PRWeb is so far ahead of the game (when it comes to public relations tools) compared to the traditional newswires that it’s no wonder companies like PRNewswire had to cut like 30 percent of it’s workforce earlier this year. On the other hand, news release distribution must be very profitable as well because Warren Buffet bought BusinessWire . . .
PRWeb has launched tagging for the news releases you post to it’s site.
PRWeb introduces unique tagging technology to the press release industry
3 comments ↓
Who want to tag a press release? People generally only tag content they want to access later, and a press release generally falls short of doing that. Although I still invest in them, I really feel the press release is on the way out as the blogosphere is pioneering a resurgence of sincerity whereas a press release is mostly marketing fluff.
Man, I couldn’t disagree more on press releases and tagging. A press release is only marketing fluff as much as people use it as such. You could say a website is mostly marketing fluff or a blog is mostly marketing fluff too. But it’s generalizing. And so is “press releases are mostly marketing fluff.” But a tool is only fluff if it’s used that way. Press releases look like total fluff a lot because you get way too many people who don’t know how to use them using them. They use them at the wrong time and in the wrong way. Fluffy press releases have never worked, so it’s not a new change or some evolving thing. I’ve seen thousands of websites, blogs, etc . . . that are total fluff because they are misused tools. What happens? People don’t visit them because the content is of no use. But I don’t say “blogs are mostly marketing fluff” or of no use because it’s generalizing. People are always behind fluff whether it’s a press release or a blog or website or anything else and it has nothing to do with the tool.
A press release (if done right) can be a page of content rich in keywords that you can distribute all over the Internet with links back to specific landing pages. If it’s useful, people will visit But, there are other benefits. Page Rank, SEO, etc… I have seen companies use this strategy and then get 9 out of 10 results for a keyword in Google. We landed a $90,000 account using this strategy. That’s one example. So, when I say I couldn’t disagree more, it’s because I think too many people look at a press release in terms of how it has been traditionally used and they look at examples of misuse and not good use. A press release (and they wont’ be going away) could simply be Nintendo having a news page where they update press announcements that are then fed via RSS. That’s still a press release, and it’s a content-rich page with an RSS feed attached to it. Google loves that. Nintendo may also have tags for related content on that page so that a journalist who may not be familiar with Nintendo can look at past/related info to be brought up to speed. Press releases weren’t designed to go from company to consumer. Try doing Infendo or Joystiq without ever having Nintendo do another press release. Your job would be hell or very competitive because all information from Nintendo would come via phone and they would work with the most important publications first. Press releases were designed for the media and for the press. That’s why it’s called what it’s called. People use them to target consumers, which is why they turn into fluff and don’t work the way they want them to. But, used correctly . . .
I don’t think people only tag things they want to return to either. I would submit that this is rarely the case. Tagging allows people to see related content based on what humans have said is not only related but important. So, tagging creates a trail to related content on a topic and then associates that tagged page with that topic or keyword. Programming, algorithms, etc . . . then weed out tagged content that has been deemed “important” but isn’t because the natural selection of human visits to that page say it isn’t important.
When people learn the combination of useful content (in this case, let’s call it a press release) and the value of tagging and the SEO results that come from it, they will want to tag a press release.
Russell,
Tell em how it is. I was reading a rant by John Dvorak where he said, “Now these things go directly to the consumer, who probably thinks that they represent true news rather than being puffed-up announcements coming directly from the companies. Curiously, one analyst thought that people were reading these things because they were “shorter and pithier,” which is a laughable assertion.”
I will post about this later on my blog but the rant is truly laughable and unfair on a couple of levels. First, who made the media gatekeepers of all knowledge and chief judge of what represents “true news”? If journalism filled this function well the blogoshpere wouldn’t be thriving today. Give me a break.
Here is something else to ponder. Sure there are companies that abuse the press release or use the medium inappropriately. But guess what, there are journalists that don’t know how to do journalism either.
Finally, accountability is built into the PRWeb platform. We encourage discussion about press release content in the blogoshpere by incorporating things like trackbacks and tagging; all aimed at creating dialogue and keeping the discussion honest? Can we say the same thing for the MSM?
So, until MSM becomes more accountable and honest about what they do (not to mention responsive to their audience), I say that we encourage press releases as at least equally viable as anything journalists contribute. Long live the press release.
– David McInnis, CEO PRWeb
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