Social media PR for Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: 5 Examples + How-To
Now more than ever, brands are relying on social media PR to get the word out about product updates, company changes, and other important corporate news. This is great because social media has the potential to increase readership and engagement, and to get the information directly to the public.
However, unlike the average press release where you get 300 – 800 words to get your story out, with social, you'll be lucky to get a few characters, an image, and maybe a moment of your audience's time.
Here are five ways to get the word out using social media PR.
Chances are, you’ve seen quite a lot of press releases come across your news stream. Media outlets are big on these, starting them out with breaking, like this press release tweet example.
Others use the #pressrelease hashtag, as in this press release tweet example.
If you really want to get attention for your social media PR, you’ll have to get creative beyond just using text and links. For example, you can incorporate images in your press release tweet.
And you can use video.
Media will help your announcement stand out on your profile as well as within the Twitter newsfeed itself. You can also use a mix of tweet types (text-based + link, image + link, and video + link) to tweet about your press release multiple times, but in different ways so that even someone who has seen all three tweets will see something new in each.
For an additional boost, you can use Promoted Tweets to reach an even larger audience with your social media PR. You can sign in to Twitter Ads using your usual Twitter credentials and then target your press release tweet to reach specific audiences. For example, you could target your ad towards specific news networks and the people that follow them, or Twitter users with specific interests.
This will help you spread your press release even further, generating more buzz, shares, and traffic back to your press release or website.
Using Facebook for your press releases is a bit tricky, thanks to Facebook’s continued lowering of business pages' organic reach. And for the little organic reach your page has left, you certainly don’t want to use it on text-based updates as those receive less exposure than updates with links, photos, and videos.
Hence, you need to make your Facebook press more than just text. A combination of an uploaded photo, 90 characters worth of text, and a link to your website or press release is (currently) the best option to go with.
The reason you want to only use 90 characters before the link is so that the link shows up above the photo. Otherwise, people would have to click on a read more link or on the photo itself to get to the link.
See this in actions in this Facebook press release example.
Speaking of links, you can also paste in the link to your press release as your update, and add an additional description for great visibility.
One thing to note – with this approach, you’ll need a good photo on the press release page or a great photo to upload as the thumbnail for the link.
Another thing to keep in mind is engagement. The more engagement you can get with your press release post, the more reach it will have. So instead of just posting, “We’re announcing the new ____…” consider asking your fans what they think about it, how excited about it they are, and other prompts to get more engagement.
As with Twitter, you can also depend on Facebook Ads to promote your press release to a larger audience. With better targeting options, you can promote it to the audience you want to reach based on demographics and interest, or to the media outlets and journalists you would love to cover it.
This can definitely help you increase the odds of getting more coverage for your press releases.
If you want to promote a press release on an image-based network like Pinterest or Instagram, you need to have an image that really grabs people’s attention and gets your message across – without the need for someone to click through to your press release.
While photos like this are cute, they are the type that will get shared, but not get your press release clicks.
On the other hand, if your image represents the content of your press release with a call to action, you’ll get shares and clicks.
One thing to keep in mind about Instagram shares – all you have is image and text. The links you share with your images are not live links. So your only two options are to get the entire message across with the image and the description or to include an easily memorable link to your official press release. So consider posting announcements like this…
Patagonia demonstrates this in this Instagram press release example.
Or, for press releases, take a screenshot of the release itself with directions on how to find the link.
Both will help your Instagram followers figure out what your announcement is about, and will help them quickly find the link to more details.
Videos can help your audience get excited about an announcement even better than images. This is why you should add an Instagram video into your press release promotion. Essentially, these can be teaser videos that will make your audience want to learn more about your announcement (try TikTok too if you're bold enough).
Build brand affinity
Check out just a few of the stunning press releases airlines have published using Prezly.
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You can also share your Instagram videos on Twitter and Facebook to make sure that you reach more of your audience and get a live link out to them all. Not only that, but your audience is more likely to share them, especially if they are clever.
The best part is these videos don’t have to be professionally made. People aren't upset about Instagram videos being made quickly on a smartphone, that's what they do. So all you need is something that represents your announcement or press release and is film-able, such as a behind the scenes of an interview, or a quick product tour, and you’re all set!
How do you incorporate social media into your press release campaign?
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We live in a world in flux, and nowhere is that more evident than on the social web. But that doesn’t mean you should make up your social PR strategy as you go along. Here are five tips to help you think before you actually distribute your next release:
It might be tempting to simply respond to news as it comes up, but it also pays to plan ahead. An editorial calendar will help you stay true to your brand and your message, and it will ensure that you always have something relevant to say.
Plan your calendar around industry events, upcoming company releases, and seasonal trends that you can predict with relative confidence (everyone loves year-end forecasts), but also leave room for breaking news and unexpected announcements. Which leads us to our second point…
Also called newsjacking. Whether an event that you’ve known about for months or a sudden announcement by one of your competitors, breaking news can give your social PR an unparalleled boost… if you know how to ride the wave. It’s easier to join a conversation than to start one, and breaking news gives you an opportunity to:
- Capitalize on the conversation
- Position yourself as a knowledgable and reliable source of information
Just make sure to think carefully before you post. It’s easy to get caught up in the wave and say the wrong thing, which could lead to lasting damage. As much as you can, try to not only report accurately on the news, but to offer insightful and unexpected perspectives, as well.
Social media is inherently community-based so you need to get comfortable with the idea that you cannot control what people say. That is the beauty and essence of social networks.
- Get ready to roll with the punches and take things in stride when people react negatively
- Interact in a truly human way with people, the way you would on a personal account
- Be nimble enough to find opportunities and be engaged with your followers
Give the people something they can share, or at least talk about. Good visuals engage people and are more likely to be shared. Not only that the images and the information they are attached to are 65% more likely to be remembered than those without.
The creative aspect of this is important too, because to stand out on a wall of bland and really drive home value, you have to be different.
Don’t treat social PR like just another megaphone. Overt self-promotion might earn you a quick buck, but over time, it will erode your credibility and compromise your brand. Instead, follow this general rule: for every 1 self-promotional thing you say about your brand, say 5 things that are relevant and valuable to your audience.
Need some ideas? Highlight customer successes, offer your perspective on industry news, recap a recent event, share great content from industry thought leaders, and develop some thought-leading content of your own.
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