Orchestrator of the social media news release template, Todd Defren, has published a very handy chart comparing North American (Marketwire is Canadian) wire services’ SMNR propositions. Available as a downloadable PDF, Todd’s colleague at SHIFT compared the various elements (see below) of each individual company’s SMNR offering.
Since Todd’s chart is US-centric and webitpr’s offering isn’t included I took it upon myself (and I hope Todd doesn’t mind that I basterdized SHIFT’s neatly designed chart) to add webitpr’s SMNR offering in the mix.
[Click image to enlarge]
As you can tell from my poor design skills, the last three elements I added myself. These are:
Domain mapping: allowing the SMNR template to be tied onto a client’s website url. Example: ITV (http//:socialnews.itv.com)
Comment moderation: giving details/biography of the person who’s been allocated to respond to comments. Example: webitpr SMNR. Thanks Constantin Basturea.
Relevant coverage: Proactively providing related news stories, blog posts and background information for journalists, bloggers and even the general public can only be of benefit to the end user. Example: Converseon/Plant-It 2020
One thing that’s baffling is why most of these large wire services charge additional money to add a YouTube video or an image? They aren’t exactly paying for the hosting of the YouTube video. YouTube is! And how much bandwidth does an image use and cost these days?
Commercial organisations have to make money, of course, but in this case it’s disappointing that it’s going to cause barriers for the PR industry in adopting this new model of press release.
P.S. I think Shannon Whitley’s prxbuilder would hold its own in the list also.
Stephen is a communications consultant based out of the UK. You can connect with him on Twitter or check out his LinkedIn profile. | Email Stephen
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Shannon Whitley
Thanks for the honorable mention, Stephen. Although my service is mostly aimed at the creation of SMRs — I like to leave distribution to pros like webitpr — I do get fairly good traction through PRX Releases (http://prxreleases.com) in places like Technorati and Google search.
I’ve been meaning to chat with you about your experience with comments. I think you’ve come the closest by providing an identity for feedback. People don’t want to talk to a release, they want to talk with a person. I’d love to learn more about your experiences with comments.
Stephen
Hey Shannon, thanks for stopping by.
You’re absolutely right about people not wanting to leave comments as it’s something we’ve had experiences with. As you say, people don’t want to talk to a press release – they want to talk to a real person. That’s why we introduced the comment moderator facility. But, alas, no one has commented as of yet.
We’re optimistic though as it’s still early days and things like this take time. Besides, even if comments are a rarity at least the option is there to do so. After all, it’s all about giving the user choice.
Btw have you had any feedback on people’s preferences of the bulleted format over the traditional narrative? We’ve never conducted any detailed research but I am hearing a lot of people say they prefer the traditional narrative.
Shannon Whitley
RE: Narrative vs. Bulleted
I’m just glad I left the news body open for both. There was a time, in looking at the SHIFT template, that we considered supporting separate lines for each bullet.
For authors, it definitely depends on the release. I use bullets most of the time when I write a technical release, but I would switch to mostly narrative for another topic/readership.
Some of the negative comments about bullets could also be coming from people who are focusing on the difference. Perhaps if they weren’t thinking about bullet vs. narrative, they’d find the format works just fine for certain types of releases.
Stephen
Great point. And once again, it reiterates that it’s all about giving choice. Bullets, narrative, let them decide.
Mookster
Hiya Ste and folks, hope you don’t mind me throwing my inexpert twopenneth into the pot…
Firstly, congrats on this post being top of google uk search results for SMNR! Second only to webitpr’s sponsored link — you guys are developing a bit of a monopoly over here
Secondly, and this is totally an aesthetic thing, couldn’t someone have come up with a sexier name for such a revolutionary piece of kit? SMNR — what a clumsy acronym. Stick a couple of vowels in there and you’ve got ‘Sumner’, the name Sting left behind for being too boring. Hmm, maybe I’m taking this a bit too far…
Anyway, it’s a pretty fascinating phenomenon. Ste — I’m planning to write my thesis on SMNRs and online news, would you mind if I had a chat with you some time about the whole shebang?
Stephen
@Mookster Well there are variations of the name. SMNR (which we use), SMPR and SMR. Admittedly, all are equally as dull.
Perhaps something like Press Release Whizz Bang with Bells and Whistles. The PRWBBW?
Re: Your thesis. Yeah of course. Let me know when you want to chat.
Mookster
@Ste: I like it, it’s got that Mary Poppins magic touch.
That’s smashing, you’re a gentleman. I’ll give you a buzz in a few weeks.
Parker
Hey Stephen -
I’m with CNW Group, and I was responsible for creating our updated version of Todd Defren’s SMR comparison chart that you can see on Dave Fleet’s post (http://davefleet.com/2008/08/cnw-group-unveils-the-cnw-social-media-release/). I had not seen your version of it until today, and would think of it as a case of great minds thinking alike.
I understand your issue with the wire services like ours charging money for adding a YouTube video or an image. CNW Group includes one video, three images and an audio clip with the release. We do charge for additional videos, but this is because it requires extra time on our part to upload them to the various sites. While this could be done on your own, the advantage of doing it through is is that we can provided a huge amount of analytical information about views of your video.
I also agree with you that any acronyms for the Social Media Release certainly aren’t helping the cause . I’m partial to the name “Super Release,” but I don’t think it’ll get much traction.