Anticipating the Social Media Club meeting this week, I came in touch with all my “personal trust issues” surrounding social media releases. Accountable to my clients, I want to know if SMPRs can deliver? And, whether they deliver now?

Granted, Google has changed the landscape of public relations forever. Now that there is an exponential explosion of consumers and reporters looking for the news online, how will the power of social media press releases help us to reach our target audiences?

According to Social Media Club founder Chris Heuer, the social media release is “intended to make it easier on people to identify and share the most important pieces of information with others around the globe.” This sounds encouraging and actually strums my heart strings with renewed hopes of world peace.

Still, in the next sentence he explains that these releases will be “using structured data via the Microformat,” in order to take “full advantage of HTML, multimedia and the network effects enabled by the Internet,” and my feet are back on the ground. SMPRs, as they are known, can get a bit complex. I have a new learning curve in front of me, and am not exactly sure where to find the lessons or the answer key.

The job may have gotten easier for the reporter, but it has mushroomed for the marketers and PR practitioners. Simply put, the click of a mouse is easy, but HTML code is complex. To stay focused, we first need to understand who we are writing for and who is reading what.

Are we writing for reporters or robots … or both?

Can we write directly to the consumer and bypass the media?

Are consumers reading more trade publications or press releases online?

I believe that the answers will come with an in-depth understanding of a PR terrain that is far more multi-dimensional than it was in the past. Savvy PR practitioners and marketers will balance the use of the Microformat right alongside traditional press releases to create fully functional campaigns. It may bolster the professional image of your client to reach the reporters on their turf at the newswire sites. Simultaneously, it may be important for that same client to appear in the results when their consumers “google” certain topics online or read their newsfeeds.

Will our Web 2.O challenges be relieved by new tools? Exactly what can the social media press release do to get a client right smack in the faces of reporters and consumers online?

Looking forward to the answers at the Austin Social Media Club meeting on May 17, 2007 when our panel of visionaries speaks out.