The press release is alive and well

Although search engines have begun replacing traditional media gatekeepers, press releases still have value, and that value can be multiplied through digital repurposing.

When it comes to gaining media exposure through public relations, much has changed in the way we go about it. But no matter how small newsrooms get, or no matter how many people get most of their information from social media, one of the basic tools of PR – the press release – still has its rightful place.

Let’s face it. Although the news media often do pick up our releases, we can’t always count on them. But the good news is that there’s still tremendous value in telling our stories in the form of a carefully crafted press release.

In fact, with all the changes in the media marketplace, organizations have had to become their own content creators. And SEO (search engine optimization) has increasingly replaced the news editor and the assignment desk as we compete to get our messages in front of our target audience.

The beauty of this brave new Internet world is that a good press release can serve multiple purposes. When the stars align, your organization can still gain the desired exposure in targeted news media. But you can also publish the release yourself.

And then you can share it through:

1. a wire service
2. your website
3. your social media
4. your e-newsletter
5. in print, if your organization has a publication
6. the media of partner organizations

And because you control the message in a press release, you can ensure that a version of the story just as you want it told will reach those most attuned to your organization – your donors, your social media followers, people who search on your keywords, and any of those members of your audience you have the ability to contact directly via e-mail.

The audience for your press release is no longer just the reporters and editors you send it to, who might have been the only ones to see it in the past. It’s now anyone you choose to target digitally. But a reporter can still pick it up and make the story his or her own.

It’s also important to remember that just because a reporter can’t cover a story at the time you send a press release, that doesn’t mean he or she won’t come back around to the topic in the future and contact you now that you’ve made a connection, or that the next press release you send won’t get picked up by that very same person.

At Relatable Communications Group, we have a combined 40 years of experience writing press releases that have hit the mark with the news media, and that have gone on to be repurposed for a wide range of online and social media. Our gift for storytelling, along with our experience as seasoned all-around PR pros, are what set us apart.

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