PR Pros on Press Releases - Meh

MarketingCharts uncovers some fresh data on how PR people feel about press releases. It's ugly.

"(only) 49% of today’s professional communicators say they think press releases are 'as useful as ever,' according to recent poll of corporate communicators conducted by Ragan Communications and PollStream."

And on why we can't kick the drug...

"The poll also found that another 33% of the the 401 respondents see press releases as 'a necessary evil that won’t go away soon,' in large part because of disclosure rules for public companies set forth by the US Securities and Exchange Commission."

And how social media is filling in...

"One of the main reasons for the decline of the press release is the recent explosion of the use of social media in public relations and the perception that releases are less relevant in those venues. A majority (64%) of respondents who issue releases say they target them most often to print outlets, while 23% send them to online news and financial sites."

It's been awhile since there's been some fresh logs to throw on the press release bonfire. You have to wonder if the laws were changed if that would mark the end of an era.

Still press releases have their place - especially in financial situations. Also let's not overlook the potential SEO value too.

Over time though our reliance on them will wane as people demand more real-time engagement that's human to human and action oriented.

11 comments

Nov 03, 2009

Eric Schwartzman said...

I hate to throw a wet blanket on the fire, but according to two former SEC attorneys who I interviewed a couple weeks back for On the Record...Online, press releases are still the safest way to fullfill Reg FD, precisely because they are NOT conversational. According to a legal requirement known as the "duty to update," social media channels expose public companies to legal risks that press releases do not. Nonselective disclosure means nonselective engagement in social media communications, which may be more than than most CEOs or IROs excited about social media can satisfy. This section of the interview comes just after 31 minutes into the discussion: http://bit.ly/20emXR

Nov 04, 2009

Dominic Jones said...

News Flash: There's no requirement by the SEC or the exchanges that you use an PR wire service release for disclosure.

The rules have changed.

Nov 04, 2009

AGORACOM said...

I see how many won't give up the press release as it has been "the" news distribution method for time eternal. As such, rather than asking IRO's to choose between one or the other, why not look into a transitioning process in which IRO's continue to issue press releases that contain links to their social media channels?

For example, at the end of every press release, most AGORACOM clients insert a 2-line blurb advising shareholders to ask questions on the company's electronic shareholder forum. It works because this month alone we've had over 125,000 unique visitors and 7M page views.

What this may serve to do is get investors and IRO's comfortable with the process and to the point where they simply issue notice & access releases along with the blurb, as opposed to asking them to go cold turkey.

Thoughts?

Regards,
George

Nov 04, 2009

marcelbernet said...

Press Release is an old name for a changing format - with ups and downs. As you propose: We have to change lentgh (400 chars max), elements, and most important: Distribution. It is like in the old days of PR: Think about the recipients, structure the content, keep it simple and straight. Just unstructured quick social media babble won't be better.

Nov 04, 2009

Sarah Skerik said...

People who are only using press releases to target print outlets are missing an extremely valuable component of online press release syndication. And those that are substituting social media in lieu of press releases are also missing enourmous opportunities to connect and engage with target audiences. Well crafted messages that zero in on a central theme, are written with search engines in mind (e.g. make use of keywords in headlines, lead paragraph, throughout body copy) and utilize anchor text can engage audiences, deliver SEO benefits in the form of backlinks that help build rank while delivering eyeballs to an organization's website or product pages (if syndicated online); and, of course, communicate efficiently with journlists, analysts and bloggers. Not to mention, commercial newswires like PR Newswire make press releases shareable in social media communities extending a message virally, exponentially. That said, jargon-laden, unfocused messages don't perform well with any audience, or with search engines. The key, in my mind, whether issuing a release over a wire, preparing a pitch or crafting a social media campaign is honing the message to fit the audience.

And from a financial perspective, press releases distributed over a commercial newswire that vets issuers and is a trusted source for media and financial audiences, are an important statement of record for public companies.

Nov 04, 2009

Peter Levitan said...

SEO - Yes, use press releases as site optimization tools.

KISS - Yes, keep them simple. And, even simpler....

TPR - Twitter PR anyone?

STOTTRP - Send them only to the right audience.

OOTTBF - Or, optimize them to be found.

TANAC - They aren't a PR crutch anymore. in fact, they never were for pros.

Nov 04, 2009

ErikDeutsch said...

I think there’s some herd mentality behind the growing contempt for press releases. No doubt proclaiming their demise makes for compelling conversation, but is it really accurate?

There’s no question that press releases have diminishing value as a media relations tool (in fact you could argue that media relations itself has diminishing value as a media relations tool). But at the same time, releases have more value than ever as a way to syndicate content quickly across the Web. Some PR folks have suggested switching to the term “news release” (vs. press release) to reflect this new reality. Also keep in mind that with online syndication, there’s a good chance that many consumers may not even differentiate between a news release and a bona fide news story.

Finally, news releases can work very effectively within a larger social media framework… After all, you need content that can be linked from all those tweets -- and linking to a news release that’s syndicated on a news site such as Reuters may appear more credible (rightly or wrongly) than linking to post on your corporate blog.

Nov 04, 2009

EBR said...

social media has pretty much destroyed alot of traditional marketing and seo users inundate PR sites with blah press releases.

Nov 05, 2009

AGORACOM said...

@ Sarah, I really liked:

"That said, jargon-laden, unfocused messages don't perform well with any audience, or with search engines. The key, in my mind, whether issuing a release over a wire, preparing a pitch or crafting a social media campaign is honing the message to fit the audience."

Nov 05, 2009

Doug Haslam said...

If you like to pitch creatively, you should hate press releases-- or at least ignore them but as an information resource. However, I have a hard time believing this study. People I have talked to outside my normal reach still swear by press releases because many of their stakeholders want them-- and this, shockingly, includes media outlets, some of which actually run press releases as news stories in their hunger for content.

Scary? Yes, unless the context- and the quality-- warrants it. Press releases are going nowhere.

As for the disclosure issue? It's still comfort food, even if the format is not required. If releases are geared to being useful rather than being a crutch for a lack of...anything, then they are quite useful indeed

Nov 06, 2009

r4ds said...

Thanx for the valuable information. This was just the thing I was looking for, Press Release is an old name for a changing format - with ups and downs. keep posting. Will be visiting back soon.

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PR Pros on Press Releases - Meh

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