The two companies looked at tens of thousands of press releases, month over month, to analyze where, when and how news releases were shared across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The data reveals that although press releases are more frequently shared on Facebook, shares on Twitter drive significantly more traffic back to releases than shares on Facebook. The data also confirms that optimizing content for sharing pays off when it comes to amplification of news.
Key conclusions from the analysis include the following:
Each press release share generates two new views; expands total audience by 70 percent
Creating shareable content and enabling sharing capabilities through the relevant channels can dramatically increase the number of views for releases. The research found that each share generates an average of nearly two click-backs to the original press release. Additionally, sharing of press releases across social networks increases the total audience, or social reach, for this content by nearly 70 percent.
Press releases are shared more on Facebook, but Twitter sharing drives more traffic
Among the three largest U.S. social networks, Facebook is tops when it comes to the sharing of press releases: 48 percent of press-release sharing happens on Facebook, 37 percent of sharing happens on Twitter and 15 percent happens on LinkedIn.
But not all shares are created equal. In spite of Facebook's greater popularity for sharing, each share on Twitter actually drives about 30 percent more press release views than a share on Facebook.
Multimedia press releases generate 3.5 times more engagement than text-only releases
Not surprisingly, multimedia press releases that include photos, videos or audio generate more views, shares and clicks than text-only press releases. Adding a photo to a press release increases engagement by 14 percent; adding a video and a photo actually doubles the engagement rate. Press releases that contain photos, video and audio generate the most engagement, with 3.5 times more engagement than text-only releases.