Your second point is right on - the SMPR transcends the realm of public relations and leverages broader communications for marketing purposes - but more importantly, it allows people to find new connections to your company, through the stories you have to share, as in the case you referenced above.

Thank you so much for stopping by - good thoughts…

Although the SMPR is designed to facilitate content in multiple media formats, it is foremost a package for distributing news. So, my recommendation is to name it according to its function: Social Media News Release.

I would, however, like to contribute to the discussion in a constructive manner and have some issues to share concerning the premise of SMPRs (not having searched other postings, mine may be redundant and I apologize).

First, as a communications professional who has had their organization and/or message mischaracterized in media coverage, I (my organization) want to make sure that the news announcement is placed in its proper context upon its release. While the blogger or online journalist may enjoy “playing with the facts,” as you stated in your video, I (my organization) would not appreciate the creative retelling of our news because it could have a tremendous impact on the reputation of the organization. In all honesty, I am not interested in heping bloggers tell their story, my responsibility is to tell my organization’s story in full, in context.

At the extreme, I could see the SMPR providing the tools for an unscrupulous person to distort an organization’s words, meaning, and position. That could be disasterous.

Second, news is news or it’s not. Journalists instinctly know the difference. SMPRs are more of interest to me as a potential marketing tool. “See the product manager explain the “value proposition.” “Cick here to read the product comparison charts.”

Finally, distributing a news release with the complete story is often of more assistance to online journalists and bloggers. Many will share that they don’t have the time (or inclination) to craft their own unique story based on your facts and …what else? Most journalist will tell you that they are under extreme deadline pressures.

Sending a well written news release supported by facts and intelligent quotes is more likely to get picked up and reported on than a dissassembled kit of parts.

At this point in their development, I’d be wary of placing too much faith in the distributed model of the SMPRs, especially if you are responsible for securing media coverage for your organization.

I look forward to the continuing discussion.

Phil

As the strategist at Social Media Group, “up in Canada ” I find all the attention to Digital Snippets fascinating. Our strategy with SMPRs jives with your thoughts on why comments have not been enabled.

We want to “enable the conversation” - not house it. If we hosted the conversation, we would be competing for conversation space with our intended “persuasion” audience. If we wanted to do that, we would create a blog. And that would be an entirely different strategy. eh?

If I was writing a snippet about this right now, I would edit this entire comment down to this one distilled point>

“SMPRs are for helping bloggers tell their stories, not for telling stories to bloggers.”

Put that on your blog and aggregate it ! (Hey… not a bad tagline for digital snippets!)

Cheers, and thanks for the kudos;
collin douma
VP Strategy
Social Media Group