Http://LeonardSipes.Com and

I have 15 years of experience creating audio and video for the internet and attaching them to press releases.

The results are gratifying. I could never figure out the reluctance of PR people who didn’t emulate the practice.

Now comes a study from PR Newswire (see below) documenting the power of adding video, photographs, infographics and other media to press releases. The findings indicate  significant increases in press release use.

A Learning Experience:

My introduction to the use of media attached to press releases came from being associated with a national public service campaign run by the largest and most successful advertising firm at the time.  They included copies of media (audio, video, print ads) with every press release. It became the nation’s most successful public service advertising campaign.

From there I went to a large state agency where we created radio and television shows. We placed our products on a website and interacted with the public via e-mail and phone. Every press release referred people to a web address of supportive media.

Every campaign was successful and per university research, public approval of my agency increased significantly.

My current agency does the same. We create television, radio and blog posts. We were one of the first federal agencies to engage in social media through content creation and engagement through Twitter, LinkIn and YouTube.

Every press release highlights media created to support events and issues.  We rank high in Google searches for every issue important to us. We achieve operational goals through content creation and social media.

Why Does it Work?

Quite simply, everyone has different styles of learning. Some like to read, some prefer watching a video, some enjoy listening, some just want quick facts and everyone enjoys a good photograph.

Some agencies are less than effective at communicating due to a lack of respect for learning styles. People want simplicity and plain English. They enjoy a bit of entertainment. They like it when anyone goes the extra mile to give them alternatives for consuming information.

Reporters and editors respect agencies that try a little harder to present an array of communication options.

Thus the combination of newsroom respect coupled with something they believe the public will appreciate prompts use.

The same philosophy applies when you bypass mainstream media and go directly to your target audience via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media. You simply get more attention to your message by adding options.

Creating Media:

The process of creating audio and video for the internet is addressed throughout this site (see categories index) so I won’t rehash old ground beyond stating that both are easier than ever to create

“Ask yourself, if ten billion 14 year olds can upload video to YouTube, why can’t you?” is a question I recently posted with the observation that the cost of creating good video is approximately $250.00.

A digital audio recorder can be purchased for less than $200.00. Many smartphones provide audio capacity.

Photographs, audio and video can be purchased from entities like Pond-5 (http://www.pond5.com/) or iStockPhoto (http://www.istockphoto.com/).

Conclusion:

Every press release, promotional e-mail or social media post should contain supporting media. It respects learning styles, editors favor media based messages over those not supported and it creates more exposure for your message.

Thus content creation is king. Everything else exists to support your content.

Best, Len.

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PR Newswire Press Release:

Multimedia Content Drives Nearly 10 Times More Visibility than Text, PR Newswire Study Confirms

PR Newswire’s second study reveals that multimedia content continues to significantly enhance press release visibility

PR Newswire has released the results of its second deep dive analysis of its press release data, revealing once again that press releases that include multimedia assets garner significantly more visibility than text-only releases – up to 9.7 times more.

Following the 2011study, PR Newswire’s 2012 study examined data from PRNewswire.com via Adobe SiteCatalyst. PR Newswire’s web analytics team analyzed thousands of press releases published in 2011 and 2012 to determine the impact that adding photos, videos and other downloadable content has on levels of engagement with press releases.

The data shows that simply adding a photo to a text-only press release increases visibility by 1.8 times, while adding a video to a text-only release delivers 4.3 times the number of views. Including both photo and video content further enhances a story, driving visibility by 7.4 times more than plain text releases. The web analytics team at PR Newswire also compared releases with additional layers of assets including downloadable files such as PPTs, PDFs, and DOCs along with photos and videos. Although the number of such stories was fewer than those with just photos and videos, they garnered even more visibility and interaction, representing the potential for releases with photos, videos and downloadable files to drive up to up to 9.7 times more visibility over text-only releases.

“Photos, videos, infographics and other types of multimedia assets present information in a more compelling and attractive way so it’s no surprise that they boost content visibility so significantly,” said Rod Nicolson, vice president, global reporting, PR Newswire. “The volume of multimedia content distributed through PR Newswire is higher than ever before and it is extremely encouraging to see that our customers are embracing the power of multimedia to capture the attention of their audiences, build brand awareness and power content marketing initiatives.”

PR Newswire offers a variety of digital tools and multimedia platforms to support its customers’ public relations and content marketing needs. To learn more, click here.