My personal journey with social media releases

Three years ago this month, the traditional format of press releases was turned upside down with the creation of a new “social media release” (SMR) template. 

I was working with iMemories at the time, and remember looking at the proposed template and thinking, “wow, that is a very different kind of format, and I don’t know if I will be able to replicate that.”  I’m a writer, not a graphic artist. But I realized the importance of the trend, and the significance and impact of social media on the traditional press release.

With the help of a seminar hosted by Businesswire, and a lot of online reading and research, I completely changed the way I wrote press releases to adapt to this new format. If you’re not familiar with the history behind social media releases, you can find a good summary here.

What I ended up with is what I will call a hybrid – it’s shorter than the typical press release, and includes a lot of links to more information, pullouts, and photos/graphics.   It acts as more of a one-stop repository for journalists. You can see a later example of my efforts here.  The first few attempts were candidly a bit too long. 

The goal of changing the traditional press release format was good, and long overdue. I’ve written so many releases over the years that I could do them in my sleep, I think. Anything that is more visually attractive and can help journalists is a step in the right direction. I found the original template to be a bit complex, however, and definitely beyond my personal graphic skills.  The hybrid is a lot more fun to write and definitely easier to read.

I focus now more on the strategic and consulting end of public relations, rather than the tactical, but am glad I had an opportunity to experiment with a new format.