Top five reasons to embrace the hottest trend in media relations

The latest evolution of PR.0™: the Video News Release

Earlier this year, Merlot Marketing unveiled the newest facet of PR.0™ when we leveraged the power of video to transform our clients’ media announcements into audiovisual presentations. These Video News Releases (VNRs) embed video quotes from brand spokespeople and/or feature video coverage of new products and appliances.

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The response from clients and the media has been overwhelmingly positive, and here are five important reasons why:

1)  Video News Releases lead to higher open rates. When we first discussed the idea of VNRs, we knew that it would be important to track the numbers. After all, bells and whistles are great, but they aren’t worth the time unless the numbers justify them. We conducted A/B comparisons of traditional, static image-driven releases to VNRs and found an average increased open rate of 13.9 percent; one especially satisfied client experienced an enormous 43 percent increase.

2)  Video News Releases increase overall headline impressions. With such substantial increases in open rates, it follows that overall impressions garnered from VNRs would be higher, too. Indeed, this proved to be the case. One Merlot Marketing client in the luxury appliance category saw headline impressions more than double.

3)  Video News Releases provide valuable content to the media. Everyone knows these days that video is king, and the media is just as eager to get its hands on good video content as we are. By being proactive and sending out the content in the actual news release, we provide added value to the journalists we pitch.

One such member of the media (a writer from The San Francisco Chronicle) told us, “The videos are solid. Traditional press releases still provide value but their quotes are almost always stilted and have a scripted feel. Even if a video is going off of a script, there’s room for someone to inject their personality.”

4)  Video News Releases increase your brand’s digital and social media presence. Embedding a video into a press release makes it that much easier for recipients to access the important content. By cutting out the middleman (those additional pesky links), it makes it more convenient for media to share content. Journalists appreciate this.

A writer from High End Weekly commented, “I liked the fact that [the video] was included in the email. [This] made it easier to get to as opposed to having to click on a link from YouTube.

5)  Video News Releases show your brand understands a rapidly evolving industry: According to Mary Meeker at the Internet Trends Conference 2016, it is predicted that 74 percent of all Internet traffic will be video. This shift means that media outlets that historically relied heavily on print and static imagery now face new obstacles. For resourceful brands and agencies, the solution is to help mitigate these obstacles by providing embedded video content in releases.

As public relations, digital marketing and social media continue to evolve, Merlot Marketing remains committed to staying on the forefront of trends and to providing its media contacts with the most up-to-date content available. Video News Releases are just the most recent, but PR.0 is a fluid approach to traditional media relations and is designed to help our agency and its clients stay relevant in this rapidly changing industry.

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