Every industry has had to adapt to changes in modern technology and PR is no exception. As an industry that is based upon communicating with a diverse audience, public relations needs to be embedded in the platforms and language these audiences are using. PR strategy and campaigns have had to grow to encompass and embrace these changes. One of the most fundamental building blocks of PR has undergone a notable transformation during its integration into the digital age; the press release.
A press release is a powerful way to tell your company’s story to the key industry influencers but because the press release is a timeless PR tool we must be careful that our approach to it doesn’t become stagnant and irrelevant in today’s digital landscape.
The humble press release has had to adapt and as a result has evolved into something that has been able to capitalise on these changes. Its form has undergone some cosmetic changes, such as using unique and trackable URLs, click to tweet buttons within a release and sometimes even being presented in the form of an infographic. However the significance of facts, statistics and newsworthiness within a press release remains the same.
Not only has the online world added countless relevant places where a news can appear, it has also brought with it the advent of the 24/7 news cycle. As a result of this, content creators are busier than they’ve ever been as they now have to produce content for several platforms while trying to wade through an ever increasing amount of information. This is precisely why it has never been so important to have a credible interesting story.
While it’s easy to get caught up in online sources the importance of traditional print media for the press release must not be forgotten. Newspapers and magazines continue to play a huge part in people’s media consumption and these are still one of the best ways to reach your target audience. According to the National Newspapers of Ireland, the average daily readership is 1.9M and an average readership of Sunday newspapers is 2.1M.
Bearing all this in mind it looks like the faithful press release, even after undergoing a few changes, isn’t going anywhere and is here for the long haul. This can be credited to the fact that its purpose will always be needed.
