Have Facebook and Twitter become the new News Release?

With all the new social mediums available today, is the new way to pitch your story and be heard Facebook or Twitter? According to the book, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge, Facebook and Twitter are not replacing the press release, but they are allowing PR professionals to stand out.

This book provides an example of an individual who says that his email inbox is overflowing with information so it is hard for him to reply to every email received. However, he states that he is more inclined to reply to the messages he receives on Facebook because he enjoys using this form of communication more than email.

All in all, in a world that is constantly developing new forms of communications, as PR professional we must figure out a way to stand out to a client. Will Facebook or Twitter become the next news release? I’ll let you decide.

For now I leave you with Solis and Breakenridge’s top ten list of how to target people through Social Media, so you can discover how to make yourself stand out in this world of competition.

1. Determine your value and the most likely markets that will benefit from your news.
2. Humanize and personalize the story. One version no longer cuts it.
3. Identify the people you want to reach and how they prefer to see information.
4. Read and watch their work.
5. Participate in their communities and use their tools of choice (but as a person first, not as a PR spammer). Don’t start pitching right out of the gate.
6. Monitor the vibe and how people share information within their communities. Learn the dynamics and the rules of engagement. Listen. Learn. Respect.
7. Don’t pitch. Stand out. Be compelling.
8. Use a variety of approaches but without spamming.
9. Don’t forget the traditional tools that work. Make sure that you cultivate relationships across the board.
10. Repeat the previous steps as you move across the disparate groups of people you need to reach. This is how to do PR across the bell curve of customer adopting and in the Long Tail.

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Amanda Kaster.