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The Future of the Press Release

Press releases are a common element of any PR program today. There are thousands released every day, hundreds every minute. So how do you differentiate yourself from the thousands of press releases out there?

One way is to integrate social media opportunities into your release. Companies are now adding links, YouTube videos, RSS feeds and more to their releases. Not only does adding links help people to find your company, it also improves your search engine optimization (SEO). This new style of press release includes:
  • The ability to subscribe to RSS Feeds
  • Comment capability that allows readers to post comments on the press release
  • Social-bookmark friendly attribute gives readers the option to bookmark and share content. There's an entire culture of news junkies, so give users the option to add your press release to Delicious.com or Digg.Com
  • A "Link to this Page" feature allows a journalist or blogger to find your press release from another site
  • The "Email this page to a friend" feature allows you to email the link to those in your network, further improving word-of-mouth referrals
  • Trackbacks, which allow you to see who is talking about your press release in their blog
  • Supporting images and video links
  • Company press center link that allows readers to go to your company media room to find more content
  • The ability to retweet the article to your Twitter followers

Here's a good example of a web 2.0 press release: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Ibm-NYSE-IBM-913480.html. Keep in mind that you always want to differentiate yourself and create many ways for people to find your news.

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Amy Numbers