I’m pleased that I was asked to contribute to a new white paper, published today by MyPRGenie, a social media and PR platform that distributes news releases and helps marketers maximize the audience for company news through multiple communications channels.  One of the things I contributed to the white paper was a sidebar, on the five steps to take after a new press release (or other new content) is posted.

You can download the complete white paper here.  It includes the tips listed below, along with a lot of survey data and relevant tips, too.  It’s free, and available now. 

The near real-time tracking that comes with online press releases provides valuable tools that can make a huge difference in results. So take advantage of them, with these 5 steps to take soon after every new press release is posted.

1. Download the media list of those who clicked on your release. Visit the website of each and every blogger and journalist who clicked through. Pay attention to when they post, and what they write about. Start your own list of people who’ve demonstrated interest in you by clicking on your content, and learn about them so your future pitches with them are customized and relevant.
2. Follow them on social media, and start a dialogue – RT, DM’s, likes. We all respond better to contacts from people we “know” than from strangers.  Social media provides a non-intrusive way to get better acquainted with the journalists you’re targeting, and that can make a big difference in your public relations results and your overall PR strategy.
3. Take advantage of the social bookmarking and sharing tools built into online distribution services like MyPRGenie – or submit your information to the sites directly. Make sure to submit your press release or content to sites like Reddit and StumbleUpon, and if you do business abroad, to the most popular social sites in the countries you’re targeting. Tip: Draft the “abstracts” for the social bookmarking sites when you draft your new content or press release. It makes the sharing faster, and avoids embarrassing mistakes that can creep in if you’re trying to do it too quickly.
4. Use a social media scheduling application to schedule your Tweets, Facebook posts, and links.  I use Socialyzer — in fact, I was so impressed with them during the company’s beta trial that I became an “angel” investor in the start-up company.  Regardless of what scheduling app you use, repeat your tweets at different times of day, over several days, to reach the maximum audience. Don’t forget Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google+, since the search engines index these sites, too.
5. Compare the results (click-through rates, email open rates, traffic to the links in your sites, media calls or inquiries, published stories) for each press release.  I use a simple Excel spreadsheet to track the response to each press release.  Over a few month’s time, patterns should start to emerge.  Or, you can test different messages (headlines, body copy, keywords, links)  or distribution lists.  Tweaking your content to get better results is one of the most important parts of a comprehensive social media marketing and PR strategy.

For the complete white paper in which this sidebar appeared, visit MyPRGenie, and download the white paper today.