The way people absorb information is changing fast.
In the expanding arena of social media and interactive web resources, the multimedia news release is increasingly becoming an important tool for companies and organisations looking to effectively communicate with customers and influencers.
A multi-media news release wraps up all the information audiences need into one streamlined package, words, video, still images and audio. Media outlets can then pick and choose what information they want and in the format that best suits their needs.
For the media there are several advantages to giving information in a multimedia format.
Media both print and broadcast are increasingly relying on the web as a communications platform.
This is particularly true for regional and trade media keen to keep up with the latest industry developments in online communication, but who will rarely have the resources to fill their web pages with their own video or audio coverage.
This is where producing a professional, relevant piece of film comes into its own for organisations and companies looking to increase their product, service or corporate profile.
All the evidence shows that a traditional written news release is fast becoming redundant, media outlets expect more.
This is because their customers are increasingly changing the way they get their information. Information is more and more coming not from TV, radio or newspapers or even from the words on a website – but from on-line video.
According to pollsters Zogby only 13 percent of Americans now get their news from traditional newspapers and magazines compared to 40 percent who turn to images on the Internet and 32 percent who watch news on TV.
And leading IT industry sources Gartner say evidence suggests that this drift towards the web for information will continue and hard copy news and TV audiences will continue to decline.
Although the production and distribution of multimedia news releases maybe in it’s infancy in Europe, in the US even the smallest SME’s are beginning to see the benefits of using this channel to communicate with target audiences.
Large distribution firms such as PR Newswire now offer a multimedia service as a matter of course to clients.
Inevitably, what takes off in the States will soon become the norm this side of the Atlantic as well.
The combination of pictures and sound has long been established by marketing experts as the most effective way of making sure messages are absorbed effectively and the ability to communicate through film has never been easier or more cost effective.
Even with marketing budgets being squeezed tighter than at anytime in the past decade, creating online video is now well within the reach of even the smallest SMEs.
It’s those companies with the foresight to exploit this technology sooner rather than later who will be the ones ahead of the game as the economy picks up again.
Craig Cowbrough
Cowbrough Communications Ltd
www.cowbrough.co.uk
