Four reasons to hate social media releases

Fuck the Social Media Release.

It is the PR equivalent of a smoking hot girl who is ridiculously high maintenance, empties your wallet and does not put out when it’s time to get down.

Here are four reasons to hate SMR’s:

• SMR’s are a way for large companies to take your cash. The distribution services that help you build and throw your sexy SMR to the world are not free. “Whoa!” you exclaim after calling the gang at Marketwire and getting a quote. Yup they cost a tonne of cash. The SMR is a tool of the rich.
• There are alternatives to the SMR that cost less and achieve the same results. Since SMR’s are basically blog posts you can try that as a tactic. Otherwise, maybe you can use an AP or CP style release and send Youtube links/photos/or other hot shit content with it to reporters and bloggers. These options don’t require that you order your purchasing department to start ripping off old ladies’ purses or steal lunch money from middle schoolers.
• SMR’s make people’s expectations rise. They take more effort to produce and they cost more. Sounds like a recipe for elevated expectations. Those fancy-ass trackbacks and cutesy share links look cool but they’re really just over-design and executives expect the moon from over-designed things. Bonne chance explaining why the SMR about the appointment of a new VP of Accounting for Ohio did not lead to front page coverage in the NY Times or a page 20 placement in the Columbus Dispatch.
• The SMR was created by a dude who sent a cardboard cutout of himself dressed in cowboy gear to this year’s SXSW conference. Said dude blogged about this to the world on several occasions. While I am sure he’s actually a great guy and is definitely very smart, the cowboy thing was decidedly bizarre (I ain’t throwin link love at this crap so Google it yourself if curiosity is killing you).

For more perspective on the SMR check out the Firehose’s take.