Why Press Releases Are Like Dinosaurs (And How to Make Them Meteor-Proof)

If you are looking for an industry expert to draft a press release for you, read the following line and navigate away from this article: while press releases may seem about as useful as a chocolate teapot, they still serve as a beacon of officialdom, stamping legitimacy on company announcements and ensuring a consistent message. For help drafting one, hit me up in my DMs.

Now that I’ve cleared the way of potential business, and I am left with the rest of you fist-shaking lot, here we go: if I had a dollar for every time I felt like ranting about press releases and decided to publish my thoughts on LinkedIn for digital reactions, I would now have one dollar.

Press releases are one of my most requested jobs, and they get easier to draft the more I work on them. I have generated thousands, yet unlike any other form of literature (if the term can be insultingly associated with such a dry news write-up), no knowledge or deeper insight is gained, no matter how many I will continue to write. As such, and at the risk of punching myself in the face while I season my legs for a faceful of feet, I must shed light on the seeming persistency of press releases — the resulting compensation I derive from drafting them easily justifies their mundanity so I should be the last to criticize them, but I am setting out to reimagine, not cancel them.

In their current, traditional form, press releases are the most boring, mentally and creatively bankrupting part of every content creator’s life. They are also formulaic and invite little readership, yet clients spend too long scrutinizing the tiniest of their nuances and context. What is the end game here? Global domination? A fawning fan base? Galactic relevance? As thousands of press releases flood the market daily, each as impactful as a whisper in a thunderstorm, they will scant generate fleeting interest before being swept into the virtual recycle bin. Why do brands still expect them as part of media plans, and why do agencies still factor them in their current form? We all know the modern newsroom barely glances at these dusty dispatches unless they scream controversy or scandal; any media relations rep will tell you that.

But don’t let me be a harbinger of doom. Press releases are not going away anytime soon, so the answer lies not in abandoning the practice outright but in presenting a transformative approach that would help elevate them for the modern era. Here’s how you can infuse them with modern, progressive strategies to resonate with contemporary audiences:

• Ditch the yawn-inducing formats and populate them with narratives that do more than just inform; let them be entertaining!
• Don’t stick to plain text; dazzle readers with videos and infographics, and (hold my beer as I go out on a limb here) the occasional meme. Make visibility pop!
• Experiment with video news releases. Instead of requesting the same tired press releases, ask for scripts for video news releases. Grab the popcorn and watch your message views grow.

The next time you want a press release with enough panache to make audiences pause from their doom scrolling, slide into my DMs. Conversely, if you believe a traditional press release is what you need, then might I suggest you reach out to Spark Makki ? He’s definitely your go-to guy.