The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media

Chapter 13. PR 2.0: Introducing the Social Media News Release

Journalist Tom Foremski said in his now legendary blog post Die! Press Release! Die! Die! Die!^[97] that, "Press releases are nearly useless. They typically start with a tremendous amount of top-spin, they contain pat-on-the-back phrases and meaningless quotes. Often they will contain quotes from C-level executives praising their customer focus. They often contain praise from analysts, (who are almost always paid or have a customer relationship.)"

Not only that, but some 3,000 press releases are syndicated daily via wire services. Unless you've got a PR firm following up, making calls or sending e-mails to journalists and bloggers, it is an insurmountable task to even get your release read! Hardly seems worth the effort, doesn't it?

So, if not to inform the press, what is the real value of a press release today? In my view, the value is three-fold: as a tool for search engine optimization (SEO), direct marketing, and social media engagement.

Press Releases as SEO

When it comes to online marketing, practically everything revolves around being findable via Google and other such engines, and there is no reason press releases can't serve that role as well.

"A press release written with SEO in mind can do much more than the author originally intended if the right keywords are used, and links are included that point to the corresponding ...