A few months back, we were thinking about how we submit our company press releases to the media. Our main channel was to use a wire service such as PR Newswire or Market Wire to push out our release. This method served as the backbone to our one-to-one outreach amongst key influencers. We also promoted our releases through internally controlled channels such as our company blog, Facebook fan page, and twitter stream. While this method works for the most part, it needs some assistance. So I decided to use our very own Sprout Builder to create an interactive rich media component that will supplement our releases.
Due to its very nature, I am able to embed it right here in our blog to show you a living example. Here is what I am calling the PR 2.0 sprout:
As you can see this PR 2.0 Sprout contains six components:
- Press Release: This tab contains the full press release with the ability to select the text. There is a link to download the full PDF version as well.
- Quotes: This tab contains key quotes from the involved parties.
- Pricing: This tab is optional but was a key component of this release so we gave pricing its own tab.
- Video: This tab has an embedded video which plays within the sprout.
- Customers: This tab includes logos of the customers who Sprout has worked with.
- About: This tab has basic company information with links to our company web site and twitter page.
But how does this integrate with a campaign? Here is an example of a Press Release 2.0 sprout posted on a Mashable blog post:
As you can see, the PR sprout is embedded right into the post. This is great for the blog because it provides their readers with additional information. It is also great for the the company or organization who provided the release because they are able to update the information using one interface and publish to everywhere the sprout is posted. For example, if a quote in the press release changes, they could go into Sprout Builder and update the quotes and then click publish, with one click, it will be updated everywhere.
Takeaways:
- Your press room needs to be engaging and travel with your release in a way that is easily accessible
- We need to cut down on the back-and-forth between journalists and PR teams for things like images, quotes and other media.
- This method is extremely cost effective and can be done by someone on your team, very quickly and easily.
Build your PR 2.0 sprout today with a Free Sprout Builder account.
Here is a tips and tricks video of the PR 2.0 sprout that we @sprout used for a release a couple months ago:
(It is available as a template within Sprout Builder)
Message me on twitter or leave a comment below with your thoughts on social media releases and PR sprouts.
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