Free Report: The End Of An Era
All
things change.
As of the date of this article (December, 2008) we are seeing change
occur at a pace that is frankly almost incomprehensible. It goes
without saying that the economy is in dire straits. The automobile
industry, banking and many other industries (too numerous to mention
here), are in terrible shape. The stock market (my old stomping
grounds) reminds me of a really bad Three Stooges reel on auto-play
with loop. There is a great deal of uncertainty regarding what is to
come. Our old establishments are become statistics in our new
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Many large newspapers are standing on the
precipice and are staring into the void, on the verge of folding. The
big accounts are simply pulling out and classified revenues are in the
toilet.
Magazines are likewise suffering these effects.
Television and radio revenues are on what seems to be a perpetual
downward slide, as commercial skipping devices become the norm. We have
advertised ad nauseum. Some traditional book publishers are shaking in
their proverbial shoes as the younger generation comes of age with
their Kindles and electronic book reading devices of every size, shape
and system. The process of delivering information is changing and it is
changing at breakneck speed (though this has been coming for a very
long time).
For those who once held the keys to the information kingdom, the
writing is on the wall and they know it. It seems that the tree-huggers
are winning. Cutting down trees and using gas to ship paper no longer
makes much sense at all. All that is left is for Grandma to buy a
computer and the whole world is good to go. Nor does it make sense to
attempt to charge for information in a medium that is, above all
things, a free information exchange. The very concept is difficult for
the Ancient Ephors of Information to grasp.
Nonetheless, as bad as the news might appear to be for some, there is
tremendous opportunity here for
those who can think ahead just a bit and have the foresight to look
into their crystal balls and divine what
this new future looks like. I can tell you this: for those of us who
market products and services for a living,
getting a piece of news or a marketing message out to the public has
now become far, far less difficult.
There is no uncertainty in that fact.
In the old days (read 'last year and before'), the media release was
the primary tool for getting that information out there. The steps were
simple and were carved in stone: First, craft a proper release,
following the generally acceptable format. Next, mail, email or fax
that release to the proper person at the corporate office. Wait a bit
and follow up perhaps, if allowed. Graciously beg, plead or otherwise
grovel or even fall back on appealing to the common sense of the
reporter or editor. This process, known as 'pitching', is an art form
much the same as selling. Only a few managed to master the skills
necessary to be successful at this. And, if one were to be successful,
that release would run in a single publication or outlet for a single
day. The hope was that someone, somewhere might catch wind of the thing
and take some form of action.
Then came the Internet. Now we could post that release to the Internet
and bypass this archaic, top heavy system by taking that message
directly to the public at large. Of course, even here, one still has to
follow procedure to get it through the gatekeepers, but it is a bit
more relaxed. This was, and still is, really great news for those who
hope to get that message out there. The news is now even better.
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Enter The Multi-Media Release
Traditional media releases, whether created for traditional outlets or
for the web, have always been dry, flat paragraphs of text. Oh yes, one
could bold or perhaps italicize a phrase to denote emphasis. Nothing
wrong with this, certainly. But this is, in a boring word or two, very
boring. Print is somewhat of a boring
medium, but for a while there it was all we had. The format was
designed for traditional journalists. It delivered facts with no fluff
or sales language.
However it
is now possible to create a release that incorporates picture, audio,
video, links to websites and even social bookmarking buttons and tell a
friend scripts. This morphs the old school 'press release' into an
auditory, visual and potentially viral media experience - perfect for
the multi-media vehicle known as the Internet..
Using text
alone, it is simply not possible to tell one's story in the manner one
might hope. Now, however, within the release itself, one can tell a
story that is as unlike the traditional release as a book is different
from a movie. (Yes, yes, I know and agree - books are great. However
books cannot cause vertigo, scream in your ears, incorporate laugh
tracks, make you duck inappropriately or cause you to nearly jump out
of your chair and spill your drink. Movies can. Nuff said.)
Have you
done a radio interview? Embed a portion in the release itself.
Television? Package up the video
and include it. Got some great shots? Put them within the page of the
release. Do you wish to provide
proof sources from other websites or perhaps your own? Put in a link
that pops up that page.
The real
value here (as I see it) is in the social bookmarking aspect of the
thing. The buttons are right there, on the very page. Just a quick
click. Used to be we would have to copy down that address, send an
email to a friend that said 'Hey, check this out' and then provide the
link. With sites such as Digg, delicious and others like them,
now we can just hit a button and tell those with the same interests as
ourselves to come and see. This has been the case for a very long time.
Now we can do this within a press release.
Will this
style of release impact your bottom line sales? Only time will tell.
Should you give up your efforts in regards to traditional releases?
Certainly not yet. The approach here should be to use both for a time.
Eventually (very shortly, in my opinion) the new format will be the
order of the day however.
What will
Web 3.0 bring? I looked at the numbers. After weeks of in-depth
research and many hours of
number crunching, I can offer a studied and very well thought out
prediction:
I dunno.
I can tell
you this. No one listens to 8 tracks anymore, nor do they use a TRS-80.
These products were cutting edge, once upon a time. When something
better came along, some people held on as long as possible and then
finally made the change. However, by the time they made that change,
many others were already two or three steps farther down the path to
success. Though new methods are often feared for the change they bring,
they nearly always make things better in some way. Change is often good.
In any case, you really need to consider getting with the times and
simply make this new release format a part of your marketing toolkit,
get familiar with it and begin to use it. Failure to do so may cause
you to
become a statistic. Nobody wants to be a statistic. All people want to
be a real person.
The
Multi-Media release allows you to put a face on your company and on
your news. Always remember
the first rule of successful marketing: People Only
Do Business
With
People They Trust. Period. That is bolded, italicized and
capitalized for a reason; it is the primary key
to your success and this is, after all, a text document and thus
requires me to revert to such tactics.
Without
trust, you are wasting your time, your ink and your electronic breath.
When your potential
customers can SEE you - HEAR you - you create a bond that no dry, old
piece of yellow newsprint will ever manage to match. And when that
message is presented TO your potential buyer BY a trusted friend, the
effect is magnified by a factor of 10.
As I state
elsewhere on this site, study after study demonstrates that If someone
gets a referral to some
product or service from one of their friends, they will pass by every
other form of advertising offered them
and knock themselves out to seek out and find what their friend has
recommended. If that referral happens to be to one of your media
releases, all the better.
Posted by Don McCauley
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