The New PR: How to Write Effective Press Releases in the Age of Twitter

I was just reading a very interesting how-to blog post written for traditional marketers who need to make their press releases social media-friendly.  It's called The New PR: How to Write Effective Press Releases in the Age of Twitter (Posted using ShareThis)

I think it has some key elements that are worth repeating:

1. Identify the search terms that will lead customers or reporters to you. 
2. Use your key words in your headline (and the body of the release).
3. Hyperlink your key words and phrases to your website.
4. Use multimedia.
5. Add magnifiers for easy distribution.

I would caution though, that it is one thing to make your traditional press release social media-friendly.  What you need to consider is - can you really get by with one press release or do you need to have another customized specifically for social media super-users who will launch and perpetuate the very viral effort you are trying to achieve?  I favor the latter option as a press release even with these "tips" implemented still isn't as social media-friendly as it could be.  So, in order to create a successful PR effort be sure you know who the primary audience is and cater to their needs, interests, and "language."