demand. This media relations training sesssion is free to PRSA members.  

Recently, PRSA rolled out new webinar offerings along with a shiny new system.  I was lucky to be invited to present their first webinar on the topic maximizing digital news releases. In true PRSA style, everything was buttoned up and well managed. But the most exciting change was a chat feature than enabled hundreds of PRSA members across the country to communicate with each other throughout the webinar.

Being a working mom, I like to think I’m good at juggling multiple things at once. But I have to admit, presenting while chatting was a bit too much for me. So it wasn’t until after the webinar that I really had a chance to read all the comments and appreciate how much the participants likely got from each other. This is our digital world working just as it should!

Continue reading " Chatting About Digital News Releases "

Wondering how you can whip up successful releases and get more coverage?

A recent study by Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism found that “official press releases often appear word for word in first accounts of events.” Indeed, as news creation and consumption has moved to the Web, main-stream media outlets have migrated online and downsized, becoming more reliant on releases. Journalists and bloggers have less time and support but still have very aggressive publication demands — particularly the demand to create online content. There are now millions of new voices as the blogosphere expands and social platforms enable new means of communicating. Now, even consumers encounter your public relations efforts online.

Continue reading " Today’s News Release: A Recipe for Success "

Recently, thought leaders in the public relations space have been spilling ink over the question of inbound versus outbound news releases (or, if you prefer, push versus pull media relations). The general question is which is more effective:

1. Using inbound efforts to gain exposure for your news stories by optimizing your online coverage via search engine optimization and syndication across multiple Web portals (hoping journalists, bloggers and consumers find you), or
2. Using outbound efforts to reach targeted journalists and bloggers to draw attention to your story in an effort to garner traditional and online coverage.

With the obvious caveat that each story is different and tactics should be adapted accordingly, I’m wondering why one has to choose between push and pull. This isn’t a game of tug-of-war folks; you are looking for the best ways to share your news with mainstream and new media, bloggers and even consumers.

I work with public relations firms, associations and businesses small and large every day on making releases more effective. My true expertise is on the “outbound” side of the equation, but we’ve long advised clients to integrate those efforts with inbound tactics and incorporate social media elements for maximum effectiveness.

I wanted to share a few facts regarding inbound and outbound tactics, some info regarding what we’ve learned from our ongoing conversations with the media, and a few tips on how you can efficiently and effectively maximize your release efforts, taking advantage of social media and the shift to digital news creation and consumption.

Continue reading " Integrating Inbound and Outbound News Release Tactics (and How Social Media Fits Into the Mix) "

In today’s economy, your dollar needs to go further and your tactics need to work better. News releases are an important part of this challenge. But with all the talk about social media releases, search engine optimization, blogger outreach and shrinking newsrooms — whew, this list could get exhausting — it sometimes seems like public relations people are being pulled in too many directions and that press releases are less relevant. In reality, well executed news releases are more effective than ever, spreading both further and wider than ever before.

In addition to the traditional media, your release can now move across the Web on social media sites and search engines and land directly in front of journalists, bloggers and even consumers. So how can you effectively reach these three target audiences with a single release? Here are a few tips:

1. E-mail it! Journalists prefer to receive news releases via e-mail. Like the rest of us, they organize their lives in their inbox, so reach them where they work. (I would advise you to target wisely, but you already know that.) 
2. Fill it! Journalists have less time to do more work and bloggers are driven to create loads of content with virtually no lead time. Make it easy for them to cover your story quickly and efficiently by including all the info they might need to craft a blog or article. Include links (But no attachments! No one likes an e-mail that clogs up their inbox.) to images, backgrounders, bios, rules and regulations, contacts, video and audio, etc. Since Web content is now in high demand, make sure you add embed codes that recipients can grab and load on their own sites; and consider being adventurous by adding creative Web content when appropriate.
   

Continue reading " Efficient and Effective News Releases for Today’s Economy: 5 Tips, 3 Audiences "