The Ten-Bullet Objective for Social Media News Releases
One of the original precepts of the Social Media News Release (SMNR), as envisioned both by SiliconValleyWatcher’s Tom Foremski and in SHIFT’s subsequent template, was to weed out the market-speak: to use bullet-points and/or simplified narrative, devoid of "spin," to get the reporter or blogger to the heart of the news.
I think one of the ways we can eliminate some of that spin in the Social Media News Release is to discipline ourselves to limit our "news facts" to just 10 bullets. If you can’t say it in 10 bullets, you haven’t made your audience’s job any easier: you are still asking them to wade through too much jargon and too many factoids to get to the "real" news.
This occurred to me after we made a mistake in this regard on our own, with the first Novell SMNR. It was well-received but I recall having the passing thought, at the time, "This is too much info!" Then I saw more recent efforts like Softalk and Belkin’s SMNRs. Belkin’s is near-perfect, but — although I am an official cheerleader for any SMNR effort — I couldn’t help but think that Softalk’s release was "too-much-of-a-good-thing."
This is still a new area. We’re still learning. One thing I am learning re: SMNRs is to keep-it-simple.
Thus, this clarion call for "The Ten-Bullet Objective."
Let’s all promise ourselves to try to keep our SMNRs to 10 bullet-points. Let’s agree to push-back on clients who insist that every point is mission-critical. Let’s be sure to point out that the SMNR is amply qualified to point to additional sources of information — it need not be the single-source for all data points.
Our audiences will thank us. I daresay that our coverage will get better, too, as we commit ourselves to clarity.
UPDATE!! Two great posts also showed up this week that are worth your attention, if the SMNR is on your radar. Check out this post from Lee Odden: "Why Use Social Media With Your Press Release?" and this one from Brian Solis: "How to Write a Social Media Press Release, Why, and What It All Means."
Tags: social+media+news+release, ten+bullet+objective, hrelease, tom+foremski, social+media+club, social+media, public+relations, pr+2.0
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As the author of the Softalk release I have to say I agree with you. I actually struggle with the concept of bullet points. Personally I probably find them harder to read. The constant interruption of the bullet means it takes me longer to read. That’s probably why I find it harder to write.
Stuart, I am relieved that you took this constructively – I was a li’l worried, since I hadn’t had a chance to reach out by email first.
As noted – this is a new area, and there are no RULES. If you prefer a narrative format, no one can stop ya.
The goal is simply brevity and clarity, which can certainly be accomplished by good narrative writing!
Thanks!
Thanks Todd for including the link to the story, and more importantly, for the great perpective in your quote. Cheers, Brian http://snipurl.com/10ycn