Leveraging Mobile E-Mail Tactics for Multimedia News Releases

Multimedia news releases (MNR) have long been a standard tactic in modern public relations. To have a successful multimedia news release these days, it wouldn’t hurt for you learn more about e-mail marketing. Most multimedia news releases are actually delivered via e-mail. Although you will hear the archaic term about putting the MNR out on “the wire”—these days “the wire” often really consists of a carefully curated and targeted blast e-mail. Because many servers have RSS feeds that are virtually untouched by human hands, many MNRs are automatically uploaded to hundreds if not thousands of sites, if they come from a trusted source.

According to Yesmail interactive, 64.5% of e-mails are opened on mobile devices. While we don’t have a specific figure for the news media yet, that figure may be even higher because reporters, producers and editors are more likely to be “on the go” than the general public, particularly in the tech field.

While most of us recognize that fact, many don’t stop to consider the fact that ultimately it’s the MNR is often the same as an individual e-mail we send. How does that e-mail display on tablets, smartphones and wireless devices. Is the e-mail Mac friendly, does it look just as good as Android? The same rule would apply to any website design, because a multimedia news release by definition is going to have links to media assets, mp3s, PDFs, YouTube videos, web and social sites, etc. E-mail is now a much more dynamic means of communication than it used to be. We should make sure the landing pages are just as mobile-friendly as the e-mail content itself.

So when you think about a multimedia news release, you really need to consider mobile consumption today. Not too many years ago, mobile used to prevent more technical challenges. The good news is it really only presents design challenges now. There are a plethora of mobile responsive, easy to use mobile web templates, particularly in WordPress. You have to build with the touchscreen interface in mind, think big fingers on smaller screens. Also think about Portrait versus Landscape orientation—people use mobile devices in a different way—it’s more about scrolling up and down than left to right exploration.

Because many of the discount wire services have not made the mobile transformation, you might seriously consider spending the extra money to do distribution like BusinessWire or PR Newswire, which have made the investment to optimize for mobile.

Using basic tools like Constant Contact, it’s easier than ever before to determine open rates for e-mails and when opened, what journalists or bloggers looked at, to get a feel for what content they feel is most relevant and engaging. It’s also an opportunity to leverage other content, drive traffic to pre-existing websites for background, etc.

Be honest about who is sending the e-mail. Never send a journalist to an e-mail without having the option of “reply.” Don’t mislead about who the e-mail is “from” because it undermines your credibility. While journalists may assume you are blasting the e-mail to everyone in the media, the more you personalize it, the more legitimate and relevant it is likely to be viewed and it’s more likely to be opened.