To me, its a no brainer. Of course we need to utilize social media to distribute press releases (in my humble opinion). But I was so intrigued by the question, that asked the Web Marketing Therapy team what they thought- here are the responses I got from them:

Nowadays with the world wide web being so accessible, information about almost anything is available at a moment’s notice. With this being the case, I believe that the more people ‘know’ about a company or product, the more they will trust or like the brand or product. Press releases give the public another glimpse into a business that, in the old days, they may not have been privy to.  So, yes, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to use social media as another way to leverage a company or product because people want to be ‘in the know’.- Anne Orfila

Press releases should go out in social press release distribution tools like prweb.com but only if they are educational….not overly promotional. We use tools like prweb and pitchengine and love them!- Lorrie Thomas Ross

Distributing Press Releases using Social Media is must! Tools like Pitchengine allow the release to live on the web with branding – company logo, relevant images and videos, news bites, a Twitter feed and links. Pitchengine is great for SEO (highlighting keywords in natural searches). The distribution tool, PRWeb can be found by other high-level online publications and helps gain your story exposure by getting picked up and shared. To continue the visibility a Facebook “Notes” version of the release gives a whole new audience one more way to get your news! To ensure that all of this PR mojo doesn’t get lost in cyberspace – sign up for Google Alerts and use key pieces of the title and content to keep up with where your release can be found on the web.- Darla Bea Smith

The article presents an ongoing conversation marketers are having and there are credible arguements on both sides by some of our industry’s top thinkers.  Here is a breakdown of what they had to say.  Please note, these are my summaries of their comments and not actual quotes. To get the full story read the article on Forbes.

YES
Stacey Acevero, Social Media Community Manager, Vocus/PRWeb.
Share your news in relevant platforms Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter and create conversation around your news.  It is also good to incorporate engaging features like pictures or video into your release.

Charlene Kingston, Social Media DIY Workshop
Yes, but don’t over do it- send out releases only when you have significant news for your target audience (otherwise, make it a blog post).

Jennie Smythe, Founder, Girlilla Marketing.
Use the news in your release, then personalize it.  Link to the release from your website or an outside outlet.

IT DEPENDS
Marcus Fagerlund, Area Director, North America West, Meltwater Buzz
You should judge on a case by case basis.  Some releases can be used to successfully engage your community while some releases are not appropriate to share on social media platforms because they contain sensitive info only relevant to your industry.

Neal Rodriguez, Online marketing expert, Forbes.com blogger
Simply posting a press release in social media is not effective; but if you link the press release to interesting and relevant content on your website. “Just think of your objective, which is promoting your own digital asset, not the press release.”

NO
David Meerman Scott Lecturer, Author, The New Rules of Marketing and PR (Third Edition)
Press releases are good for two things: reaching members of the media and improving your search engine ranking by publishing it on your own website and using one of the press release distribution services.  Press Releases are too formal for social networks.

So- based on the comments above.  When should marketers use Social Media to distribute Press Releases?  Robert Wynne sums it up:

Facebook – Rarely, almost never. Make sure the news is BIG.
LinkedIn – Sometimes, with short intro and a link. Better for groups.
Twitter – Maybe, with a snappy intro and a link.
Blogs – always.

After analyzing thousands of press releases, the study shows that while more press releases are shared on Facebook, each share on Twitter results in 30 percent more views.

Their findings also indicate adding multimedia elements to your press release such as photos and video can increase your engagement up to 3.5 times. See infographic from PR Newswire and Crowd Factory below

I rarely read all the free content I get from companies, but this one really made me think and I hope you take the time to dive into this, as it really can help you understand how marketing works in today’s social web world.

The whitepaper addresses today’s social media driven world and how the power of content-driven engagement changed the way organizations earn media.  (Note the word “earn” – marketing does not fall in our laps, we have to WORK for it!)  Thanks to social media, earned media now includes Posts (like this one here that was earned!), Likes, Follows, Shares, Re-tweets and so much more.

"Earned Media, Evolved" Infographic by PRNewswire

“Earned Media, Evolved” taps the power of what we tout at Web Marketing Therapy – the power of content to educate and empower your market(s).  I LOVE this info graphic (see the whitepaper to see it full size) that shows how a diversified content portfolio can work wonders.

In this whitepaper:

–Find out what business decision-makers and consumers look for when searching for content – content they will forward, share and propagate
–Discover how the right piece of branded content can become “social currency” that earns media
–See how leading brands like Audi and Dell have utilized their own social networks to powerful effect

Rachel and PRNewswire – thanks for a brilliant educational paper!!

Download and read the “Earned Media, Evolved” Now!

Lorrie stole the spotlight with her ability to relate to what people need and by really making the audience feel empowered to help themselves lasso the wild web and all of it’s marketing offerings.

Here are few things from the discussion, both from traditional PR to the new school web marketing, which I found useful and interesting:

Marketing is about maximizing relationships: The ideas are the same for both traditional PR and web marketing strategies; you want to connect with an audience whether it is writing the perfect press release to get you noticed in print or sharing your expertise on a blog.

List all of your media channels and do your research: Just like anything you do for your business you want to know and understand what your options are. Make a list of all of the media channels available to you (radio, tv, magazines, newspapers, web) and do your research on them. Understanding how you can maximize these channels will give you and your marketing an upper hand.

Something to always keep in mind: Publicity is free and advertising is paid. Getting on the front page of the paper can’t be bought people!

Utilize the freebies: Marketing can be tricky but don’t underestimate the power of educating yourself. Find free sources to learn the tricks; just because you don’t have a huge PR budget doesn’t mean you can’t do it! Great sources for press release writing and other free marketing tools can be readily found on the web. Here are few examples that were brought up in the discussion:

• Web Marketing Therapy’s PJ PR-How to Generate and Distribute Your Own Powerful Press Releases WMT offers a great selection of free E-books to get you going.

• PR Web is a great source for learning how to write and distribute a press release. See their Press Release Writing Fundamentals and get writing!

• Google Places: get your business on Google for no charge. Simply follow the steps and wait for you confirmation postcard. Free!

Marketing Multitask: Put your traditional PR press releases to work and repurpose them in a blog post. Highlight your organizations spotlight in the media by housing a press page on your website. Co-mingle the traditional PR work with your web marketing arsenal and you have got yourself a powerful partnership.

So the moral of today’s post: don’t limit yourself in your marketing strategies. Traditional PR and web marketing strategies go hand in hand. The same concept of maximizing relationships applies across whatever method you choose. Utilize both schools of marketing and multitask your way to greater visibility and credibility for your organization.

In this increasingly online world, your website is often your first interaction with a potential client. And, yours is probably not the only site that this potential client is going to check out. If your website looks neglected, is confusing, hurts the eyes, or just doesn’t exist, it’s very, VERY likely that you just lost a new client to one of your competitors.

Remember: We let our fingers do the shopping online, and it’s incredibly easy to click a back button and move on down the list without ever even calling or stepping foot in your store/office/restaurant. So even if you’re just a small, local company, or have been in business for thirty years, a strong website is always a valuable thing!

On our other blog (appropriately titled Wild Web Women), we recently talked about some basic Do’s and Don’ts for your website. These basics are great for a brand spanking new website and a website that’s already been created. Some of the basic Do’s include having a great “About Us” page that focuses on who you are and keeping your site simple and easy to navigate. Some of the Don’ts include abandoning your site once it’s created and annoying your website viewers with something like an auto-play movie or music.

Enjoy a spoonful of web marketing therapy and check out the Do’s and Don’ts of Websites and get your site on the right track!