News release, press release or media release? Whatever you call it, there's been lots of talk about its function and relevance in recent years and whether it's reached the end of its natural lifecycle.
Let's look at the facts:
So is the problem more about the format not the function? For example, a news release still performs a decent job to launch a product as part of a press pack or get a message out to a range of media quickly and makes great content for the news section of your website, but it isn't designed to pitch a feature into a target publication.
CG PR Account Manager, Laura Downton, has experience of being on the receiving end of news releases, previously working as a Journalist. She explains:
Journalists need content so it's all about managing good relationships with them and supplying high quality information, whether you send a release, call to sell-in a story or keep them informed via Twitter. When we undertake campaigns for clients at CG we take an integrated approach, utilising traditional and targeted press work with social engagement to amplify our client's message rather than relying on one channel to reach their target audience.
Perhaps it's not so much about ditching the release, but using it as part of a range of integrated marketing tactics and reinvigorating it.
CG Education Account Manager, Angela Loines, adds:
New releases are the most common format used in education PR to communicate and present information to the media and their target audiences. I believe that the challenge for education establishments is to look at innovative ways to communicate with their various audiences (including the media) and really embrace social engagement as part of the mix, which many organisations have struggled to control in the past. Instead of just using the traditional method of pushing information out, it will be more about harnessing other channels to create a genuine dialogue and building relationships with audiences, so when you need to send that news release it will achieve a much wider reach and impact.
What do you think? Let us know your views and experiences.
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