Social Media release: Lipstick on a Chicken

If all the great writing that I've seen on blogs about the social media press release went into the actual press release, then maybe those of us who receive them without requesting them would not ignore them so completely.

For me and a growing number of reporters, any form of press release is like lipstick on a dead chicken.  No matter how you try to pretty the thing up, it's still a pretty homely bird.

But Shel Holtz and others is right.  Press releases are not dead.  I helped Pat Phelan write one for Roam4Free yesterday. I've been working with David Parmet on one for Scrapblog who goes live in a few weeks. There are some traditional reporters who may pick up this release and write about my clients because of them. 

The release is still worth doing.  But it is less relevant today than it was yesterday.  And it will be less relevant tomorrow than it is today.  It is not dead, but it is dying.  The people who use them are fewer.  The people who ignore them are more. The people who want to make money writing them seem to remain about the same in numbers.

If you want to get me to write about you, and if I want to get the people who are most relevant to Roam4Free and Scrapblog to write about these clients, I don't pitch them.  I don't send them email attachments.  I don't call them up on the phone. I join their conversations. We get to know each other.  Hopefully, in many cases, we will get to know and trust each other.  When my audience is interested in what a PR practitioner is talking about it, I write about it and thus accelerate the conversation.

If you are in the PR profession, I think you need to stop pitching and start becoming part of the conversation relevant to your market and your client. The blogosphere is becoming more relevant to your clients and the traditional media less so. If you wait until your client has an announcement then try to come barging in here shouting for attention, I, and other bloggers, will simply ignore you.

If you stay too loyal for too long to lipstick-smeared chickens, then you will end up biting the bird.

Comments

[James Cherkoff]

You can create conversations with reporters (and anyone else) via the phone too. Blogs are not the only way to have a conversation. However, starting that conversation - whatever the medium - takes time, intelligence and patience. 'Smile and dial' never works, and probably never has.

[Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound]

Here's the best way to start a conversation with a journalist or a blogger: comment on their work. That's the very best way to get their attention.

And I'm not suggesting you brown-nose. If you didn't like what they wrote, say so.

Here are great phrases to use to start a conversation:

---"Your article about search engine optimization last week in the Daily Tattler left out a key point..."

---"I know you're always looking for sources on the topic of (fill in the blank), so you might want to know about somebody who (fill in the blank)..."

--"I noticed that your recent posts on the topic of (fill in the blank)haven't mentioned..."

--"If you're writing a follow-up column to last week's column on (fill in the blank), here's an angle to consider...."

At a media relations conference a few years ago, all four journalists who sat on a panel on how to build strong relationships with business reporters recommended that people comment on their work. They included journalists from Barron's, National Public Radio and the Wall Street Journal.

To get their attention, your message needs to convey "I want to help you" rather than "I want you to help me."