Archive for March, 2009
Online PR Distribution Debate Opened Up Again? March 27th, 2009
The launch of a new press release distribution service called PR Zone is likely to open up the debate about public relations companies using online distribution services once again.
PR Zone Front Page
The PR industry has been slow enough to embrace these type services and Searh Engine Optimisation of press releases is ignored by a lot of traditional PR companies. The service is not new (although it does contain some innovations) and is broadly a welcome development. However the service uses a pay of play model where you register full company details and then buy credits to utilise the different levels of service they deliver.
This is a route that Prangle tied some time ago but with limited uptake from PR companies. Prangle came from the journalist side of the house and tried to establish the service as a one stop shop for the media industry where the different publication houses would allocate a resource to monitor the feeds supplied by the PR industry. The theory being that PR and other companies would go through the service rather than send their content to their contacts in the media. The stumbling blocks were the cost involved (a fee was charged to use the service) and a perception that the relationships that PR companies spend years fostering with the media, would in essence be cut out of the equation. It also relied heavily on the media commiting to using the service consistently and most media are still happier to receive stories from established contacts. On a technical side the service was robust and future proofed in that it allowed uploading of different type media from high res photos to video. As a supplemntary service it was useful but the cost of using it meant the PR industry did not buy into it wholesale.
Not all entrants went the paid for model and Irish Press Releases uses a model similar to the other international sites where you can up load a story, with the site displaying all the recent stories. Some vetting of stories is done to ensure a certain level of quality control. Overall its a good service and I imagine it will charge at a future date for add on facilities such as loading of extra multimedia and possibly other syndication services similar to PR Zone.
Irish Press Releases Homepage
We have used some of the free international SEO press release submission sites and have also used paid for syndication services such as Business Wire – especially for international releases where we would not have strong relationships overseas media.
The PR industry would appear to feel threatened by these services espcially the paid for ones where they feel they could be cut out of the process and budgets are tight. The reality is that having a service does not replace the genuine value that a communications company brings in terms of constructing a good robust story. Up to half the effort can be invested in getting the messaging and scripting right. These services are a good supplement to what a PR company does and does not replace them. They are especially good at increasing the digital footprint, even more so if a company does not have a media section on their site.
Innovation in the PR industry is always welcome and for some companies these services are the best way for them to go, especially if they are good at telling their story and have limited budgets. I dont believe they are a threat but rather offer a lot of synergy.
The big question is if the PR industry is willing to pay for them and see their value. Time will tell.
Tags: online PR sites, PR, PR distribution, Prangle, PRzone, Public Relations
Posted in Online PR, Online Tools, Public Relations | Comments (7)
Social media – hot or not in 2009 March 20th, 2009
Net Imperative ran an interesting story about the blocks to and attitudes towards social media. The basis of the story was research was called out by Sapient Interactive. Lack of understanding was predictably one of the main blockers to implementing campaigns but the good news is
“50% of the respondents feel that 2009 will be the year of social networking for marketers.”
Only a small number (9%) felt that social networking is over rated. Interestingly Twitter ranks equal with blogs on areas the marketers reported as areas they are looking at. I imagine Twitter would not have ranked so highly last year.
“Outside of social networking campaigns, the most leveraged social media by marketers is media sharing sites like YouTube and Flickr (62%), followed closely by micro-blogs such as Twitter (59.8%) and corporate/campaign blogs (59%).”
The Marketing Institute of Ireland was similar in terms of more budget going online in a survey done with AMAS. Not surprisingly 64% reported using email campaigns with social media coming in fairly low at 20%. Of most interest is the 28% who reported using Online PR but that could be due to the definition.
I am certainly seeing more interest on the ground in terms of marketing departments becoming more interested in social media and online campaigns. There appears to be a greater acceptance of testing these platforms and integrating them with other campaigns.
Its clear there is still a distance to go in terms of greater appreciation but hopefully the good case studies coming from Facebook and Twitter will encourage more to embrace and integrate social media.
Whether 2009 is the year for social media or not….we will just have to wait and see.
Tags: Facebook, Marketing, marketing institute, Research, Social Media, Twitter
Posted in Blogging, Online PR, Research | Comments (2)
Are we facing online newspaper subscriptions again? March 13th, 2009
Siobhan O’Connell wrote an interesting piece in the yesterdays Irish Times about how newspapers need to make online content profitable. One of the things I took from it was that broadsheets are losing readership numbers to tabloids which would appear to be more linked to the lack of an online presence than the editorial. The arguement being that most broadsheets are freely available online while tabloids like the Star feature little more than an ad. If you cannot get it online you are forced to buy the physical product. Not a very encouraging sign or trend. The online subscription model has with a few exceptions failed but Times Ann Moore looks like reopening the debate.
Who started this rumour that all information should be free and why didn’t we challenge this when it first came out? I say this in college classrooms and they start to throw their shoes at me. I say, ‘Kids, your food is not free and your cars are not free, your clothes are not free. Good information costs money. Someone has to pay for the Baghdad bureau’.”
This is understandable in a era of dropping ad revenues but its extremely hard to get people to pay for content and even harder if they are used to getting it for free. It appears more like a desperate attempt by media publications to steam losses than a concerted effort to monitise their online models.
As usual the industry will find ways around this. One interesting development is the paper reviews by Campbell Scott of IGO People and Bernie Goldbach. They use very simple technology to talk through stories they enjoyed in the media, which they record with mobile phones and upload to mobile video shaing site QIK. Of course if they agreed to show the ads then everyone would be happy…wouldnt they?
From a very selfish simplistic PR viewpoint the more opportunities that people have to view a story about a client the better………that is until its a negative one and then we curse the longevity, reach and viral nature of the web stories.
Tags: bernie goldbach, campell scott, IGO People, online media, paper reviews, PR, qik
Posted in Media, Online Tools | Comments (2)